Introduction
to Earthquakes, EASA-193, Spring 2009
Instructor: Dr. Robert B. Herrmann,
rbh@eas.slu.edu, TEL 314
977-3120, FAX 314 977 3117
Teaching Assistant: Sebastiano d'Amico sdamico@slu.edu
Lectures:
MWF, 0900-0950, O'Neil 206
Office Hours: MWF 1000-1130,
O'Neil 203
Class Web Page:
http://www.eas.slu.edu/People/RBHerrmann/Courses/EASA193F08/
Course Organization:
The objective of this course is to get you to think about a problem, to
address problems logically and to understand the impact on imperfect
observations on decisions. These skills are not specific to
science, but to all problems in life. Scientific results can
always be challenged. However, to be meaningful, the challenge must be
organized and presented in an organized manner that permits independent
evaluation.
This course will focus on Earthquakes and the impact of Earthquakes on
society. Before we can start addressing societal impact, we need
to know what an earthquake is and what it effects it can cause.
Such a study also raises the question of why there are earthquakes in
addition to the usual when and where to they occur.
In previouos incarnations of this course, I have found that very simple
concepts are just not understood, either because the student does not
care or because of math or physics anxiety. Everything presented
is simple, though.
Course Format:
Monday and Wednesday - lectures
Friday - in class exercise leading to an assignment
Grading:
Quizes ( 2 or 3 ) - multiple choice, true/false, one or
two written answers
Assignments (5 - 10)
Final Project - a PowerPoint presentation on a topic to be given
mid-semester
All assignments and quizes have equal weight
ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUT BE SUBMITTED ON
TIME!
EXCEPTIONS TO TAKING QUIZES OR COMPLETING ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE REQUESTED
BEFORE THE DATE IN QUESTION
YOU WILL KNOW WHAT
IS DUE AND WHEN FROM THE COURSE WEB PAGE. ANYTHING NOT COMPLETED
ON TIME IS A ZERO!
Topics:
- Measurements (Week 1): Units of distance, time and volume.
Concepts of velocity, travel time vs distance
- Introduction to earthquakes (Weeks 1-2): what earthquakes
are, how we describe earthquakes, where earthquakes occur, how often
earthquakes occur, how we record earthquakes, why earthquakes occur,
historical earthquakes, damage from earthquakes, earthquake prediction.
Earth history (Weeks 2-3): origin of the solar system,
accretionary processes, origin of Earth and moon, magma oceans and
differentiation, basic present-day Earth structure.
- Plate tectonics (Weeks 4-6): heat sources, heat transfer,
viscosity and liquid vs. solid, mantle convection, plate motions,
general plate boundaries and case studies, history of plate tectonics
(scientific revolutions), exceptions to plate tectonics.
- Faults and faulting (Week 7): basic definitions and
properties of faults, stress and strain, elastic rebound, creep and
silent earthquakes, brittle vs. ductile, tsunamis.
- Earthquakes revisited (Weeks 8-10): rupture processes,
asperities, earthquake sequences, focal mechanisms, deep earthquakes,
earthquake size and magnitude scales.
- Seismic waves, seismograms, and seismometers (Weeks 10-12):
wave definitions and review, P and S waves, reflections, refractions,
Snell's law, earthquake location, surface waves, normal modes, analog
vs. digital, displacement vs. velocity vs. acceleration, decoupling and
damping, modern deployments.
- Earth structure in detail (Weeks 13-14): radial Earth
structure and seismic discontinuities, oceanic vs. continental
structure, 3D mantle structure and seismic tomography, active source
seismology
- Societal issues (Week 15): Earthquake, econonomics,
development, politics
Required Reading: