Undergraduate Course: Fields and Waves (EASC09033)
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 | Environmental Courses |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The course introduces a common framework to address diverse problems of Earth physics based on special cases of the telegraph equation.
The course describes the geophysical applications to acoustic wave propagation and to gravity, magnetic, electrical, electromagnetic, heat flow, and seismic problems.
This course extends the Teaching of U00545 Physics 2A: Forces, Fields and Potentials to general features of waves, fields, and diffusive propagation in continuous media. The course also extends the teaching of electricity and magnetism in Physics 2A to geophysical problems including current flow in the Earth and variations of conductivity within it.
Lastly, the course introduces the concepts of passive and active measurement of geophysical data and discusses the sources required for active geophysical exploration. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
|
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: 2014/15 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
|
Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
12/01/2015 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
98 )
|
| Additional Notes |
|
| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
100 %,
Coursework
0 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | Fields and Waves | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Familiarity with essential mathematical techniques.
2. Familiarity with concepts of classical physics applied to Earth problems.
3. Confidence in the conceptual framework of analysing fields and waves.
4. Appreciation of the application of physical and mathematical techniques to diverse Earth problems.
5. Appreciation of manipulation of geophysical data to obtain physical properties of the Earth. |
Assessment Information
Written Exam: 100%, Course Work: 0 %, Practical Exam: 0%.
Students will sit an exam lasting two hours, comprised of two sections with four questions in each one.
The homework given after a lecture is not assessed; it is presented to familiarise students with geophysical problems and the type of questions to be posed in the exam. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
The apportioning of topics between lectures is approximately as follows.
L1-2
Derivation of the Telegraph Equation.
Total time derivative and partial time derivative; acceleration of a particle; linearization; equation of continuity; pressure waves in a fluid; constitutive equation; 1-D, 2-D and 3-D acoustic wave equations; solution to the 1-D wave equation.
L3
Potential Fields
Newton¿s law of gravitation; gravity; gravitational potential; Laplace¿s equation; Poisson¿s equation; force due to electric charge and magnetic poles.
L4-5
Seismic Waves
Components of strain and stress; equations of motion in an elastic medium; Hooke¿s law of elasticity; elastic wave equations, P-waves and S-waves; particle motion of a plane wave; solutions to the wave equation; normal modes: oscillations of a string.
L6-7
Electromagnetic (EM) Waves and Heat Flow
Maxwell¿s equations; constitutive relations; EM wave equations; plane wave solutions of the EM wave equations, skin depth, wavelength; EM propagation in air and free space; EM propagation in conducting media; diffusion equation. Heat flow in solids.
L8
Revision of Fourier Theory
Fourier transform; the delta-function; resolution and bandwidth; similarity theorem; impulse function; impulse response; linear filters and convolution; convolution theorem; derivative theorem; wavefield transformation.
L9-10
Passive Geophysical Measurements
Gravity anomalies; gravity meters, measurements and corrections; gravity gradiometry ¿ gravity measurement on a moving vessel or aeroplane; non-uniqeness of gravity interpretation; magnetics; heat flow; the magnetotellurics method; classical seismology; Adams-Williamson equation.
L11-12
Active Geophysical Measurements
Controlled Source Electromagnetics (CSEM) ¿ the role of fluids; conventional CSEM; transient CSEM and MTEM; seismic exploration ¿ data acquisition; seismic exploration ¿ reflection coefficients for acoustic waves; seismic exploration ¿ normal moveout correction and stacking.
L13-16
Seismic Sources and Receivers
Monopole source - dynamite on land; the Vibroseis method and vibrator force source; Vibroseis method ¿ correlation with the sweep; Vibroseis method ¿ generation of the sweep; Vibroseis method ¿ the downgoing wavefield; marine airgun source; marine airgun source ¿ spectrum and effect of sea surface; marine airgun source ¿ arrays of air guns; effect of sea-surface reflection at receiver; geophones, hydrophones and accelerometers.
L17-18
Manipulation of Wavefield Measurements
Sampling theorem and aliasing; sources of noise; filtering; deconvolution; upward and downward continuation. |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
"Fundamentals of Geophysics" by William Lowrie, Cambridge University Press.
"A Student's Guide to Geophysical Equations" by William Lowrie, Cambridge University Press.
Course notes are also provided online. |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Fields_and_waves |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Anton Ziolkowski
Tel: (0131 6)50 8511
Email: anton.ziolkowski@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Ken O'Neill
Tel: (0131 6)50 8510
Email: koneill3@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
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