Plate tectonics is a quantifiable and testable paradigm for the dynamic processes of the solid earth. This course focuses on plate tectonics as the system of mantle convection and lithosphere motion that determines Earth's seismicity and volcanism; the birth of its oceans and growth of its mountain belts; and the distribution of its continental mass, and thus its tilt and rotation. Plate tectonics operates today and to a large extent determines the geologic character of surface rocks, but it also operates at significant depths in the earth and across the expanse of geologic time.

A study of igneous and metamorphic processes and environments. Application of chemical principles and experimental data to igneous and metamorphic rocks is stressed. Identification, analysis, and mapping of rocks in the laboratory and field. Three hours of class and three hours of laboratory per week.

Requisite: GEOL 271. Spring semester. Professors Cheney and Guevara.

For at least 3.5 billion years, Earth’s surface environments have supported some form of life. What geologic processes first created and subsequently maintained a habitable environment? How does contemporary global climate change compare to climate variations over Earth’s long history? This course looks at Earth’s climate and its surface environment from a geologist’s perspective. We will develop an understanding of the atmospheric, oceanographic, geological, and biological systems that interact to modulate the climate.

How well do you know the planet on which we live? In this course we will explore Earth from its core to its surface, from the mountains to the deep ocean basins, from the past and present to the future. The earth is an evolving and dynamic system, changing on time scales that range from seconds, to millennia, to eons: volcanos erupt, earthquakes vibrate the globe, continents separate and collide, and mountains rise only to be worn away and rise again. What physical processes drive this dynamism? How does the restless nature of Earth impact our residency?