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Geodynamics
and Geomagnetism* *Note,
the course title is to be changed to |
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Home I Course overview I News and highlights I Notes, materials I Websites I Lectures I Backup site |
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Course overview |
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The course: This course is required in the Physics/Geophysics program and in our Honours, Earth and Planetary Sciences program. It is properly a final-year/graduate course. Students are expected to come to the course with a grasp of the mathematics, physics and geology that they would have acquired as they enter their final year in these two programs. Most students will have taken Elementary Earth Physics (EPSC 320), Earthquakes and Earth Structure (EPSC 330) and Geophysical Applications (EPSC 435) or equivalents before coming to this course. The materials covered in those course is expected of all students. As well, they should have completed a course in Structural Geology (EPSC 203 or equivalent) and Tectonics (EPSC 350 or equivalent). With these courses under ones belt, the seminar style of the course should be very accessible to students. The course will be given in two main modules followed by special topics, your student presentations and guest lectures Module 1: Global geodynamics (orbital motions, rotation, wobbles and nutations of the Earth, tidal deformations, space geodesy) Module 2: Mantle and lithospheric geodynamics of climate change (Isostasy and Earth deformation, surface loading, glacial cycles, sea level) Student presentations (formal, on any topic that one sees as being somehow related to the “new” theme of the course.) Special topics, guest lectures (Geomagnetism, geophysics on a spherical earth; geodynamo, field diffusion and dissipation, energetics of the dynamo, spherical harmonics) Each of the two main modules will comprises approximately 4 weeks and will be introduced by a 3-hour sectional lecture. A contemporary paper will be suggested (see below) for group study in preparation for the 3rd and 4th weeks. During the 3rd week, we shall lead a discussion on the topics of the these particular papers. During the 4th week of each module, paired students will lead discussions (time: approximately ½ hour) on any chosen topic that they see as being related to the overall theme of the module but not necessarily closely based on the suggested papers for the module. Midterm:
On
October 27th
following
Module 2, a short take-home midterm exam will be assigned to be
handed in upon completion on October 31. We shall then go over
this midterm during the week's lecture period. Special lecture/workshop: On November 3, Erik Chan will be invited to give us a talk/workshop on his own work relating to Geomagnetism. We have room for other guest lectures. Your
formal presentation: During
the weeks of November 14 and 21, you are asked to give your
presentation in the style of a scientific meeting. Typically, you
should aim for a 15-minute talk with PowerPoint or Keynote
slides. You should choose a topic of your interest that relates
to the new theme of the course: Global
Geodynamics and Climate Change.
Final
exam:
The
take-home final exam will be based on questions suggested by
students relating to their formal presentations. We (Olivia and
Natalya) will each provide 1 additional question for the exam.
The formal presentations will be posted on the course website for
reference.
The expected population of the course is slways small, probably fewer than 10 students. We shall get to know each other. __________________________________________________ The fine print ( read this carefully !): McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see www.mcgill.ca/integrity and Rights and responsibilities at a glance for more information). L'université McGill attache une haute importance à l’honnêteté académique. Il incombe par conséquent à tous les étudiants de comprendre ce que l'on entend par tricherie, plagiat et autres infractions académiques, ainsi que les conséquences que peuvent avoir de telles actions, selon le Code de conduite de l'étudiant et des procédures disciplinaires (pour de plus amples renseignements, veuillez consulter le site www.mcgill.ca/students/srr/honest/ ). In accord with McGill University’s Charter of Students’ Rights, students in this course have the right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be grade. __________________________________________________ Reference materials: Module 1: D.E. Smylie and M. Zuberi, Free and forced polar motion and modern observations of the Chandler wobble, Journal of Geodynamics 2009 48/3-5 226-229 (doi: 10.1016/j.jog.2009.09.028 ) P. Wu and W.R. Peltier, Pleistocene deglaciation and the Earth's rotation, The Geophysical journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 1984 76/3 753 -791 (doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.1984.tb01920.x) V. Dehant et al., Considerations concerning non-rigid Earth nutation theory, Celestial mechanics & dynamical astronomy 72/4 245-310 (doi: 10.1023/A:1008364926215 ) S. Adhikari and E. R. Ivins, Climate-driven polar motion: 2003–2015, Science Advances 8 April 2016; Vol. 2, no. 4, e1501693 (doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1501693) also here! L. Chen, et al., Rapid ice melting drives Earth's pole to the east , Geophysical research letters, Volume 40, Issue 11, 16 June 2013, 2625–2630(doi: 10.1002/grl.50552) Module 2: J. Mitrovica et al., Reconciling past changes in Earth’s rotation with 20th century global sea-level rise: Resolving Munk’s enigma Science Advances 11 Dec 2015: Vol. 1, no. 11, e1500679 (doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1500679) also here!, Tamisiea ME, Hughes CW, Williams SDP, Bingley RM. Sea level: measuring the bounding surfaces of the ocean. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 372: 20130336. 2014 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2013.0336) P. U. Clark, J. X. Mitrovica, G. A. Milne, M. E. Tamisiea , Sea-Level Fingerprinting as a Direct Test for the Source of Global Meltwater Pulse IA, Science 29 March 2002 VOL 295 (doi: 10.1126/science.1068797) Jerry X. Mitrovica, Mark E. Tamisiea, James L. Davis & Glenn A. Milne, Recent mass balance of polar ice sheets inferred from patterns of global sea-level change, Nature 22 February 2001 VOL 409 Kurt Lambeck,, Marco Anzidei, Fabrizio Antonioli, Alessandra Benini, Alessandra Esposito, Sea level in Roman time in the Central Mediterranean and implications for recent change, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 224 (2004) 563– 575 Jacqueline Austermann, Jerry X. Mitrovica, Konstantin Latychev and Glenn A. Milne, Barbados-based estimate of ice volume at Last Glacial Maximum affected by subducted plate Nature Geoscinece JULY 2013 VOL 6 (doi: 10.1038/NGEO1859) Robert M. DeConto & David Pollard, Contribution of Antarctica to past and future sea-level rise, Nature 31 March 2016 VOL 531 p. 591 (doi:10.1038/nature17145) ... and Jeff Tollefson (In Focus News item), Trigger seen for Antarctic collapse, Nature 31 March 2016 VOL 531 p. 562 (doi:10.1038/531562a) Robert Steven Nerem, Éric Leuliette, Anny Cazenave, Present-day sea-level change: A review C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006) 1077–1083, also available here! Anny Cazenave and William Llovel, Contemporary Sea Level Rise Annual Review of Marine Science 2010 Vol. 2: 145-173 (doi:10.1146/annurev-marine-120308-081105)
A good general reference for basic lithospheric and mantle geodynamics:
Presentations (starting the week of November 14 and continuing to the week of November 21) Students are expected to have chosen a topic for a presentation to be given in the style of a scientific paper presented at a geophysical conference (15 minutes, PowerPoint or Keynote slides with following questions). The topic of the presentation should, at least loosely, relate to the theme of the course. Students are asked to produce an abstract of their presentation and their slide sets for posting on the course website. Mid-term take home exam: The take-home midterm is now to be assigned on October 27. Midterm Guest Lecture: Erik Chan (November 3)
As we are now modifying the themes of this course, Geomagnetistm as previously presented in Module 3 is being de-emphasized. Erik Chan's lecture/workshop relates to this topic. For your information and interest, the topics that had been covered in the Geomagnetism module in past years are shown below. We will not explicitly deal with these topics and papers this year. Alexandra Witze, Magnetic mystery of Earth's early core explained (News item 2015, doi: 10.1038/nature.2015.19058) D. P. Lathrop and C. B. Forest, Magnetic dynamos in the lab, Physics Today 2011 64/7 40-42 (doi: 10.1063/PT.3.1166) D.
Crossley, O. Jensen and J. Jacobs, The
stochastic excitation of reversals in simple dynamos, PEPI
1986 42/3 143-153 (doi:
R. Holme, Geophysics: Magnetic ringing of the Earth, Nature 2009 59 652-653 (doi: 10.1038/459652a )
Addendum (once Module 4): For those of you who did not follow Earthquakes and Earth Structures last year, you might be interested in discovering something about mathematical geophysics as applied to a nearly spherical Earth. The following materials were presented there. This is not examinable! IPGP (U-Sorbonne, Paris VI) has produced an excellent tool kit of free FORTRAN-95 programs and subroutines for working with Spherical Harmonics: SHTOOLS Z. Alterman, H. Jarosch and C. L. Pekeris, Oscillations of the Earth, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 1959 252, 80-95 (doi: 10.1098/rspa.1959.0138) MIT Open CourseWare lectures (http://ocw.mit.edu): 12.510 Introduction to Seismology, (an excellent graduate course in seismology by Robert Van Der Hilst ; lecture 15 introduces our Module 4) Two lectures on seismic free oscillations by Nick Rawlinson (Australian National University): Free Oscillations I, Free Oscillations II. If you are interested in the myriad modes (an infinity3 of spheroidal modes and another infinity3 of torsional modes) of Earth oscillations, you might take time out to explore this website: http://lucien.saviot.free.fr/ by Lucien Saviot and this one: http://geodynamics.usc.edu/~becker/teaching-sh.html by Thorsten Becker. You might also look to this site for some interesting research results relating to very long period seismology and normal modes: Severine Rosat http://www.srosat.com/PRO/ Some observations... Superconducting Gravimeter, Onsala. |
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Course overview |
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©
Olivia Jensen, McGill University |
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