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12.501

Essentials of Global Geophysics

4-0-8 units · Graduate

Overview of basic topics in solid-earth geophysics, such as the Earth's rotation, gravity and magnetic field, seismology, and thermal structure. Formulation of physical principles presented in three one-hour lectures per week. Current applications discussed in an additional one-hour tutorial each week. Students taking graduate version complete different assignments.

Fall 2004 · Essentials of Geophysics

Topics

  • The Earth in the Solar System
  • The Earth’s Gravitational Field
  • The Magnetic Field of the Earth
  • Seismology
  • Geodynamics

Readings

  • Lowrie, William. Fundamentals of Geophysics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, September 1997. ISBN: 9780521467285. (Excellent reference book.)
    Listed reading
  • Fowler, C. M. R. The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics. Second Edition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 685. ISBN: 9780521893077. (Excellent overview of the field, useful appendices. Second Edition of very popular undergraduate text book. I will discuss some of the topic in more theoretical detail.)
    Listed reading
  • Stacey, F. D. Physics of the Earth. 3rd ed. Brisbane, Australia: Brookfield Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780646090917. (Good text for potential field theory, gravity + geomagnetism, meteorites, and it has very useful appendices, good problems; we will go through most of this book.)
    Listed reading
  • Sleep, Norman H., Kazuya Fujita, and K. Fujita. Principles of Geophysics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Science, 1997, p. 586. ISBN: 9780865420762. (Good text book for this course; we will cover most of the material presented herein; useful source of literature for further reference; no problem sets.)
    Listed reading
  • Turcotte, Donald L., and Gerald Schubert. Geodynamics. 2nd ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780521666244. (A “classic” reference text for gravity, thermal state of earth, heat flow, flexure, thermal convection; derives most equations.)
    Listed reading
  • Stein, Seth, and Michael Wysession. An Introduction to Seismology, Earthquakes and Earth Structure. Malden, MA: Blackwell Science, 2002. ISBN: 9780865420786. (Very good introduction to modern seismology, big plus is the use of many examples from recent seismological research.)
    Listed reading
  • Anderson, Don. Theory of the Earth. Malden, MA: Blackwell Science, 1990. ISBN: 9780865421233. (Very good reference book for chemistry and thermodynamics.)
    Listed reading
  • Merrill, Ronald T., et al. The Magnetic Field of the Earth. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, September 15, 1998. ISBN: 9780124912465. (Observational and theoretical aspects of Earth’s magnetic field.)
    Listed reading

Prerequisites & course information

Subject meets with 12.201 Prereq: Physics II (GIR) and 18.03 Acad Year 2027-2028: Not offered Acad Year 2028-2029: G (Spring) 4-0-8 units

Sources