Earth Science Courses

This is a course designed to delve in to the application of chemical oceanography, especially that of isotope tracers, to understand the long-term evolution of seawater and climate. The topics covered in the course will broadly include the: (1) the long-term evolution of seawater chemistry from the perspective of strontium, magnesium, osmium, and lithium isotopes; (2) changes in magnesium to calcium ratio of seawater over time; (3) boron isotopes and their application in pH reconstruction; (4) seawater carbonate chemistry – what controls the pH and alkalinity of seawater; (5) proxies and their application in paleoceanography.

Geochemistry of the lithosphere and hydrosphere, bio reactive elements, electronic structure of atoms, periodic tables, chemical bonds, Crystals, Ionic substitution, chemical and Isotope geothermometer, chemical precipitation and stability of minerals, acids and bases, salts and their ions, Thermodynamics, mineral stability, clay minerals, carbonate minerals, oxidation-reduction reaction, isotope fractionation, mixing and dilution, rate of chemical processes, chemical weathering, chemical composition of surface water, stable isotope geochemistry, Carbon cycling, other geochemical cycle (-P-N-S), Metabolism and geochemical index in biosystem, Mineral-Microbe-Interaction, Bio-weathering, Biomineralization.

Earth System Science increasingly relies on computational methods to infer, predict, and understand complex natural processes from large but incomplete observations. This course introduces the unifying framework of inverse problems, statistical learning, and experimental design that underpins modern scientific discovery across geophysics, atmospheric science, climate science, geology, and environmental science.

Basic fluid dynamics - Navier-Stokes equation, vorticity equation, Kelvin’s circulation theorem, energy and dissipation, helicity. Rotation - Coriolis force, linear inertial waves, formation of Taylor columns, geostrophy, quasi-geostrophic approximation. Stratification - Gravity waves, effect of rotation, Braginsky’s theory of stratified outer core of the Earth.

The concentration, isotopic composition, and distribution of the dissolved and particulate components of seawater tells the story of a fascinating and complex interplay between tectonic uplift, chemical and physical weathering, climate, biology, ocean circulation, and intrinsic properties of elements and ions in solution.

Role of topography and geology during interaction of Earth system processes; composition of Lithosphere, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere and Biosphere; Earth surface processes and its effect on earth systems, earth as a dynamic planet; Early atmosphere, evolution of atmosphere through time, evolution of hydrosphere and general circulation of ocean through time; Long and short term history of cryosphere; fossilization; Geochemical evidences documenting origin of life; extinction events, biosphere on land and ocean, Great oxygenation Event (GOE);Paleobiology; Microfossils; Indian climate present day and past; Global paleoclimatic record; Palaeo-monsoon record and the role of tectonics and green house forcing.

Theory: Rock forming minerals, textures of Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, Microtextures and reactions, using petrological datasets, rock types and tectonic settings, geothermometry and geobarometry, isochemical phase diagrams and its interpretations, linking petrology to geochronology, Geology of southern India and applications of petrology.

Short history of geodesy, gravitation, potential theory, Laplace’s equation, visco-elastic earth, gravimetry, geodetic sensors in the orbit, GNSS, altimeters, GRACE, climate change indicators and their relation to geodesy. References Heiskanen, W.

Historical development of seismology; harmonic oscillator; waves on a string; coupled oscillators; stress and strain; elastic wave equation; representation theorems; P and S waves, potentials, P–SV and SH decomposition; ray theory and Fermat’s principle; basics of ray tomography; plane waves, boundary conditions, reflection and transmission; seismic anisotropy; intrinsic attenuation; Rayleigh and Love waves, dispersion, phase and group velocities; Lamb’s problem; scattering and Born approximation; basics of full waveform inversion; passive seismic imaging and interferometry; normal modes of the Earth: spheroidal and toroidal modes, eigenfrequencies, mode splitting.

Nuclear systematics; decay mode of radionuclides; radioactive decay; Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd, Lu-Hf, Re-Os and U-Th-Pb systematics, U series disequilibrium, stable isotope fractionation, early Solar System processes, crust-mantle processes, aquatic processes, selected mass spectrometry techniques.

Plate tectonics and mantle convection, Constraining mantle flow from seismic tomography, Maxwell viscoelastic material, Spherical harmonics, Mantle viscosity, Creep mechanisms, Governing equations, Constraints of mantle flow modeling: geoid and dynamic topography, Thermal evolution of the Earth, Convection in other planets.

Vector fields: basic vector algebra, line, surface and volume integrals, potential, conservative fields, gradient, divergence, curl, circulation, Stokes’s theorem, Gauss’s theorem, applications in fluid mechanics and electromagnetism, Kelvin’s theorem, Helmholtz’s theorem.

Big Bang; origin of elements; early Solar System objects; bulk Earth composition; comparison of Earth and other Solar System objects; core-mantle differentiation; composition of the terrestrial mantle; mantle melting and geochemical variability of magmas; major, trace element and radiogenic isotope geochemistry; redox evolution of the mantle; evolution of the atmosphere and biosphere.

Earth’s internal structure: composition vs mechanical properties, Geoid, GIA and viscosity, Stress and Strain from seismology perspective, Theory of Elasticity, Wave mechanics, Seismic tomography, Earth’s free oscillations, Phase transformations within the Earth, Introduction to mineral physics, Spherical harmonics, Heat: conductive, convective and radioactive heat flow, Heat flow in oceans and continents, Half space vs plate cooling models, Convection within mantle and core, Structure of mid-oceanic ridge system, Strength of continental lithosphere