Courses

• CAS ES 333: Earth Surface Processes
  Evolution of Earth's landscapes. Topics include weathering rates, soil development, mass-movements and slope stability, tectonic geomorphology, glacial and periglacial geomorphology, and the effects of climate change on landform development. Three hours lecture, two hours lab.
• CAS ES 351: Paleoclimatology and Paleoceanography
  Examines causes and effects of climate change throughout Earth's history. Topics include ice age climates and glaciations; oceanic history; linkages between Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets; tectonic effects; ice-core, coral, and marine sediment records; El Niño, terrestrial extinctions.
• CAS ES 360: Geodynamics I
  (Meets with GRS ES 660.) Introduces basic physical principles of Earth's structure and dynamics. Driving mechanisms and plate motion; reflection, refraction seismology, magnetism, gravity and the Geoid, heat flow, tomography, mantle convection. Oceanic and continental lithosphere in active tectonic regions.
• CAS ES 371: Introduction to Geochemistry
  (Meets with GRS ES 671.) Chemical features of Earth and the solar system; geochemical cycles, reactions among solids, liquids, and gases; radioactivity and isotope fractionation; water chemistry; origins of ore deposits; applications of geochemistry to regional and global problems.
• CAS ES 401: Senior Independent Work
  
• CAS ES 402: Senior Independent Work
  
• CAS ES 423: Marine Biogeochemistry
  Oceanic nutrient and biogeochemical cycling in the context of the marine response to global change. Links between local and global scales are emphasized. Topics include oceanic productivity, iron limitation, and oceanic glacial-interglacial biogeochemistry. Three hours lecture, one hour discussion. (Offered alternate years.)
• CAS ES 424: Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
  Recognition and interpretation of common igneous and metamorphic rocks, both in hand sample and in thin section; the relationships between rocks and the tectonic environments in which they formed. Three hours lecture, three hours lab, and occasional field trips.
• CAS ES 440: Marine Geology
  Examines the evolution of ocean basins and marginal seas, changes in structure and composition of ocean basin throughout the last billion years, and the contribution of oceanic geological processes to the chemistry and biochemistry of earth.
• CAS ES 443: Terrestrial Biogeochemistry
  The patterns and processes controlling carbon and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Links between local and global scales are emphasized. Topics include net primary production, nutrient use efficiency, and biogeochemical transformation. Meets with CAS BI 443/643.
• CAS ES 483: Geodynamics II: Fluids and Fluid Transport
  Large- and small-scale phenomena in oceanic, atmospheric, and landsurface fluids. Properties of gases and liquids; surface body forces; statics; flow analysis; continuity and momentum conservation. Darcy's Law; potential, open channel, and geostrophic flow; dimensional analysis; diffusion, turbulence.
• CAS ES 491: Directed Study in Earth Sciences
  Individual instruction and directed research of a selected topic.
• CAS ES 492: Directed Study in Earth Sciences
  Individual instruction and directed research of a selected topic.
• CAS ES 500: Field Geology
  Scientific observation, interpretation, and solution of geological problems in the field through application of field mapping techniques. Includes recognition of rock types and structures as well as metamorphic effects of tectonic events, map making methods, and report preparation.
• CAS ES 503: Structural Petrology
  Structural analysis of deformed rocks in thin section. Deformation mechanisms at the crystal lattice and grain scale. Interpretation of tectonic deformation processes and pressure-temperature conditions based on preserved microstructure and metamorphic mineral growth. (Offered alternate years.)
• CAS ES 505: Plate Tectonics and Kinematics
  Structure and geometry of lithospheric plates and plate boundaries; mechanisms of divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries; orthogonal and oblique subduction; triple junctions; mantle plumes, nature and origin of large igneous provinces and sedimentary basin, Phanerozoic orogenic belts.
• CAS ES 507: Dynamical Oceanography
  Introduction to the physical ocean system. Physical properties of seawater; essential ocean dynamics; mixing and stirring in the ocean; simple waves; observed current systems and water masses; and coupled atmosphere-ocean variability. Also offered as CAS GE 507.
• CAS ES 514: Dynamic Landsurface Hydrology
  Land surface hydrology with emphasis on the unsaturated zone. Development and applications of physics governing transport of water, vapor, and heat in soils and the near surface atmosphere. Effects of vegetation, topography, and water table on runoff, evapotranspiration, and recharge. (Offered alternate years.)
• CAS ES 533: Quantitative Geomorphology
  Quantitative analyses of surface processes that lead to landform evolution and landscape change. Emphasizes study of analytical techniques in understanding specific depositional and erosional processes; models of global landscape change; tectonic and climatic geomorphology.
• CAS ES 534: Ice-Age Systems
  Cenozoic climate change and development of Earth's ice sheets; distribution and stratigraphy of glacial deposits; ice-ocean atmosphere interactions and feedback mechanisms; geomorphic and glaciologic models for ice-sheet reconstructions; numerical models of ice-sheet growth and decay. (Offered alternate years.)

Note that this information may change at any time.

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