EENS 6340/4340

The Earth

Fall Semester 2012
Dr. Stephen A. Nelson  

Rm 208 Blessey
snelson@tulane.edu

Office Hours MWF 1:00 - 3:00 PM
 
Revised 9/5/2012
  

 

I.  COURSE GOALS & OBJECTIVES

This course is designed to give the student a fundamental understanding of the Earth, it's formation, structure, composition, age, and evolution to its present state.  Because much of this information can only be derived from observations we can make at the surface of the Earth, we look at how these observations are made and how they constrain our models of the Earth.

II. TEXTBOOKS

The primary text for the course is The Inaccessible Earth: An Integrated Approach to Geophysics and Geochemistry by Brown and Mussett. This book can be purchased in the Departmental Office or from Amazon.com.  Additional readings and supplementary material will be supplied as handouts in class as needed.


III. COURSE GRADING

Your grade in this course will be determined on a point basis with the distribution of points as follows:

 

Homework 30%
First Midterm Exam 20%
Second Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 30%

 

IV.  WEB PAGE

Some course material and announcements from the instructor can be found at  http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/eens634/ .  Check the page often as contents will change frequently

 

 

V. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF LECTURES & LABS

 
Date

Topic

Reading
Sept. 4

Gravity and the Shape of the Earth, Isostasy and Gravity Anomalies

Gravity  Homework Assigned

p. 25-30
Sept. 6 Seismology - Elastic Waves
 p. 11-16
Sept. 11

Seismology - The Structure of the Earth's Interior

Gravity  HomeworkDue

Seismology Homework Assigned

 p. 16-19
Sept. 13

Free Oscillations of the Earth

Density Distribution in the Earth

 p. 20 - 42
Sept. 18 Density Distribution in the Earth p. 25-42
Sept. 20

Isotopes and the Age of the Earth
Seismology Homework Due

Density Distribution Homework Assigned

 p. 213-215
Sept. 25 MIDTERM EXAM 1  
Sept. 27

Isotopes and the Age of the Earth
Density Distribution Homework Due

Isotopes Homework Assigned

p. 213-215
Oct. 2 Formation of the Solar System p. 43-57
Oct. 4 Meteorites, Nucleosynthesis, and Stellar Evolution p. 57-72
Oct.  9

Accretion and Differentiation of the Earth
Isotopes Homework Due

Accretion Homework Assigned

p. 73-93
Oct. 11 Fall Break  
Oct.  16 Accretion and Differentiation of the Earth p. 73-93
Oct.  18 The Earth's Core p. 94-107
Oct.  23

The Earth's Magnetic Field

Accretion Homework Due

 p. 628-636
Oct.  25 The Earth's Magnetic Field
Magnetism Homework Assigned 		p. 628-636
Oct.  30 MIDTERM EXAM II
Nov.  1 The Structure and Composition of the Earth's Mantle p. 108-133
Nov. 6 Evolution of the Earth's Mantle  
Nov.  8

Evolution of the Earth's Mantle

Magnetism Homework Due

  
Nov. 13 Heat Flow
Thermodynamic Homework Assigned		  
Nov. 15 Heat Flow p. 143-150
Nov. 20

Origin of the Earth's Crust
Thermodynamic Homework Due

Heat Flow Homework Assigned

 p. 160-204
Nov. 22 HOLIDAY - THANKSGIVING
Nov. 27 Plate Tectonics - History of the Theory  
Nov. 29

Plate Tectonics - Theory

Heat Flow Homework Due
Plate Tectonics Homework Assigned

  
Dec. 4 Plate Tectonics - The driving mechanisms  
Dec.  6 Evolution of the Earth's Atmosphere and Oceans
Dec. 13 Final Examination 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Click here for a PDF version of the syllabus

 

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