Course 12.710
Introduction to Marine Geology and Geophysics
Fall, 2011
Instructors: Andrew Ashton
Dan Lizarralde
Alison Shaw
Bill Thompson
(WHOI, Clark 257A, xt 3751, aashton@whoi.edu)
(WHOI, Clark, 260, xt 2942, danl@whoi.edu)
(WHOI, Clark 247B, xt3775, ashaw@whoi.edu)
(WHOI, Clark 113A, xt 2630, wthompson@whoi.edu)
Class Times, Places: Lectures – Tues./Thurs. 2:30-4:00, MRF 204
Class Website: http://www.whoi.edu/sites/12.710
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 available online 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 2011, Tuesday and Thursday 2:30 – 4:00, MRF
FORMATION AND STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH
9/8
(Shaw)
Nucleosynthesis, Earth accretion/Earth Differentiation
9/13
(Shaw)
Geochronology/Geologic timescales Plate Tectonics I
9/15
(Shaw)
Mantle melting, petrogenesis and rock classification
9/20
(Shaw)
Ridge and Hotspot petrogenesis
PLATE TECTONICS, GEOPHYSICAL METHODS AND GEODYNAMICS
9/21
(Shaw)
Arc petrogenesis
9/27
(Shaw)
Isotopes as tracers for mantle processes
9/29
(Lizarralde)
Whole Earth Structure
10/04
(Lizarralde)
Earth’s Lithosphere: Formation and Evolution
10/06
(Lizarralde)
Plate Boundary Processes
10/11
No Class (Columbus Day)
PETROGENESIS AND VOLCANISM
10/13
(Lizarralde)
Seismology: Earthquakes and Earth imaging
10/18
(Lizarralde)
Potential fields, electro-magnetics, linear inverse theory
10/20
(Lizarralde)
Whole Earth Tomography/Geodynamics
10/25
Mid Term
SEDIMENTATION IN THE OCEANS AND COASTAL PROCESSES
10/27
(Ashton)
The Sediment Factory: From Source to Sink
11/01
(Ashton)
Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy
11/03
(Ashton)
Flowing Water: Sediment Transport and Landforms
11/08
(Thompson)
Dating the sedimentary record
11/10
(Thompson)
Ice age cycles
11/15
(Ashton)
Waves and Coastal Morphodynamics
11/17
(Ashton)
Shorelines and Deltas
11/22
(Ashton)
The Anthropocene: Humans as Geomorphic Agents
11/24
No Class Thanksgiving
PALEO-OCEANOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
11/30
(Thompson)
Paleothermometry
12/01
(Thompson)
CO2 and Global Climate
12/06
(Thompson)
The Astronomical Theory of Climate Change
12/08
(Thompson)
Abrupt Climate Change
12/13
Final Exam
R12.710 Recommended Textbooks
(on reserve in Lindgren Library, Building 54, MIT, and in Clark 237, WHOI)
Press and Siever, Understanding Earth, W.H. Freeman & Co., 1998
Faure, G. Principles and Applications of Geochemistry, Prentice Hall, 1998
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.