Download - EESC 2200 The Solid Earth System
EESC 2200The Solid Earth System
Bill Menke
Geophysicist
Terry Plank
Geochemist
Survey
Your major? DEES/Env DEES/Earth DE3B DEEE BCES Other
Have you taken? 2100-Climate 2300-Life
Summer activities
team sports
hiking
boating
science-related internships
Course Format
Monday 2:40-3:55
Monday meetings will always be a formal lecture
But note ...
questions and discussion are always encouraged
Wednesday 2:40-3:55
Wednesday meetings will not always be a formal lecture
We will also have
Class discussionsCase Studies
Projects and Tutorials
Monday 4:05-7:00
Our second meeting on Monday will be a lab
It will be conducted by our two TA’sLisa Streit and Tianxia Jia
Because of the large class size this year, we will break it into two sessions 4:05-5:30 and 5:35-7:00
Lab Reports are required
Text and Required ReadingsEarth: Portrait of a Planet, Third Edition
by Stephen Marshak; Publisher: Norton,
W. W. & Company, Inc.
ISBN-13: 9780393930368
Available at Barnes & Noble
Required readings will be posted on Courseworks (This week – Chapters 1 & 2 )
Inflatable GlobeYou will need an inflatable globe
Available from the Department for a small fee
See the TA’s
Globe needed for first two labs
Owing to the large class size, we will be hold two trips, one on
Saturday October 18, 2008And the other on
Sunday October 19, 2008You may opt to write a term paper in lieu of attending the fieldtrip
Required full-day fieldtripRequired full-day fieldtrip
Homework
will be assigned periodically
you will be given at least 1 week to complete each assignment
they will be due in hardcopy at the start of a designated class
(no homework has yet been assigned)
Grading
25 % Homework25 % Lab Report
25 % Midterm25% Final
-15% miss fieldtrip and no term paper
we almost never violate class rank inassigning grades
Bill & Terry have a written grading policy:www.ldeo.columbia.edu/users/menke/gradingpolicy.html
Today’s Discussion:
The significance of
Continents and Oceans
Although this is a course mainly about the physical aspects of the
earth, let’s start with a social question …
What significance have "continents" and "oceans" had
for human history
Let’s move onto a question concerning climate …
(how many of you have taken EESC2100 The Climate System)?
What significance have "continents" and "oceans" had
for climate
Let’s move onto a question concerning biology …
(how many of you have taken EESC2300 The Life System)?
What significance have "continents" and "oceans" had for the development of life on
earth?
The surface of the earth can be divided into oceans and
continents.
Do they have significance beyond the obvious fact that one is wet and the other dry, one is
low and the other is high?
Let’s examine aGlobal Topographic Dataset
This data viewer is at http://ingrid.ldgo.columbia.edu/SOURCES/.WORLDBATH/.bath/html+viewer?
Continents …. And …. Oceans
Viewer can makea topographicprofile
sea level
Is this the kind of profilethat you would get by pouring
water on any-old irregular surface ?
Pour in a little water … a little ocean …
Pour in a lot of water … a big ocean …
(demo here …)
Examine the boundary betweencontinent and ocean …
sea level
Very sharp change in topography …
Idealization: world has two levelscontinental level and ocean level …
continental level
Doesn’t work everywhere … e.g. Andes Mountains
ocean level
How would you test this idea of
two levels ?
Make a histogram of
global evevations
Topography at 9500 random points around the globe.Why is the density of points greatest at the equator?
Histogram of elevations
Narrow range of continental levels
Most data between -150 meters to 1500 meters
Somewhat less narrow range of ocean levels
Most data between -5000 meters to -3000 meters
The earth colored to bring out the geographic distribution of these two
levels
But what does it mean?
What are the right questions?
Why are there just two levels?(why not 3?)
Why is the boundary between the two levels so sharp?
What controls the depth of each level?
Why is the top level close to – but not exactly at - sea level?
Does water level control continental level; does continental level control sea level?
What approaches might allow us to answer these questions?
A planetary science approach
(fun, but dreadfully expensive …)
Only our earth has two distinct levels …