Continuum Mechanics

Prerequisites & course information

Explore the foundation for the modeling of fluids and solids in geological and geophysical phenomena, such as mantle convection, glaciology, rock mechanics, and climate dynamics. Examine tensor analysis, the kinematics of motion, forces, and stresses. Discuss basic balance (conservation) laws for mass, momentum, and energy, and constitutive laws for fluids and solids. Develop governing equations to geodynamics, glaciology, seismology, and geophysical fluid dynamics. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.