Plate Tectonics and Global Geophysics
GE 4500/5400 (Fall Semester)

MWF 12:05-12:55 (Dow 633)

Prerequisites: (MA 3150 or MA 3160) and PH 2200 and GE 2000, or by the instructor’s permission

Instructor: Aleksey Smirnov
Office: Dow 425

Phone: 487-2365
E-mail: asmirnov [at] mtu.edu

Course Description/Overview

This course focuses on the theory of global plate tectonics including its basic principles, history and applications. The theory, finally formulated during the late 1960s, has now become the fundamental paradigm for earth sciences. Its success lies in the fact that it accounts for a broad range of geological and geophysical observations, and organizes these observations into a relatively simple view of the evolution of the earth at a global scale. The course provides a general introduction to the concepts that underlie this theory with a particular emphasis on the tools that earth scientists use to describe the motion of plates on a sphere. The theory of plate tectonics rests on a broad synthesis of geologic and geophysical observations. The latter part of the course discusses the global structure and dynamics of the Earth based on geophysical data.

Detailed course information can be found on Canvas (password required)