EAPS 67 Geomechanics
As Earth and planetary scientists we ask a variety of questions about our changing climate, the forces that shape our landscape, and how heat and fluids alter Earth’s surface and subsurface over different spatial and temporal scales. This course introduces the basics of how heat moves, how and why fluids move, and importantly, a way to incorporate the math and physics you have been exposed to in college and high school to Earth and planetary science problems. We will ask fundamental questions about how our planet works, develop equations that represent physical situations, and then probe how changing boundary conditions or different properties of the system affect the outcome. The questions we ask are not confined to Earth, and as such, we will also touch on processes on other planetary bodies as well. Graduate credit requires several additional readings and a writing assignment relating one’s research to themes covered in the course.