Geodynamics Seminar

Coin against rocks.

"Spinifex" textured skeletal pyroxenes typical of the flow tops of komatiites, as beautifully displayed on Pyke's Hill. (Photo courtesy of A. Daly, WHOI.)

Instructor(s)

MIT Course Number

12.753

As Taught In

Spring 2005

Level

Graduate

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Course Description

Course Features

Course Description

In this year's seminar, we will embark on a scientific journey through some of the most controversial topics about the origin and formation of our home planet. This journey will take us to other planetary bodies - even to other solar systems - as we immerse ourselves in observations and theories from the microscopic to the universe scale.

The seminar will be organized around three broad questions: How was the Earth formed? What did early Earth look like? When did living organisms first appear on Earth?

Experts in meteorites, geology of other planets, thermodynamics and tracers of living organisms, and theories of formation and evolution of planets, including early atmosphere and oceans, will come to WHOI and help us address these questions.

Related Content

Glenn Gaetani, and Laurent Montesi. 12.753 Geodynamics Seminar. Spring 2005. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.


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