The course aims to provide students with an understanding of key topics in modern techniques to simulate the deep Earth, with particular emphasis to atomistic...

Deep Earth and Planetary Modelling (GEOL0046)

The course aims to provide students with an understanding of key topics in modern techniques to simulate the deep Earth, with particular emphasis to atomistic computer simulations. Specific examples from current research will be presented.

By the end of this module students will become familiar with:

Basic thermodynamic concepts and their relation to microscopic physics. 1st and 2nd law of thermodynamics. The direction of natural processes.
	Probability and its relation to Entropy. The partition function.
	Thermodynamic potentials: Helmholtz free energy, Gibbs free energy, Enthalpy. Equivalent formulations of the 2nd law.
	The Boltzmann and Gibbs distributions, canonical and gran-canonical averages, sampling methods.
	Calculating free energies with modern computational methods to simulate materials at high pressure and temperature.
	the Earth internal structure.
	earth's core composition, temperature and transport properties.
	phase diagrams and phase boundaries within the Earth.
	Practical examples, e.g. thermal expansion of materials. Hands on computer experiments.

EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE|PLANETARY SYSTEM SCIENCE

Attending and assessing Departmental seminar series (20 seminars) over the autumn and winter terms. Assessment styles include group presentations and written...

Earth and Planetary System Science (GEOL0039)

Attending and assessing Departmental seminar series (20 seminars) over the autumn and winter terms. Assessment styles include group presentations and written reports. The course includes a compulsory field trip (currently to the Ries meteorite crater in Germany).

By the end of this module students will have:

a thorough understanding of Earth and Planetary theories, paradigms, concepts and principles and an in-depth understanding of more specialised areas;
	a highly developed ability to consider issues from a wide range of multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary perspectives and to draw on appropriate concepts and values in arriving at a critical assessment.
	actical and Transferable Outcomes:
	a highly developed ability to analyse, synthesise summarise and critically evaluate information from academic literature, ideas, interpretations, field observations and other sources;
	the ability to communicate highly effectively to a variety of audiences in written, graphical and verbal forms.