Course 12.710
Introduction to Marine Geology and Geophysics
Fall, 2008
Instructors: Liviu Giosan
Dan Lizarralde
Ken Sims
Bill Thompson
TA:
(WHOI, Clark xx, xt 2257, lgiosan@whoi.edu)
(WHOI, Clark, 260, xt 2942, danl@whoi.edu)
(WHOI, Clark 247B, xt2634, ksims@whoi.edu)
(WHOI, Clark 113A, xt 2630, wthompson@whoi.edu)
Chris Waters (WHOI, Clark 247, x3543, clwaters@MIT.EDU)
Class Times, Places: Lectures – Tue./Thurs. 10:30-12:00, Clark 237
Labs/Discussion Sections – Time TBD
Course Description: An introduction to marine geology and geophysics for non-majors or
incoming G and G students needing a refresher or to augment their geological background.
Topics include the geologic time scale, structure of the Earth, plate tectonics, marine
sedimentation and stratigraphy, depositional and erosional processes, submarine morphology,
paleoceanography, sea level changes and the evolution of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic global
ocean and climate. This course is intended for non-G&G students as a single semester
course. There will be two 1 1/2 hour-long lectures each week. Problem sets will be regularly
assigned and there will be weekly discussion sections and occasional labs during the
semester.
Text/Readings: Because of the breadth of topics covered there is no single textbook that is
adequate for the purpose. Lecture notes will be distributed for each class along with reading
assignments in several relevant textbooks placed on reserve or in journals. Students are
responsible for the material covered in both the lectures and the reading.
Grading:
Mid-term exam - 25%
Final exam - 25%
Labs/Problem Sets - 50%
Marine Geology and Geophysics, 12.710
FALL 2007, Tuesday and Thursday 10:30 – 12:00
FORMATION AND STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH
9/4
(Sims)
Nucleosynthesis, Earth accretion/Earth Differentiation
9/09
(Lizarralde)
Whole Earth Structure
9/11
(Lizarralde)
Earth’s Lithosphere: Formation and Evolution
PLATE TECTONICS
9/16
(Sims)
9/18
(Sims)
9/23
(Lizarralde)
9/25
Geochronology/Geologic timescales Plate Tectonics I:
Plate Tectonics: Overview- Causes, effects and chemical signature
Plate Boundary Processes
No Class- JP anniversary
GEOPHYSICAL METHODS AND OBSERVATIONS
9/30
(Lizarralde)
Seismology: Earthquakes and Earth imaging
10/02
(Lizarralde)
Potential fields, electro-magnetics, linear inverse theory
PETROGENESIS, VOLCANISM, GEODYNAMICS
10/07
(Sims)
Ridge and Hotspot petrogenesis
10/9
(Sims)
Arc petrogenesis
10/14
(Sims)
Volcanoes: Impact on Climate and Humanity
10/16
((Lizarralde)
Whole Earth Tomography/Geodynamics
10/21
Mid Term
SEDIMENTATION IN THE OCEANS AND COASTAL PROCESSES
10/23
(Giosan) The Sediment Factory: From Source to Sink
10/28
(Giosan) Morphology and Morphodynamics of Sedimentary Systems
10/30
(Giosan) Sequence Stratigraphy
11/04
(Giosan) The Anthropocene: Human Impacts on Sedimentation and Morphodynamics
11/06
(Giosan) Field and Laboratory Methods in Coastal Geology
11/11
No Class Veteran’s Day
11/13
(Giosan) Modeling of Coastal and Seascape Evolution (visiting lecture Andrew Ashton)
PALEO-OCEANOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
11/18
(Thompson) Dating the sedimentary record
11/20
(Thompson) Documenting climate history: Paleothermometry
11/25
(Thompson) Atmospheric CO2 and deep ocean chemistry
11/27
No Class Thanksgiving
12/2
(Thompson) Ice age cycles
12/04
(Thompson) The astronomical theory of climate change
12/09
(Thompson) Records of abrupt climate change
12/11
Final Exam
R12.710 Recommended Textbooks
(on reserve in Lindgren Library, Building 54, MIT, and in Clark 237, WHOI)
Fowler, C.M.R., The Solid Earth, Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Kennett, J., Marine Geology and Geophysics, 1982.
Broecker, W. The Glacial World According to Wally, 1995.
Seawater: Its composition, properties and behaviour, The Open University, 1989.
Ocean Chemistry and deep-sea sediments, The Open University, 1989.
Stacey,F.D., Physics of the Earth, 3rd Edition, Brookfield Press, 1992.
Turcotte, D.L., and G. Schubert, Geodynamics, Wiley & Sons, 1982.
Cox, A., Plate Tectonics and Geomagnetic Reversals, W.H. Freeman and Co., 1973.
Boggs, S. Jr., Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, Merrill Publishing Co., 1987.
Einsele, G. Sedimentary Basins - Evolution, Facies, and Sediment Budget, Springer-Verlag,
1992
Dronkers, J., 2005, Dynamics of Coastal Systems: Singapore, World Scientific, 519 p.
Komar, P.D., 1998, Beach Processes and Sedimentation: Upper Saddle River, New Jersey,
Simon & Schuster, 544 p.
Woodroffe, C.D., 2003, Coasts: Form, process, and evolution: Cambridge University Press,
623 p.
Nittrouer, C.A. et al., 2007, Continental Margin Sedimentation: From Sediment Transport to
Sequence Stratigraphy: Wiley-Blackwell, 560 p.
Ruddiman, W. F., Earth’s Climate : Past and Future, Second Edition, W. H. Freeman, 2007.