Courses
Courses listed below are modified from year to year. Students are expected
to consult course schedules published by the university for information
regarding courses offered on an infrequent basis. A student’s course
load is expected to be 2 to 4 classes per quarter during the first 5 quarters
(not including Summer Quarter) of residence. Over the this period, the
student will take a mixture of high level (designated by numbers greater
than 30000) and medium level (designated by numbers in the 20000’s)
classes listed under the department’s offerings, and appropriate
courses offered by other departments of the university.
30000. Reading and Research in the Geophysical Sciences
Staff
Prereq: Admission to graduate status.
30100. Reading and Research in the Geophysical Sciences for the Master’s
Degree
Staff
An essay or formal thesis will be required. Prereq: Admission to graduate
status.
30200. Research in the Geophysical Sciences
Staff
This course introduces the faculty’s current research themes/areas
to incoming graduate students. Lectures are presented by individual faculty
on either 1) a general survey of a research area, or 2) a specialized
topic of interest. Evaluation of the class is by a paper topic, chosen
by the student by agreement with a particular faculty member, who will
advise. The paper should consist of the development of an in-depth understanding
of the topic selected. Class presentations (20 minutes) that present the
general findings on that subject in a comprehensible manner are required.
The grade is based on an overall evaluation of the oral and written presentations.
30300. Thermodynamics and Phase Change
Heinz
Develops basic concepts of homogeneous and heterogeneous phase equilibrium.
Emphasis is on evaluation of thermodynamic data, reactions among thermodynamic
quantities, and calculation of simple equilibria. Prereq: Undergraduate
physical chemistry or consent of instructor.
30700. General Petrology
Anderson
Density, rheology and viscosity, thermal and chemical diffusivity of magmas
and rocks including the effects of effervescence, temperature (geothermometry),
pressure (geobarometry), crystallization (phase equilibria), composition
(water content and solubility) and natural porosity. Neutral buoyancy
in volcanology and planetary differentiation. Surface tension and wetting
properties of magmas, brine, sulfide melts, carbonate melts and fluids.
Applications to bubble and crystal nucleation, premelting and frost heaving,
melt/liquid extraction. Convection in brine and melt. Volcanic eruptions,
bubble nucleation and growth, disruption (fracture) of magma. Oxidation,
oxygen fugacity, Eh and pH of natural brines (at elevated P and T), diagenesis,
fluid inclusions, ore deposition.
30800. Radiogenic Isotope Geochemistry.
Humayun
The principles and applications of radiogenic isotopes in geochemistry
and cosmochemistry; topics include principles of radioactive decay; origin
of the elements; use of radioactive elements in geochronology; chemical
fractionation; long-lived radionuclides; short-lived radionuclides; extinct
radionuclides; radioactive heat production in planets; use of radiogenic
isotopes as tracers; mantle geochemistry of Sr, Nd, Os, Pb systems; core-mantel
interaction. Prereq: GeoSci 31000 or consent of instructor.
31000. Cosmochemistry
Grossman
Chemical, mineralogical, and petrographic classifications of meteorites.
Topics include: abundances of the elements, origin of the elements and
stellar evolution, the interstellar medium and formation of the solar
nebula, condensation of the solar system, chemical fractionations in meteorites
and planets, age of the solar system, extinct radionuclides in meteorites,
isotope anomalies. Prereq: Consent of instructor.
31100. Geochemistry
Humayun
Chemical composition of the Earth, and its core, mantle and crust. Distribution
of siderophile elements, rare earths elements, etc.; stable isotopes;
noble gases and volatile elements. Prereq: Physical chemistry.
31200. Mineral Physics
Heinz
The application of physics at the microscopic level to geologic and geophysical
problems. Topics: vibrational, electric and transport properties of minerals.
Prereq: 2 yrs. math beyond calculus; 1 year physical chemistry or 1 year
of both physics and chemistry; general geology, general geophysics and
mineralogy, petrology or equivalent; or consent of instructor.
31300. Earth's Mantle: Structure, Composition and Dynamics
Buffett, Ghiorso, Heinz
Seminar course to discuss classic and current papers on the Structure,
Composition and Dynamics of the Earth's mantle. Topics will include boundary
layers, heat transfer, geotherms, compositional constraints, phase changes,
high-pressure phases, melting and melt production, and melt migration.
31400. Stratigraphic Analysis
Kidwell
Historical review of basic concepts and methods, leading to current frontiers
and controversies in basin and global-scale analysis of the sedimentary
rock record. Prereq: GeoSci 22200 or equivalent; consent of instructor.
31415. Quantitative Methods for Biology, Ecology, and Paleontology
Eshel
Math and statistics course at the introductory graduate/upper-level undergrad
level, specifically for life-science students. Prereq: background in linear
algebra and calculus will be helpful.
31500. Topics in Stratigraphy and Biosedimentology
Kidwell
Seminar course using the primary literature and/or a field problem. Topic
selected from the rapidly evolving fields of sequence stratigraphy, basin
analysis, and animal-sediment relationships. Prereq: GeoSci 22200 and
22300 or equivalent.
31700. Macroevolution (=EvBio 31700)
Jablonski
Patterns and processes of evolution above the species level, in both recent
and fossil organism. A survey of the current literature, along with case
studies. Prereq: Consent of the instructor.
31800. Taphonomy (=EvBio 31800)
Kidwell
Lecture and research course on patterns and processes of fossilization,
including rates and controls of soft-tissue decomposition, post-mortem
behavior of skeletal hard parts, concentration and burial of remains,
scales
of time-averaging, and the net spatial and compositional fidelity of (paleo)biologic
information, including trends across environments and evolutionary time.
Offered alternate years. Prereq: Consent of instructor.
31900. Topics in Paleobiology
Jablonski, Kidwell, LaBarbera, Foote
In this seminar we investigate paleobiological and historical geological
topics of current interest to students and faculty. Previous subjects
include benthic paleoecology, the Pleistocene, and arthropod paleobiology.
Prereq: Consent of instructor.
33000. Analytical Paleobiology
Foote
Quantitative-analytical methods, stressing research applications in paleontology.
Topics: basic probability theory; morphological analysis; computer-intensive
statistical methods; other nonparametric approaches; time-series analysis;
and mathematical modeling, especially of branching- and extinction-processes.
33200. Global Tectonics
Rowley
The spatial and temporal development of tectonic and plate tectonic activity
of the globe will be reviewed. Prereq: Consent of instructor.
33700. Present and Paleoclimatology
Staff
A review of the earth’s present atmospheric and oceanic circulation
and an examination of the possibilities of reconstructing climates of
the geologic past. Prereq: Consent of instructor.
34200. Biomechanics (=EvBio 34300, Anat 34700)
LaBarbera
Odd-numbered year topics: properties of biological materials, mechanical
analysis of morphology, and principles of design optimization. Even-numbered
year topics: principles of fluid mechanics as applied to biological systems,
including lift, drag, conservation laws, and high and low Reynolds number
fluid mechanics. Prereq: Prior college level chemistry and physics, and
consent of instructor.
34400. Analytical Techniques
Steele
Theory and practice of analytical techniques. Prereq: Consent of instructor.
35100. Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics
Nakamura
This course provides an introduction to concepts and phenomenology of
fluid mechanics of newtonian fluids. Classroom demonstrations are coupled
with analytical treatment of equations of motion and their approximations.
Topics include (1) pressure and stress, (2) Bernoulli's theorem, (3) vorticity
and turbulence, (4) surface and internal waves, (5) effects of rotation
and gravity on stability, (6) spin-up. The lectures are supplemented by
problem sets. Commands of vector calculus are highly desirable. Prereq:
Classical mechanics and vector calculus.
35200. Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
Nakamura
Theoretical foundation for understanding the large-scale flow patterns
in the Earth’s atmosphere and ocean. Topics include: The governing
equations for fluids on a rotating sphere under gravity; basic conservation
properties; linear wave-dynamics and geostrophic adjustment; quasigeostrophic-dynamics
with Ekman friction; effects of isolated mountains on the general circulation
of the atmosphere; two-layer model of baroclinic instability and implications
to storm organization; wind driven ocean circulation. Prereq: One quarter
of fluid mechanics in any discipline, or consent of instructor.
35400. Topics in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
Nakamura
This course teaches science and art of numerical modeling at an elementary
level. Classroom discussions on mathematical principles will be supplemented
by a series of actual coding assignments. (Command of a programming language
is assumed—this is not a course on programming.) It is our goal that
at the end of the course each student ill have coded a working copy of
shallow water model on a rotating sphere (and do science with it). Prereq:
Calculus, working knowledge of Fourier Transform and of a programming
language (C, Fortran, IDL, etc.), access to a computer with a compiler
and runtime environment. No previous experience in fluid dynamics is necessary,
although this course alone does not make you a fluid dynamicist.
35500. Topics in Atmospheric Science
Pierrehumbert
Topics of current interest in atmospheric science, with a particular emphasis
on issues arising in recent publications. Topics covered have included:
tropical circulations, cloud-climate feedbacks, and dynamics of the stratosphere.
Prereq: Permission of the instructor.
35800. Dynamics of the Stratosphere
Nakamura
Focus on the vertical structure of the Earth’s atmosphere due to
compressibility and radiative heating, and its consequences on the dynamics,
particularly of the stratosphere. Emphasis is placed more on the underlying
physics than on the mere phenomenology of the stratosphere. Prereq: GeoSci
35200 or equivalent, or consent of instructor.
36800. Radar Meteorology
Srivastava
Principles of pulsed microwave radar — coherent and incoherent; scattering
of electromagnetic waves by hydrometeors; use of radar in the observation
of meteorological phenomena. Prereq: Consent of instructor.
37300. Radiation Transfer Theory
Frederick
Develops the theory of radiation emission, absorption, and scattering
by planetary atmospheres. Emphasis on the derivation and solution of the
radiative transfer equation for plane parallel, horizontally homogeneous
atmospheres. Prereq: Advanced undergraduate level knowledge of electromagnetic
theory, atomic structure, and differential equations.
39100. Advanced Radiation Sources
Smith
Theory and practice of new techniques and research applications in the
physical and biological science that profit from the advanced x-ray and
neutron sources, especially the Advanced Photon Source and Intense Pulsed
Neutron Source at Argonne National Laboratory. Prereq: By arrangement
with instructor. If necessary, remedial reading will be assigned.
40000. Reading and Research in the Geophysical Sciences
Staff
Prereq: Admission to Ph.D. candidacy.
This list was last revised on 6/04/2004.
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