GEOS4320 Physics of Solid Earth (Undergraduate-level)
This course covers the structure and evolution of the Earth through different subjects of geophysics. Plate tectonics is introduced as a framework for discussing crustal and mantle dynamics. The fundamentals of gravity, thermal processes, seismology, and the mechanical behavior of rocks are investigated in the lectures. A variety of tectonic settings, such as subduction zones, the lithosphere and asthenosphere as well as oceanic and continental crusts are explored in details by analyzing their geophysical characteristics and geological significants.
GEOS 5335 Introductory Seismology (Graduate-level)
It covers the fundamentals of seismology, in particular focuses on the theories of seismic wave propagation in acoustic, elastic, anelastic and anisotropic media. We start this course with wave propagation phenomena on a simple 1D string to introduce some basics concepts, such as stress and strain, reflection and transmission, etc. Then we gradually incorporate complexities to the problem, for instance, adding impedance contrast to the string, including different boundary conditions, extension to 2-D and 3-D problems, considering free oscillation, etc. We also discuss physics on anisotropic and attenuation materials and what seismologists can learn about the properties of the Earth’s materials as well as tectonic processes, from observations of anisotropy and attenuation. This course also covers observational methods in seismology, which are applicable to the deep structure of the Earth as well as petroleum deposits in the crust. The theories of earthquakes and methods used for retrieving earthquake source information, including epicenter locations, moment tensor solutions and rupture processes, are also covered in this course.
GEO5336 Computational Geophysics (Graduate-level)
Studying geophysical phenomena usually involves solving partial differential equations (PDEs) with heterogenous model parameters and complicated boundary/initial conditions. Numerical techniques are important tools for solving these PDEs. This course introduces major numerical approaches used by geophysicists, including finite-difference, finite-element, spectral- element, and pseudo-spectral methods. Analysis of numerical errors are covered in this course, including analysis on dispersion, dissipation, stability and accuracy. Compared with other courses on numerical methods offered in mathematics or computer science departments, this course is specifically designed to introduce how to numerically solve complicated and practical problems relevant to geophysics. Introduction on programing languages, including Fortran and C, as well as MPI and Openmp for high-performance computing, are included in this course.
GEOS5398 Seismic Imaging (Graduate-level)
This course covers widely used seismic imaging technologies in global and exploration seismology communities. These technologies allow us to investigate the distributions of reflectivity and velocity in the Earth’s interior. This course includes reviews on basic seismic processing, acoustic and elastic wave equations and the asymptotic ray theory. Its major contents include ray-based seismic migration technologies, such as Kirchhoff and Gaussian beam migration, as well as wave equation based migration technologies, such as one way and reverse time migration. Two velocity model building technologies, full waveform inversion and migration velocity analysis, are included in this course. We also include discussions on common imaging gather and phase encoding in migration processes.
GEOS5V08023 Geodynamics (Graduate-level)
This course provides quantitative discussions about the physical properties of the Earth’s materials and dynamic processes driving the solid Earth. Topics include plate motions, continuum mechanics, elasticity and flexure, heat transfer, gravity, fluid mechanics, rock rheology, and crustal faulting as mechanisms and consequences of plate tectonics. It also provides quantitative introductions to the dynamics and properties of the Earth, including the core, mantle, lithosphere, asthenosphere and crust. This course provides students with backgrounds for advanced studies on geology and geophysics. It also provides basics for high-level geology and geophysics graduate students whose research are about Earth’s structures.
GEOS5V08023 Physics of Earthquakes (Graduate-level)
This course covers a wide range of topics related to earthquake sources, including earthquake detection/location, faulting mechanics, earthquake rupture inversion and imaging, friction laws and their applications in studying fault failure and rupture, kinematic and dynamic aspects of earthquakes. Learning these topics enables students to better understand earthquake physics, and also helps them to get familiar with recent attractive research topics, such as induced seismicity, rupture of large megathrust earthquakes, earthquake detection with machine learning algorithms, etc.