ABOUT THE COURSE:It is hard to imagine topics more interesting than the structure and evolution of the planet, as manifested by phenomena as dramatic as earthquakes. The goal of this course is to introduce students about these phenomena via an introduction to seismology, which is one of the cornerstones on the modern earth sciences. Seismology has been defined as the study of earthquakes and associated phenomena, or the study of elastic waves propagating in the earth. By integrating techniques and data from physics, mathematics, and geology, seismology has produced a remarkably sharp picture of the earth´s interior. The subject has much to offer mineralogists or petrologists studying the composition of the earth´s interior, students of tectonics interested in processes of the lithosphere, geologists interested in the nature and evolution of the crust, engineers concerned with seismic hazards, and planetologists interested in the evolution of terrestrial planets.On completion of the course the student should be able to explain general concepts of earthquake seismology, and its link to society. They may be able to explain source, path and receiver as the main components in seismology. They will be able to demonstrate how the earthquake mechanism is derived from waveform data. They can discuss the basics of the seismic attenuation and how the observation of earthquakes leads to improved Earth models. During this NPTEL course, I will provide ppts, assignments, homework´s along with lecture notes. We will refer text book entitled "An Introduction to Seismology, Earthquakes and Earth Structure" authored by Seth Stein and Michael Wysession published from Blackwell publishing. Videos, Lecture notes and PPTs would be sufficient to understand each and every topic of this course.INTENDED AUDIENCE: Anyone from geophysics, physics, engineering, geology, earthquake engineering, earth sciences, geosciences, earth and atmospheric science having interest in learningPREREQUISITES: Basic knowledge of Physics and MathematicsINDUSTRY SUPPORT: Any company/industry working in the field of seismic hazard, oil and gas exploration will recognize/value this online course
Overview
Syllabus
Week 1:Basic seismological theory, waves on a string, stress and strain, seismic waves.Week 2:Snell’s law, Plane wave reflection and transmission.Week 3:Surface waves, dispersion.Week 4:Normal modes of the earth.Week 5:Refraction seismology, Reflection seismology.Week 6:Seismic waves in a spherical earth, Body wave travel time studies.Week 7:Anisotropic earth structure, Attenuation and Anelasticity.Week 8:Composition of the mantle and core.Week 9:Earthquakes, focal mechanisms, moment tensors.Week 10:Brief on Earthquake geodesy.Week 11:Source parameters, Earthquake statistics.Week 12:Seismology and Plate tectonics, Spreading centers, Subduction zones.
Taught by
Prof. Mohit Agrawal
