This course will discuss theories of the major processes of Earth dynamics: plate tectonics and internal convection; the continents and their history of breakup, drifting, and collisions; the ocean basins and their formation by seafloor spreading and their relation to upwelling in the mantle; and other important Earth phenomena will be related to plate tectonics, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, biological evolution, and climate changes.

• Jan 5, 7 (C1, C2) - Introduction; Geological Time
• Jan 12, 14 (C3, C4) - Minerals and Rocks; Seismology
• Jan 19, 21 (C5, C6) - Seismology
• Jan 26, 28 (C7) - Magnetics; Plate Tectonics
• Feb 2, 4 (C8) - Plate Tectonics; Deformation
• Thursday Feb 4 - First Exam (topics)
• Feb 9, 11 (C9) - Divergent Margins; Transforms
• Feb 16, 18 (C10) - Convergent Margins; Plate Interiors
• Feb 23, 25 (C15, C16) - Hazards; Resources
• March 2 (C11) - Water; "Rare Earth"
• Tuesday, March 2 - Second Exam(topics)
• March 4 - The Heat Within, Presentations
• March 9-11 - WCAS Reading Period

• Lab #1 - Rock Density
• Lab #2 - Geological Age Dating
• Lab #3 - Earthquake Magnitude, Location & Snell's Law
• Virtual Earthquake Project - You will need the latest JAVA on your computer in order to run the program.
• Classcode is: 1501069
• Lab #4 - Seafloor Spreading and Magnetic Anomalies
• Lab #5 - Focal Mechanisms and Plate Boundaries

• Friday, 5 February, 3:30PM, Ryan Auditorium (Tech)
  "The Race for Habitable Worlds and Life in the Universe", Prof. Geoffrey Marcy, University of California, Berkeley
  Attend lecture and write a page summarizing the talk.
• Friday, 19 February, 3:30PM, Locy 301
  "Seismic imaging of Earth's deep interior", Fenglin Niu, Rice University
  Attend lecture and write a page summarizing the talk.