625-101 Earth Sciences - The Global Environment

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Subject Description

This subject examines five topics. The Earth covers the origin of the Earth in a planetary system; the physical and chemical structure of the Earth; the geosphere; hydrosphere; and atmosphere; and origin and composition of the atmosphere. Geological materials covers minerals - the nature of crystalline substances; rocks as aggregates of minerals; an introduction to igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Plate tectonics covers why plate tectonics?; where plates collide-volcanoes, earthquakes, continental collision and mountain building; where plates part-continental drift, sea-floor spreading, mid-oceanic ridges; and within plates-uplift, weathering and erosion, transport of sediment, subsidence and sedimentation, volcanism. The basics of weather and climate covers the Earth in space; the importance of its orbital characteristics; and cold poles and warm equator. The Atmosphere covers basic properties of the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere; the friction layer; the lapse-rate; and vertical and mean-sea-level distributions of pressure, temperature, rainfall.

On completion of this subject, students should comprehend the materials that the Earth is made of; the diverse processes from continent-scale to microscopic-scale which shape the Earth; the mode of formation of the rocks which make up the geological record; and the structure of the Earth's atmosphere. Students will have developed the skills to observe, in the laboratory and the field, basic properties of the global environment.

Assessment

A 3-hour end-of-semester written examination and a 2-hour practical examination during the semester. Short tests may also be held during the practical sessions. A reading topic will be assessed in the examination.