A. Aoudia, ICTP
Lesson number 13 (A. Aoudia)
Structure of the Earth
This is the first lesson of the third part of the course, dealing with Solid Earth Geophysics. At the beginning the teacher gives a brief introduction to the course. The teacher describes the structure of the Earth, that can be divided in to different layers called crust, mantle, outer core and inner core. The outermost shell of the Earth is called lithosphere which is placed above the asthenosphere. Then the teacher described the basic concept of plate tectonics: the lithosphere is divided into a small number of nearly rigid plates which are moving over the asthenosphere. Most of the deformation that results from the plate motion takes place at the boundary of a plate. Plate boundaries are of three types:
- divergent: where plates are moving from each other
- convergent: where plates are approching each other
- conservative: where plates move laterally relative to each other.
Textbooks:
The Solid Earth - Second Edition: An Introduction to Global Geophysics
C.M.R. Fowler - Cambridge University Press
Fundamentals of Geophysics (Chapters 1,3)
W. Lowrie - Cambridge University Press
Additional readings
Modern Global Seismology (Intermediate level)
T. Lay and T.C. Wallace - Academic Press
The Seismic Wavefield (Advanced level)
B.L.N. Kennet - Cambridge University Press
Plate Tectonics - Berkeley University
Plate Tectonics - Berkeley University
An interesting resource about plate tectonics
An interesting resource about plate tectonics
The story of plate tectonics - United States Geological Survey
The story of plate tectonics - United States Geological Survey
Plate tectonics: geological aspects - University of Leicester (UK)
Plate tectonics: geological aspects - University of Leicester (UK)
The New Theory of the Earth
A documentary on plate tectonicsA documentary on plate tectonics
