Courses Offerings

FALL 2024

Geodynamics Seminar: Origin and Evolution of the Continental Lithosphere
Subject associations
GEO 556

Despite its volumetric insignificance on Earth, the continental lithosphere is an immensely important geochemical reservoir, hosts the terrestrial biosphere, and impacts plate tectonics and therefore mantle convection. This course surveys how and why continental lithosphere is formed, preserved, and destroyed throughout Earth history. We tap into datasets collected using structural geology, geochemistry and petrology, radiogenic and stable isotopes, seismology, gravity, and heat flow, all of which are used to inform numerical and theoretical models.

Instructors
Blair Schoene

SPRING 2025

Rocks (SEL)
Subject associations
GEO 372

This course serves as an introduction to the processes that govern the distribution of different rocks in the Earth. We learn to make observations from the microscopic to continental scale and relate these to theoretical and empirical thermodynamics. The goal is to understand the chemical, structural, and thermal influences on rock formation and how this in turn influences the plate tectonic evolution of our planet.

Instructors
Blair Schoene

Previous Semesters

Fall Courses

Structural Geology (SEL)
Subject associations
GEO 373
Instructors
Blair Schoene
Earth History (SEN)
Subject associations
GEO 362 / ENV 362
Instructors
John A. Higgins
Blair Schoene

Spring Courses

Rocks (SEL)
Subject associations
GEO 372
Instructors
Blair Schoene
Undergraduate Course
Spring 2021
Responsible Conduct of Research in Geosciences (Half-Term)
Subject associations
GEO 503 / AOS 503
Instructors
Curtis A. Deutsch
Leo Donner
John A. Higgins
Larry W. Horowitz
Laure Resplandy
Blair Schoene
Frederik J. Simons
Jeroen Tromp
Bess Ward
Rong Zhang
Spring 2024
Quantifying Geologic Time
Subject associations
GEO 464
Instructors
Elizabeth Niespolo
Blair Schoene
Spring 2024
Natural Disasters (SEL)
Subject associations
GEO 103
Instructors
Blair Schoene
Undergraduate Course
Spring 2024
Fundamentals of the Geosciences
Subject associations
GEO 505
Instructors
Curtis A. Deutsch
Thomas S. Duffy
John A. Higgins
Satish C. Myneni
Blair Schoene
Bess Ward
Xinning Zhang
Spring 2024