Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Labs/Recitations: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session

Goals

• Understand processes by which rocks deform during natural tectonic processes.
• Clarify some relations between (micro) structure and properties; identify fingerprints for each mechanism.
• Recognize parameters important for determining rock strength and understand the implications for natural processes.
• Develop constitutive laws for use in geodynamic modeling.

Format

Reading for Each Meeting

Read the background material in enough detail to be able to discuss it in class; if you are unfamiliar with it, formulate questions about areas that you don't understand. Class notes and, if possible, readings will be posted on the server.

Weekly Problem Sets and Lab Experiments

Each week on Wednesday, I'll hand out a problem set or laboratory exercise. The assignments will roughly alternate between a problem set and a "hands-on" exercise. Each exercise or problem set is due at the end of the following week. Please do not get behind on the problem sets; if after a couple of hours of working you get nowhere, feel free to talk with other class members. Collaboration is OK, but each student should do enough individual work to understand the problem and be able to apply the concepts to his or her own research and reading.

Final Paper

There will be no final exam. In lieu of a final, each student will write a 5-10 page paper that uses some of the class material to treat a problem in geologic sciences or engineering. Please discuss the topic of your paper with me, before you get underway. During the last two classes of the term, students will present their papers and discuss them with the class.

Prerequisites

Physics III, Vibrations and Waves (8.03) and Differential Equations (18.03)

Grading