2023 Faculty Courses School of Science Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Graduate major in Earth and Planetary Sciences
Advanced Earth and Space Sciences E
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Earth and Planetary Sciences
- Instructor(s)
- Kenji Ohta
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 7-8 Tue (石川台2号館Ishikawadai Bldg. 2 307) / 7-8 Fri (石川台2号館Ishikawadai Bldg. 2 307)
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- EPS.A418
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2023
- Offered quarter
- 1Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 8, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
The course includes faculty commentary on classic papers in Solid Earth Science and discussion of related topics. Students give presentations on issues assigned by the teacher. The course aims to deepen students' understanding of the history of Solid Earth Science and the background of their own research topics. The course also aims to improve students' presentation skills in English.
Course description and aims
To appreciate research hystory and the unsolved problems regarding Solid Earth Scince field. Topics in the class are deep Earth structure, mantle and core dynamics, and formation and evolution of Earth, planets and moons.
Keywords
Solid Earth, crust, mantle, and core
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
At the beginning of each class, the teacher gives lectures, and then students present and discuss the assignment.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Guidance and introduction to the lecture | Students should carefully read the five papers used as teaching materials in this lecture. |
| Class 2 | Self-study: careful reading and understanding of course materials | Students should carefully read the five papers used as teaching materials in this lecture. |
| Class 3 | [Commentary and Discussion] Chemical Composition of the Earth's Core: The Case of Birch 1952 | Understand the contents of Birch 1952 and summarize the questions. |
| Class 4 | [Presetations by students] Chemical Composition of the Earth's Core: The Case of Birch 1952 | The presenter should prepare a presentation on the assignment, and other students should prepare their own responses to the assignment. |
| Class 5 | [Commentary and Discussion] Mantle Dynamics and Chemical Composition Evolution: A Case Study of Ringwood and Irifune, 1988 | Understand the contents of Ringwood and Irifune, 1988 and summarize the questions. |
| Class 6 | [Presentations by students] Mantle Dynamics and Chemical Composition Evolution: A Case Study of Ringwood and Irifune, 1988 | The presenter should prepare a presentation on the assignment, and other students should prepare their own responses to the assignment. |
| Class 7 | [Commentary and Discussion] Core-mantle Co-Evolution: A Case Study of Knittle and Jeanloz, 1991 | Understand the contents of Knittle and Jeanloz, 1991 and summarize the questions. |
| Class 8 | [Presentations by students] Core-mantle Co-Evolution: A Case Study of Knittle and Jeanloz, 1991 | The presenter should prepare a presentation on the assignment, and other students should prepare their own responses to the assignment. |
| Class 9 | [Paper description and discussion] Core light elements and core-mantle differentiation: on the subject of Poirier, 1994. | Understand the contents of Poirier, 1994 and summarize the questions. |
| Class 10 | [Presentations for assignments] Core light elements and core-mantle differentiation: on the subject of Poirier, 1994. | The presenter should prepare a presentation on the assignment, and other students should prepare their own responses to the assignment. |
| Class 11 | [Paper description and discussion] Whole Earth Dynamics: A Case Study of Kumazawa and Maruyama, 1994 | Understand the contents of Kumazawa and Maruyama, 1994 and summarize the questions. |
| Class 12 | [Presentations for assignments] Whole Earth Dynamics: A Case Study of Kumazawa and Maruyama, 1994 | The presenter should prepare a presentation on the assignment, and other students should prepare their own responses to the assignment. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
Provided at each class.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Elsevier [Treatise on Geophysics]
Birch, 1952 "Elasticity and constitution of the Earth's interior" J. Geophysical. Res.
Ringwood and Irifune, 1988 "Nature of the 650–km seismic discontinuity: implications for mantle dynamics and differentiation" Nature
Knittle and Jeanloz, 1991"Earth's Core-Mantle Boundary: Results of Experiments at High Pressures and Temperatures" Science
Poirier, 1994 "Light elements in the Earth's outer core: A critical review" Physical. Earth Planet. Inter.
Kumazawa and Maruyama, 1991 "Whole earth tectonics" The Journal of the Geological Society of Japan
Evaluation methods and criteria
The score is based on understanding degree of the class, quality of handouts students made, and students' presentations.
Related courses
- EPS.A205 ： Introduction to Earth Sciences
- EPS.A331 ： Earth Materials
- EPS.A424 ： Advanced Earth and Space Sciences H
- EPS.A426 ： Advanced Earth and Space Sciences I
Prerequisites
It is required that students have basic knowledge and research experiences in the solid Earth field.