EART-Earth Sciences

EART 9 Earth History and Global Change

Over the past 4.5 billion years, planet Earth has evolved in exciting ways. Environments, climates, and life forms have come and gone in fascinating combinations. Course examines changing physical, biological, and climatological conditions through geologic time, beginning with the evolution of the Earth through changes leading to the current state of the planet, and considers prospects for Earth's future.

Credits

5

General Education Code

PE-E

EART 113 Physics in the Earth Sciences

Physics applied to geological problems, including basic mechanics, stress and strain, heat transport, and fluid flow. Discussion-2 hours.

Credits

5

Instructor

Robert Coe

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): EART 111 or MATH 22 or MATH 23A; and PHYS 5B or PHYS 6B.

Quarter offered

Spring

EART 114 Environmental Geophysics

Explores the shallow subsurface environment, including groundwater systems, buried faults, sedimentary basins and other environmentally significant features using the tools of geophysics. Data acquisition and interpretation focus on understanding processes and defining problems.

Credits

5

EART 117 Paleomagnetism

How the fossil magnetism of rocks is used to decipher Earth's history: applications to tectonics, geochronology, stratigraphy, structural geology, geomagnetism, and archeology. Includes an overnight field trip to collect samples for a class research project.

Credits

5

Instructor

Robert Coe

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): EART 5, EART 10 or EART 20; and PHYS 5C or PHYS 6C or equivalent per instructor permission; concurrent enrollment in EART 117L is required.

Quarter offered

Spring

EART 117L Paleomagnetism Laboratory

A hands-on research project in the Paleomagnetic Laboratory. Students collectively drill oriented cores in the field (one–two days), prepare and measure the samples, and analyze and interpret the data. Each student writes an individual final report based on the class results.

Credits

2

Instructor

Robert Coe

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): concurrent enrollment in EART 117 is required.

Quarter offered

Spring

EART 170 Global Seismology

Introduction to quantitative earthquake and global Earth structure seismology. Topics include basic elasticity, wave characteristics, seismic ray theory, wave reflection, surface waves, normal modes, seismic instrumentation, application of seismic waves to reveal Earth structure and resulting models, representation of earthquake sources such as explosions and faulting, earthquake rupture scaling, modern methods of modeling seismic recordings to study source complexity, and an introduction to seismotectonics. Laboratory-3 hours. Students cannot receive credit for this course and course 270.

Credits

5

Quarter offered

Winter

EART 188A Summer Field Internship

Three weeks of summer field study in geologically complex regions in the White-Inyo Mountains of eastern California. Activities include geologic field mapping on topographic and photographic base maps, stratigraphy, petrology, and structure analysis. A fee is required for participation. Contact sponsoring agency for details. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements; courses 109/L, 110A/L, and 110B/M. Enrollment is restricted to Earth sciences majors. Concurrent enrollment in course 188B is required. Interview only via application filed with department.

Credits

5

Instructor

Hilde Schwartz

General Education Code

PR-E

EART 188B Geographic Information Systems with Applications to the Earth Sciences

Introduction to basic principles of geographic information systems (GIS). Visualization of earthscapes with applications to problem-solving in the Earth sciences. Laboratory exercises in loading, manipulation, and interpretation of data sets. Field investigations of phenomena visualized in laboratory, including geological description, interpretation, and written report preparation. Lecture and laboratory portions of course occur during spring quarter. Field investigations and report-writing occur in the summer following spring quarter. A fee is required for participation. Contact sponsoring agency for details. Prerequisite(s): satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing and Composition requirements; courses 109/L, 110A/L, and 110B/M. Enrollment is restricted to Earth sciences majors. Concurrent enrollment in course 188A is required. Interview only via application filed with department.

Credits

5

Instructor

Noah Finnegan

EART 231 Igneous Petrology

Systematic study of the major igneous rock suites, combining petrography, experimental petrology, major and trace elements, volatiles, and isotopic characteristics. Laboratory: three hours. Course designed for graduate students but available to qualified earth sciences majors. Course 130 is recommended as preparation.

Credits

5

EART 245 Advanced Geomorphology

Rigorous presentation of major subsets of geomorphology: I. Mechanics of sediment transport. Physics of sediment transport in both air and water. II. Mechanics of hillslope processes. III. Glaciology and glacial geology. Topics vary from year to year between these three. Will be offered in the 2005–06 academic year.

Credits

5

Instructor

Robert Anderson

Requirements

Prerequisite(s): EART 140 and EART 113 or EART 110C. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students; qualified Earth sciences majors may enroll with permission of instructor.

Repeatable for credit

Yes

EART 261 Astrobiology

Study of the evolution and diversification of life on this planet; and factors affecting habitability of other bodies in this solar system and elsewhere.

Credits

5

Instructor

Paul Koch, Walter Nimmo

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students in Earth sciences, physics, biology, or chemistry.

EART 263L Planetary Field Course

Field class in comparative planetology. Three- to four -day field trip plus planning and debriefing sessions.

Credits

2

Instructor

Erik Asphaug

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

EART 267 Formation of the Solar System

The formation of asteroids, comets, moons, planets, and the samples that derive from them, with a focus of meteorites, astronomical discoveries, spacecraft mission results, and modeling. Students cannot receive credit for this course and course 167.

Credits

5

Instructor

Erik Asphaug

Requirements

Enrollment restricted to graduate students.

Quarter offered

Winter

EART 269 Advanced Marine Stratigraphy: Techniques and Applications

Explores concepts and methods of correlating marine sedimentary sequences. Emphasis on the integration of techniques and development of the Cenozoic stratigraphic record. One 2-hour laboratory each week. Upper-division students who have completed course 120 may enroll in this course.

Credits

5

Instructor

James Zachos

Requirements

Enrollment restricted to graduate students.

Quarter offered

Spring

EART 276 Geology of the Peopling of the Americas

Using a multidisciplinary approach, examines physical geology, paleoenvironment, human biology, linguistics, and culture history of Americas at end of last Ice Age. Particular emphasis on reconstructing timing, routes, and context of first peopling of the American continents. Taught in conjunction with Anthropology 276D. Students cannot receive credit for both courses.)

Credits

5

Instructor

Paul Koch

Requirements

Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

EART 278B Advanced Seismology

Special topics in wave propagation in heterogeneous, three-dimensional media, applications for determination of Earth's structure, kinematics and dynamics of the seismic source, near field phenomena, engineering applications, current problems.

Credits

5

Requirements

Course is designed for graduate students but available to qualified Earth sciences majors. PHYS 110B and PHYS 116B are recommended as preparation. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Repeatable for credit

Yes

EART 278C Advanced Seismology

Special topics of interest in current research by the seismology group. Discussion of new developments in earthquake mechanics, wave propagation, tectonics, earthquake prediction.

Credits

5

Requirements

Course is designed for graduate students but available to qualified Earth sciences majors. PHYS 110B and PHYS 116B are recommended as preparation. Enrollment is restricted to graduate students.

Repeatable for credit

Yes

EART 279 Interpretive Data Processing

Rigorous statistical treatment of geophysical data involving: Bayesian inference; stochastic processes and fields; information theory; non-linear and non-assumptive error analysis; cluster analysis; regional variables; correlograms and kriging. Develops the theoretical framework of linear geostatistics and geophysical inverse theory. Designed for graduate students but available to qualified Earth sciences majors.

Credits

5

Repeatable for credit

Yes

EART 280C Contaminants and Ecosystems: Topics

A graduate discussion course considering geochemical, biological, and ecological aspects of contaminants and ecosystems. The interdisciplinary nature of the this subject is emphasized through critical readings and discussion. Each student explores a topic in detail by preparing a written review and leading a class discussion.

Credits

5

Quarter offered

Winter

EART 290J Topics in Geomorphology and Quaternary History

Selected topics in Earth surface processes and Quaternary history are treated in detail. Emphasis is placed on recent advances, both in theory and in field and dating techniques. Course designed for graduate students but available to qualified Earth sciences majors. Will be offered in the 2005-06 academic year.

Credits

5

Instructor

Robert Anderson

Repeatable for credit

Yes