Undergraduate Course: Global Tectonics (EASC09027)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Earth Science |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course provides an introductory framework for explaining the major features of current and past tectonic and magmatic activity of the Earth. The Earth has a hot interior and loses heat continually to space. Temperature controls the mechanical properties of the Earth's materials. The outer part is consequently cold and forms a relatively strong and dense layer (the plates). Deeper down the hotter material has no finite yield strength and will creep under stresses as low as those caused by temperature - and thus density - differences. Tectonic events are a reflection of the motion of the outer part of the Earth, driven primarily by gravity acting on these density differences, which arise, in turn, from the past and present thermal energy of the Earth and its dissipation. As an extra important complication, earth materials can melt. This can occur if they are heated, if they are brought to low pressure while still hot, if the movement of plates takes water into the hot interior, or if radioactive 'self-heating' cannot be dissipated by conduction fast enough. Melts move material and heat, and have profoundly influenced both the composition and the thermal state of the Earth's outer layer. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed
Stratigraphy and Sedimentology (EASC08015)
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2011/12 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
|
WebCT enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| King's Buildings | Lecture | | 1-11 | 09:00 - 09:50 | | | | | | King's Buildings | Laboratory | | 1-11 | 10:00 - 12:00 | | | | |
| First Class |
Week 18, Monday, 09:00 - 12:00, Zone: King's Buildings. MLT/201, Grant Institute |
| Additional information |
1 hour(s) per week for 5 week(s). 11 lectures and 5 practicals in total. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours:Minutes |
|
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | | |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
1. The integrated knowledge required to explain the major features of current and past tectonic and magmatic activity on the Earth
2. An understanding of modern tectonic processes, current plate tectonic theory and the current views of the driving force of plate motion
3. The ability to understand geological phenomena in a plate tectonic context
4. An appreciation of how thermal models, constrained by observations, can successfully account for many basic lithospheric features and asthenospheric behaviour
5. An ability to critically appraise statements about tectonic processes
6. An understanding of the principles applied to reconstruct plate configuration
7. How to unravel continental collisional zones and orogenic belts to assist in continental reconfiguration |
Assessment Information
| 100% by degree exam. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jennifer Tait
Tel:
Email: Jenny.Tait@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Emma Latto
Tel: (0131 6)50 8510
Email: emma.latto@ed.ac.uk |
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© Copyright 2011 The University of Edinburgh - 16 January 2012 5:53 am
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