Undergraduate Course: Earth Dynamics (EASC08001)
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 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Earth Science |
Other subject area | Environmental Courses |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | Volcanoes, earthquakes, mountain chains and the diversity of the Earth's rocks tell us that the Earth has been a dynamic planet since its formation 4.6 billion years ago. This course has two main aims: to impart an understanding of the processes which shape the Earth, and to develop practical skills in recognising the evidence of these processes in rocks, both in the field and in the laboratory. The course will have a primary focus on the materials of which the Earth is made, how the major constituents are distributed between core, mantle and crust and how this changes with time through the agencies of plate tectonics and volcanism. From this viewpoint of underlying process, the course will also consider the inherent availability of natural resources and the potential for predicting natural hazards. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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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
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| Delivery period: 2014/15 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: 150 |
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Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Class Delivery Information |
Students must take ONE of the following practical classes each week. EITHER Mon 2-5pm OR Tue 9-12noon OR Wed 2-5pm OR Thur 2-5pm OR Fri 2-5pm.
Students must sign up for practical classes on LEARN during Freshers week (week 0) as these classes start in week 1. |
| Course Start Date |
15/09/2014 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 30,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 2,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 27,
Fieldwork Hours 14,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 3,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Revision Session Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
117 )
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| Additional Notes |
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Earth Dynamics | 1:30 | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | | 1:30 | |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| Students will develop a broad understanding of key, defining geological concepts and theories: the internal divisions of the Earth and its dynamic evolution via plate tectonic processes, the formation of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks, the mechanisms by which rocks deform and break at depth in the Earth, and the dynamic geological settings in which these processes operate. This will be achieved through routine, geological techniques: practical thin section and hand specimen analysis, fieldwork and ICT exercises. These ICT exercises will involve interpretation of deep Earth processes from geophysical data sets and virtual fieldwork exercises. Practical classes will be the basis for investigating professional level problems and issues to formulate evidence-based solutions using the techniques listed above. During these practical sessions students are expected to manage their time effectively and work both independently and with others. |
Assessment Information
Written Exam: 60%, Course Work: 40%, Practical Exam: 0%.
You must pass both components to obtain an overall pass.
Course Work
The course work component includes your weekly practical workbooks as well as field trip attendance and notebook write up. The practical workbooks will be examined twice during the semester. The first practical mark will be based on work completed in selected sections the first set of practical¿s (Block 1, up to the end of Week 5), the second on work completed in selected sections of the second set of practical¿s (Block 2, practical¿s in Weeks 7-10). Your practical books will be submitted at our Assessment Submission Point (Grant Institute, Teaching Organisation Office) for marking mid-way through the semester (end of Week 5 to beginning of Week 6) and following your Week 10 practical. They will be marked within a week of submission and be available for collection by you in time for your next practical or for end-of-semester revision.
Incomplete practicals or practical workbooks, or absence from a practical where workbooks are marked, will be penalised unless you have special circumstances supported by doctor¿s note or letter from your Student Support Co-ordinator. Be sure to submit your two field-related IT assignments within your workbook.
In addition to the practical workbook you are required to submit your field notebook for marking after each field trip. The second mark will contribute towards your overall ¿practical¿ mark.
Theory Examination:
A two-hour theory exam based on short answers and multiple choice questions will be held at the end of Semester 1. Further information will be provided on this in due course.
The Semester 1 Theory examination will be worth 60% of your final mark.
The theory re-sit examination will be held in August 2015.
If you fail to pass both components at first attempt the following will happen:
Fail coursework, pass exam: Alternative coursework will be assigned which requires all exercises in the practical folder to be completed AND extra petrographic description work. Deadline to submit work to TO Grant Institute 3 pm March 30th, 2015. Exam mark stands no resit allowed.
Fail exam, pass course work: Resit exam in August exam diet; Coursework mark carried forward.
Fail exam, fail coursework: Resit exam in August exam diet; Alternative coursework to be completed including all exercises in the practical folder AND extra petrographic description work. Deadline to submit work to TO Grant Institute 3 pm March 30th, 2015.
Marks should be regarded as provisional until after the final examiner¿s meeting, which will be held in January 2015.
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Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Week 1. September 15 - 19th.
L1 - Introduction to the course, its structure and basic content (Fitton)
L2 - Earth in space and its Solar System context. Meteorites, volcanoes and the materials and composition of the Earth (Bromiley)
L3 - Earth through time: an introduction to the evolution of the Earth, geological time and the evidence for a 4550 million year old planet (Bromiley)
IT exercise 1: Web based Virtual Fieldtrip - accessed via Learn.
No practical class during week 1.
Week 2. September 22-27th.
L4 - Introduction to geophysics, seismology and the structure of the Earth. Importance of geophysics, and investigation of the structure of the deep earth through seismology (Bell)
L5 - Earthquakes and seismotectonics. Different types of waves which travel through the Earth, and examine how seismology can be used to locate, measure and understand earthquakes (Bell)
L6 - Refraction and reflection seismology. Differences between refraction and reflection seismology and how each technique allows us to comprehend the subsurface. Using active seismology to assess near surface solid earth structures (Bell)
Practical 1: Assay of the Earth ¿ Earth materials and Composition
Week 3. September 29 - October 3rd.
L7 - Earth Structure. Introduction to the lithosphere - asthenosphere and natural forces. Observations supporting plate tectonic theory. Palaeomagnetism and the scientific proof of continental drift. Plate motion through time. Oceanic and continental plates (Kirstein)
L8 - Plate boundaries, sea floor spreading and the age of ocean floor. Types of plate boundaries. Sea floor spreading rates, magnetic anomalies and age of oceanic crust. Earthquakes and plate boundaries; volcanoes and plate boundaries (Kirstein)
L9 - Oceans: Mid Ocean Ridges and subduction zones, seamounts and hotspots, plate motions (Kirstein)
Practical 2: Be a Seismologist
FIELD TRIP 1: SICCAR POINT, PEASE BAY & EYEMOUTH. October 4th and 5th.
Meet at Appleton Tower, ready to depart at 0900 am
Week 4. October 6 - 10th.
L10 - Sediments - Formation of sediments, transport processes, depositional environments and plate tectonic controls (Kirstein)
L11 - Shaping the landscape 1: Mountain building, Archimedes Principle, mountain roots. Ductile and brittle deformation. Generating and sustaining topography (Kirstein)
L12 - Shaping the landscape 2: continental rifting, passive margins, sedimentation (Kirstein)
Practical 3: The nature of the lithosphere and asthenosphere
Week 5. October 13 - 17th.
L13 - Rocks and the economy ¿ oil and gas reservoirs; water; placer deposits (Kirstein)
L14 - Magnetism. Earth¿s magnetic field, geophysical techniques which use magnetic properties of the solid Earth to understand geological processes (plate tectonics, sea-floor spreading etc.) (Bell)
L15 - Gravity measurements, how certain corrections needs to be applied to measurements to yield useful results, and what the results mean to understanding the subsurface (Bell)
Practical 4: Aspects of the motions of lithospheric plates
Week 6. October 20 ¿ 24th.
L16 - Optics and waves: wave speed, wavelength, frequency, optical properties at microscale (Bromiley)
L17 - Magmas and igneous rocks; why volcanoes form; igneous intrusions (Fitton)
L18 - Volcanoes and volcanic hazards (Fitton)
Tutorial: Maps practical exercise
IT exercise2: Introduction to Holyrood Park ¿ Learn exercise to be completed before field trip.
FIELD TRIP 2: Holyrood Park / Salisbury Crags / Arthur¿s Seat
Sat 25th October and Sun 26th October.
Meet at 0900 sharp at the grassy parkland area near the roundabout just inside from the St Leonards / Pollock Halls entrance to Holyrood Park. Field trip ends at approximately 1230 pm.
Week 7. October 27 - 31st.
L19 - Introduction to rock-forming minerals (Fitton)
L20 - Basic crystallography (Fitton)
L21 - Composition and texture of igneous rocks; mineralogy and classification (Fitton)
Practical 6: Introduction to a microscope- optical mineralogy
Week 8. November 3 - 7th.
L22 - Magma evolution and fractional crystallisation (Fitton)
L23 - Super volcanoes, hot-spots and large igneous provinces (Fitton)
L24 - Non-silicate minerals; economic mineral deposits (Fitton)
Practical 7. Salisbury Crags exercise; Salisbury Crags dolerite under the microscope; Top-ten silicate minerals.
Week 9. November 10 - 14th.
L25 - Deformation of rocks: Stress, strain and deformation markers. Brittle and ductile behaviour and their manifestations ¿ faults, shear zones and folds. Folding and thrusting in mountain belts young and old (Bromiley)
L26 - Metamorphism: The process of metamorphism. Change in mineralogy and texture to yield new rocks from old. Recrystallisation, reaction, equilibrium. The main metamorphic rock types in brief, arranged by texture and structure (Bromiley)
L27 - Metamorphic rocks and minerals: The key metamorphic minerals in rocks of shale-like composition.
Factors of metamorphism: Pressure (P), temperature (T), fluids and strain. Timescale as a key parameter (Bromiley)
Practical 8 : Growing crystals under the microscope; igneous rocks in hand specimen and under the microscope; fractional crystallisation exercise; non-silicate minerals in hand specimen.
Week 10. November 17 - 21st.
L28 - Contact Metamorphism - aureoles, thermal gradients and mineral zones in pelites. Isograds and index minerals. The Ballachulish example. Regional Metamorphism - its scale and importance. Barrows zones, mineral isograds and index minerals; relations to P-T diagrams and mineral stabilities (Bromiley)
Practical 9: Deformation in the Earth.
Week 11. November 24 - 28th.
Revision week - Revision question and answer session with course lecturers.
Practical 10: Metamorphic rocks and minerals; Contact and Regional Cases.
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Dynamic Earth - An introduction to Physical Geology by EH Christiansen & WK Hamblin
Jones & Bartlett Learning
Understanding Earth by JP Grotzinger & TH Jordan
Freeman 7th edition
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Earth_Dynamics |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Linda Kirstein
Tel:
Email: linda.kirstein@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Nicola Muir
Tel: (0131 6)50 4842
Email: Nikki.Muir@ed.ac.uk |
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