Teaching

GEOL200: Earth's Fury; Living with Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunami.

Fall 2015 syllabus.

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunami frequently remind us of the dangers associated with living on a constantly changing planet.  How do people prepare for these rare but dramatic events? Students will study the science behind earthquakes and volcanoes, how it guides monitoring, forecasting, prevention, and response, and the cultural and ethical aspects of these events.

This class is one of the "I" Courses for Fall 2013: Issues-Inspiration-Imagination; http://www.iseries.umd.edu/

GEOL 200 is organized as a "flipped" course:pre-recorded lectures are posted online whereas the class time is dedicated to guided exercises, which replace homework (occasional the exercise needs to be finished outside of the classroom). There will be discussion sessions a long-term group project to be done during and after class.

GEOL412/612: Geology of Terrestrial Planets

Fall 2015 syllabus

• GEOL412 (undergraduate version)
• GEOL612 (graduate version)

Geological features of Mercury, Venus, Mars and the Moon with an emphasis on results from recent NASA planetary mission. Class is organized to follow geological processes or observation throughout the inner solar system. Topics covered include interior structure, impact cratering, tectonic and volcanic history, surface conditions and climate change, and habitability.

GEOL680: Geodynamics

Fall 2014 syllabus

Fall 2014 syllabus

The mechanics and dynamics of the Earth's interior and their applications to problems of Geophysics. This course considers several rheological descriptions of Earth materials (brittle, elastic, linear and nonlinear fluids, and viscoelastic) and emphasizes analytical solutions to simplified problem.

GEOL789M: Computational Geodynamics

Spring 2015 syllabus

An introduction to the techniques used to model geodynamics processes. The focus is on understanding and applying techniques, not on proving their worth and programming. You will become conversant in Finite Element, Boundary Elements, and Finite Differences modeling, although we will not explore these topics the rigor expected by Applied Mathematics.

GEOL100: Physical Geology

Note: I am no longer scheduled to teach this class.

A general survey of the rocks and minerals composing the earth, its surface features and the agents that form them, and the dynamic forces of plate tectonics. The class will start with an introduction to the various rock types encountered on Earth and their origin. We will then focus on the way these rock deforms, starting from microscopic processes and culminating with an account of the global structure of our planet and its deformation regime: plate tectonics. Returning to the surface, we will expose the various processes that form our landscapes and the geological record. We will end with the interaction between the Earth and life on Earth, especially humans, and the place of the Earth in the solar system.

GEOL457/GEOL657: Seismology

Note: I am no longer scheduled to teach this class.

General overview of the basics of seismology, starting with wave propagation, seismic reflection and refraction. Application to the determination of the seismic velocity and anisotropy structure of the Earth. Earthquake generation, postseismic deformation and creep events, relation to faulting and plate tectonics.

12.521: Computation Geodynamics Modeling (with Jian Lin and Mark Behn)

An overview of numerical methods used in geodynamics modeling such as Finite Element, Finite Difference, and Boundary Elements. The emphasis is on the derivation of each methods and how to use some common software, but not on the implementation and programmation of each technique

12.756: Geodynamics seminar, The Early Earth (with Glenn Gaetani)

A series of external speakers invited to review current research topics related to the Geodynamics of the Early Earth, followed by a geological excursion to the Superior Province in Ontario