Internal geophysics of the Earth and planets

lphys2161  2019-2020  Louvain-la-Neuve

Internal geophysics of the Earth and planets
Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
5 credits
22.5 h + 7.5 h
Q1
Teacher(s)
Bergeot Nicolas; Dehant Véronique;
Language
English
Prerequisites
Basic training in physics and mathematics (level of bachelor in sciences or applied sciences).
Main themes


The topics/themes covered in the teaching unit are the structure and physics of the Earth and of the other terrestrial planets, their rotations, their evolutions, their own overall characteristics, and the global geodynamics of the Earth and terrestrial bodies (planets and moons) in the solar system.
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1

a.     Contribution of the teaching unit to the learning outcomes of the programme (PHYS2MA and PHYS2M1)
AA1: A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4, A1.5, A1.6
AA2: A2.1, A2.2
AA3: A3.1, A3.2, A3.4
AA6: A6.1
AA7: A7.3
AA8: A8.1, A8.2
b.    Specific learning outcomes of the teaching unit
At the end of this teaching unit, the student will be able to:
1.     present the main mechanisms that govern the internal structure of the solid Earth and the geophysical techniques used to observe them at global scale ;
2.     Apply these concepts to the knowledge of the terrestrial planets in the solar system.
 

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content


  1. Internal structure of the Earth and terrestrial planets
  2. Free oscillations of the Earth and terrestrial planets
  3. Seismology, plate tectonics and earthquakes
  4. Geomagnetism of the Earth and terrestrial planets
  5. Short introduction to geodesy and GNSS (GPS)
  6. Tides (solid) of the Earth and terrestrial planets
  7. Gravitational force, gravitational potential of the Earth and terrestrial planets
  8. Heat flux from the Earth and terrestrial planets
  9. “Geophysical” habitability of terrestrial bodies of the solar system
Teaching methods
Lectures and exercises, with a visit of a geophysical site.
Evaluation methods


Other information
Targeted students: Students in Master of Physics, Mathematics and Geographical Science and Engineers
Bibliography


Syllabus préparé pour l’unité d’enseignement / Syllabus prepared for the teaching unit
Faculty or entity
PHYS


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Master [60] in Physics

Master [120] in Geography : Climatology

Master [120] in Physics