This course will introduce fundamental continuum physics that shapes the earth's figure, internal structure and its evolution history. We will emphasize how different types of observational data from the surface and space are used to constrain the Earth’s structure and dynamics at a variety of scales. We will illustrate these concepts with examples of global and regional structure which cover relevant tectonic phenomena (e.g. earthquakes, seismic wave propagation, glacier rebound, isostasy, plate motions, lithospheric cooling, thermal structure, geomagnetic field, etc.).

(1) Plate tectonics (Chapter 2)
rotation of the plates on a sphere
type of plate boundaries
relative and absolute plate motions
(2) Gravity and the geoid (Chapter 5)
the Earth's mass and moment of inertia
inferring earth structure from geoid and gravity data
isostasy and elastic plate flexture
(3) Geomagnetism (Chapter 3 and 8.3)
the Earth's magnetic field
internal and external sources of geomagnetic field
electromagnetic induction and the Earth's conductivity structure
paleomagnetism and continental drift
magnetic anomalies and the age of the seafloor
(4) Heat flow and the Earth's thermal structure (Chapter 7 and 8.2)
mechanisms of heat transfer
the Earth's geotherm and thermal history
convection in the earth's interior
thermal structure of the oceanic lithosphere -- plate cooling
thermal structure of the continental lithosphere -- basin subsidence
(5) Seismology and earth structure (Chapter 4 and 8.1) taught by Yuancheng Gung
introduction to continuum mechanics and wave propagation in an elastic earth
body waves, surface waves and normal modes
inferring earth structure from seismic data
earthquake focal mechanism, fault-plane solution