Physics and Chemistry of the Earth

EAS450 - 3 credits - Lectures on Mondays, Wednesday, Friday 1:30-2:20
Labs on Thursdays 10:30 to 13:20 pm
Contact and information:
Prof. Eric Calais, CIVIL 3273, ecalais@purdue.edu
TA: Hannah Redmond CIVIL 2261, redmondh@purdue.edu

Summary

The objective of this class is two-fold: (1) provide the students with the fundamentals of the most widely used geophysical techniques, illutrated with examples and applications, (2) integrate geophysical (and geological) observations into up-to-date concepts in plate tectonics and geodynamics.

The students will learn to formulate and solve simple geophysical problems and will be exposed to geophysical measurements and error assessment. The students will learn how to analyze and interpret geophysical data and put it in the more general perspective of plate tectonics and geodynamics.

This course will involve some mathematics. The students are expected to be able to use a basic programming language, at least Microsoft Excel and Matlab.
 Earth Dynamics

Lectures

  1. Introduction
  2. Gravity (Global)
    1. Gravity [pdf]
    2. Geopotential and geoid [pdf]
    3. Tides - Measuring gravity [pdf]
    4. Gravity anomalies [ pdf]
    5. Isostasy and flexure [ pdf]
  3. Seismology
    1. Stress-strain, elasticity, and waves [ pdf]
    2. Seismic reflection and refraction [ pdf]
    3. Wave propagation and the structure of the Earth [ pdf]
    4. Earthquake seismology [ pdf]
  4. Magnetism
    1. Geomagnetism [ pdf]
    2. Paleomagnetism [ pdf]
  5. Plate Tectonics
    1. Plate tectonics [pdf]
    2. Current plate motions [pdf]
    3. Geodynamics[pdf]

Labs

  1. Lab 1: Gravity
  2. Lab 2: Measuring Gravity, Geoid and Ellipsoid
    1. Ellipsoid conversion program madtran.exe
    2. NIMA:(U)EGM96 Geoid Calculator(Unclassified)
  3. Lab 3: Bouguer and free-air Anomalies
  4. Lab 4: Seismic refraction
  5. Lab 5: Wave propagation, seismotectonics
  6. Lab 6: Seismotectonics and focal mechanisms
  7. Lab 7: Moment Magnitude relations
  8. Lab 8: Magnetism
  9. Lab 9: Paleomagnetism
  10. Lab 10: Current plate motions

Recommended reading:

There is no specific textbook for this class. I used the books listed below. If you want to choose only one of them, I recommend Lowrie, or Mussett and Khan if you prefer a no-equation approach.
  1. Lowrie, Fundamentals of Geophysics, Cambridge Univ. Press.
  2. Mussett and Khan, Looking into the earth: An introduction to Geological Geophysics, Cambridge Univ. Press.
  3. Fowler, The Solid Earth: An introduction to global Geophysics, Cambridge Univ. Press.
  4. Stacey, Physics of the Earth, 2nd Edition, 1997, Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  5. Sleep and Fujita, Principles of Geophysics, Blackwell.
  6. Debremaecker, J-C., Geophysics: The Earth's Interior, 1985, Wiley & Sons.
  7. Kearny and Vine, Global Tectonics.
  8. Lliboutry, Quantitative Geophysics and Geology, Springer.
  9. Diament and Dubois, Geéophysique, Masson (in French...).
  10. Larroque and Virieux, Geéophysique, Gordon Breach (in French...).

Recommended web sites:

  1. Gravity

Grading system

Grading will be based on:
  1. Lab and homework: Assignments will be given at the beginning of each lab. Any part of the assignment not finished during the lab must be done as homework. It must be returned before the next lab (30 % of grade)
  2. Mid-term exam (30 % of grade)
  3. Final exam (40 % of grade)