Global Tectonics
Examine tectonic processes within the dynamic Earth, with a focus on plate boundary processes. Discuss fundamentals of plate tectonics; plate motion, driving forces, and mantle convection; evolution of plate margins including convergent, transform, rifting, and mid-ocean ridge spreading centers, triple junctions and collisional orogenesis; plate reconstructions; earthquakes and focal mechanisms; structure and geochemistry of the Earth's interior. Explore challenging questions of onset of plate tectonics, subduction initiation, and tectonics on other planets. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Prerequisites & course information
Examine tectonic processes within the dynamic Earth, with a focus on plate boundary processes. Discuss fundamentals of plate tectonics; plate motion, driving forces, and mantle convection; evolution of plate margins including convergent, transform, rifting, and mid-ocean ridge spreading centers, triple junctions and collisional orogenesis; plate reconstructions; earthquakes and focal mechanisms; structure and geochemistry of the Earth's interior. Explore challenging questions of onset of plate tectonics, subduction initiation, and tectonics on other planets. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027