625-101 Earth Sciences - The Global Environment

Subject presented by Professors A J W Gleadow and I R Plimer.

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.

A 3-hour end-of-semester written examination; 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.