FALL 2008-PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF THE SOLID EARTH,
GEOL 5700-001

CLASS TIME AND PLACE: MWF 11:00-11:50 am, BESC 155

INSTRUCTORS:
Craig Jones: Phone 303-492-6994, email: cjones@cires.colorado.edu

Lang Farmer: Phone: 303-492-6534, e-mail: farmer@cires.colorado.edu.

OFFICE HOURS: Farmer; M and Tu 3-4 PM, Th 2-3 PM, Benson Earth Sciences Bldg 422A
Jones MW 1:30-2:30, BESC 400C

COURSE REQUIREMENTS: (basic chemistry and physics)

GRADING: Based upon a combination of homework (40%) and midterm (25%) and final (25%) scores plus participation in class (10%).

IMPORTANT DATES:

Labor Day (no class): September 1st
Midterm: October 6th, in class
Class Cancelled-November 3rd
Thanksgiving/Fall break (no class): November 24th -28th
Final: Last regular class OR December 16th, 10:30 am, BESC 155

TEXTBOOK:Required: Anderson, New Theory of the Earth (2007), required
Supplemental: Karato, The Dynamic Structure of the Deep Earth (first half of course).
Other: Turcotte and Schubert, Geodynamics, is helpful for material in the latter part of the course.
Brown and Mussett, The Inaccessible Earth, 2nd edition (1993) is out of print but on reserve in Benson Earth Sciences Library and will be used for some readings
Stüwe, Geodynamics of the Lithosphere: An Introduction (2002) might be used for some readings.

SYLLABUS/READING LIST:

Week 1: Aug. 25-Aug. 29

25- Introduction

27- Basic chemical principles (FARMER)

29- Earth accretion and early differentiation (FARMER)
Reading- Anderson, Chapt. 1-3;)

Week 2: Sept. 1-5

1- HOLIDAY

3- Earth accretion and early differentiation-core formation (FARMER)

5- Core (physics-JONES): Seismological and other geophysical constraints, the geodynamo.

Reading-Halliday, A. N., 2000, Space Science Reviews, 92,  p. 355-370.Reading-  Anderson, Chapt. 10, 26 pp. 344-5 (Karato Ch. 6)

Week 3: Sept. 8-12

8- Stress and strain (JONES)

10- Convection in the mantle (JONES)

12- Class Discussion:

Rubie, D. C., C. K. Gessmann, and D. J. Frost (2004), Partitioning of oxygen during core formation on the Earth and Mars, Nature, 429 (6987), 58-61.

Wookey, J., and G. Helffrich (2008), Inner-core shear-wave anisotropy and texture from an observation of PKJKP waves, Nature, 454 (7206), 873-U824.

Reading-  handout, Anderson Ch. 7 (Karato, Ch. 4 (mainly) + some Ch. 1)

Week 4: Sept. 15-19

15- Sublithospheric Mantle (Mineralogy/phase transitions; FARMER)

17- Seismological layering of the mantle (JONES)

19- Class Discussion: TBA

Reading-Anderson, Chapt. 8 pp. 102-108, 9, 22, 15 (Karato, Ch. 4 (mainly) + some Ch. 1)

Week 5: Sept. 22-26

22- Oceanic Lithosphere (Physical perspective-JONES)-thermal subsidence and heat - flow

24- Mantle derived magmas and Earth structure -FARMER)

26- Class Discussion:

Forsyth, D. W., Scheirer, D. S., Webb, S. C., Dorman, L. M., Orcutt, J. A., Harding, A. J., Blackman, D. K., Morgan, J. P., Detrick, R. S., Shen, Y., Wolfe, C. J., Canales, J. P., Toomey, D. R., Sheehan, A. F., Solomon, S. C., Wilcock, W. S. D., and Team, M. S., Imaging the deep seismic structure beneath a mid-ocean ridge: The MELT experiment: Science, 280 (5367), p. 1215-1218, 1998.

Asimow, P. D., and C. H. Langmuir, The importance of water to oceanic melting regimes, Nature, 421, 815-820, 2003

Reading-  Anderson, Chapt. 4, 14, 17, 26 (Karato Ch. 2, 4)

Week 6: Sept. 29-Oct. 3

29- Convergent Plate Margins (FARMER)

1- Forces driving plate motion (JONES)

3- Fate of Subducted Slabs-Chemical Perspective (FARMER)

Reading-  Anderson, Ch. 4  handout (Karato Ch. 4)

Week 7: Oct. 6-10

6- Midterm

8- Slab dip, Volcanic arcs and forces resisting plate motion and fate of slabs (JONES)

10- Ocean Island basalt (FARMER)

Reading-  Anderson, Ch. 4, part of Ch. 14? (Karato, Chapt. 2,4)

Week 8: Oct. 13-17

13-Plumes and plate reconstructions (JONES)

15- Ocean island basalts and plumes (FARMER)

17- Discussion:

Courtier, A. M., and 14 others, Correlation of seismic and petrologic thermometers suggests deep thermal anomalies beneath hotspots. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 264 (1-2) pp. 308-316, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2007.10.003, 2007.

Class, C., and S. L. Goldstein, Evolution of helium isotopes in the Earth's mantle, Nature, 436, 1107-1112, doi: 10.1038/nature03930, 2005

FOR REFERENCE (if interested)

Montelli, R., Nolet, G., Dahlen, F.A., Masters, G., Engdahl, E.R., and Hung, S.H., Finite-frequency tomography reveals a variety of plumes in the mantle. Science, 303 (5656) pp. 338-343, 2004

Boschi, L., Becker, T., and Steinberger, B. Mantle plumes: Dynamic models and seismic images. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. (2007) vol. 8 (10) art num. Q10006, doi:10.1029/2007GC001733, 2007.

Reading-  handout, Anderson Ch. 4 (pp. 49-57), parts of Ch. 14 (review Ch. 4 Karato)

Week 9: Oct. 20-24

20- Continental Lithosphere (Overview; FARMER)

22- Tectosphere observations: Surface waves, continental heat flow (JONES)

24- Class Discusssion:

Conrad, C., and Lithgow-Bertelloni, C., Influence of continental roots and asthenosphere on plate-mantle coupling. Geophys. Res. Lett., 33 (5), L05312, pp. 4, 2006

Lee, C. T. A., Lenardic, A., Cooper, C. M., Niu, F. L., and Levander, A., The role of chemical boundary layers in regulating the thickness of continental and oceanic thermal boundary layers: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 230, no. 3-4, p. 379-395, 2005. and there is a correction to figure 9

Reading- Anderson , Ch. 8; Brown and Mussett, Chapt. 10 (Karato, Chapt. 2)

Week 10: Oct. 27-31

27- Continental Mantle Lithosphere (Chemical Perspective; FARMER)

29- Continental heat flow (disequilibria) and elastic plate thicknesses (JONES)

31- Discussion:

Lee, C.T., Yin, Q.Z., Rudnick, R.L., and Jacobsen, S.B.,, Preservation of ancient and fertile lithospheric mantle beneath the southwestern United States: Nature, 411, p. 69-73. 2001

King, S.D., Archean cratons and mantle dynamics: Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 234, p. 1-14

Reading- Handouts. Anderson, Ch. 26 Brown and Mussett, Chapt. 10&11.

Week 11: Nov. 3-7

3- NO CLASS

5- Continental Crust – Archean vs. Proterozoic vs. Phanerozoic (FARMER)

7- Strength of continental lithosphere (JONES)

Reading-  Stüwe, Ch. 5

Week 12: Nov. 10-14

10- Internal differentiation of Crust (Lower vs. Upper Crust-FARMER)

12- Crustal physical characteristics/forces of continental deformation (JONES)

14 Discussion:

Burov, E.B., and Watts, A.B., 2006, The long-term strength of continental lithosphere: “jelly sandwich” or “crème brûlée”?: GSA Today, v. 16, p. 4-10.

For reference for above: Jackson, J., 2002, Strength of the continental lithosphere: Time to abandon the jelly sandwich?: GSA Today, v. 12, p. 4-10.

Moser, D.E., Bowman, J.R., Wooden, J., Valley, J.W., Mazdab, F., and Kita, N., 2008, Creation of a continent recorded in zircon zoning: Geology, v. 36, p. 239-242.

For reference for above:Harley, S.L., and Kelly, N.M., 2007, Zircon - Tiny but timely: Elements, v. 3, p. 13-18.

Reading-  Handouts

Week 13: Nov. 17-21

17- Magma Production in Continental Lithosphere (basalts; FARMER)

19- Physics of magmatism (JONES)

21- Discussion-

Silver, P. G., M. D. Behn, K. Kelley, M. Schmitz, and B. Savage, Understanding cratonal flood basalts, Earth Plan. Sci. Letts., 245, 190-201, 2006.

Buck, W. R., Einarsson, P., and Brandsdottir, B., 2006, Tectonic stress and magma chamber size as controls on dike propagation: Constraints from the 1975-1984 Krafla rifting episode: Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth, v. 111, no. B12,

Reading-  Handouts, Farmer chapter on continental basalts from Treatise on Geochemistry, parts of Turcotte and Schubert (9-11, 6-12, 6-2 to 6-6)

Week 14: Nov. 24-28

HOLIDAY

Week 15: Dec. 1-5

1- Magma Production in Continental Lithosphere (andesites/rhyolites; FARMER)

3- Physics of earthquakes (JONES)

5- Discussion: TBA

Reading-  Handouts, part of Stein and Wysession

Week 16: Dec. 8-12

8- Magma Production in Continental Lithosphere (granitic rocks; FARMER)

10- Review

12- Discussion: TBA (or Final)
Reading-  Handouts
 [Final : TBA]

TEXTBOOKS ON RESERVE IN EARTH SCIENCES LIBRARY

Brown, G. C. and A. E. Mussett, The Inaccessible Earth, 2nd Edition
Karato, S., The Dynamic Structure of the Deep Earth: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Another good reference for geochemistry portion of class is William White’s online Geochemistry text:
http://www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/classes/geo455/Chapters.HTML

GEOL5700 home | C. H. Jones | CIRES | Dept. of Geological Sciences | Univ. of Colorado at Boulder

Last modified at November 18, 2008 2:47 PM