2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses School of Science Undergraduate major in Earth and Planetary Sciences
Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry
- Academic unit or major
- Undergraduate major in Earth and Planetary Sciences
- Instructor(s)
- Makiko Haba / Yasuhito Sekine / Tetsuya Yokoyama
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-6 Tue / 5-6 Fri
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- EPS.A330
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2025
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 19, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Geochemistry is a research field which tries to discover fundamental principles and laws that control the distribution of elements, isotopes, and chemical species in the solar system and the earth. In addition to fundamental researches, geochemistry is intimately related to applications such as space exploration and resource survey. Consequently, geochemistry has been developed significantly in the last 100 years of its history, becoming extremely important in earth and planetary sciences. This course consists of basic and application classes regarding geochemistry and cosmochemistry, specifically focusing on the origin and evolution of the solar system. The fundamentals for elements and isotopes will be given in the first seven classes, followed by the classes introducing the applications utilizing such tracers for elucidating the origin and evolution of the solar system.
Course description and aims
At the end of this course, students will be able to understand:
1) the origin of elements and the solar system
2) the timescale for the evolution of early solar system and early earth
3) chemical and isotopic distribution in the solar system and within the planets
Keywords
Elements, Isotopes, Meteorites, Early solar system, Early earth, Chronology
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Before coming to class, students should read the course schedule and prepare for the topics with handouts and references.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Elements and isotopes | Review the fundamentals of elements and isotopes |
| Class 2 | Origin of elements | Understanding of stellar nucleosynthesis of elements |
| Class 3 | Radioactivity | Understanding of radioactivity |
| Class 4 | Meteoritics | Understanding of meteorites and their chemical components |
| Class 5 | Chronology | Understanding of various chronometers |
| Class 6 | Formation of the Solar System | Understanding of formation and building materials of the Solar System |
| Class 7 | Mass fractionation of stable isotopes | Understanding of mass dependent isotope fractionation |
| Class 8 | Formation and chemical evolution of planetesimals | Formation theory of planetesimals and observations of asteroids |
| Class 9 | Proto-planets and snowlines | Condensation of volatiles and observations of outer Solar System |
| Class 10 | Gas giants and giant impacts | Understanding of formation of gas giants and subsequent giant impacts |
| Class 11 | Formation of the Moon | Understanding of formation of the Moon based on lunar samples |
| Class 12 | Magma ocean and the origin of the atmosphere and ocean | Formation of magma ocean and differentiation of planets |
| Class 13 | Evolution of the atmosphere and oceans | Understanding of chemical evolution on planetary surfaces |
| Class 14 | Habitability and Solar System explorations | Chemical evolution and habitability on Mars and icy moons |
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)
Handouts will be provided via T2SCHOLA
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Kenji Notsu "Cosmochemistry and Geochemistry" Asakurashoten (in Japanese)
Mitsuru Ebihara "Chemistry of the solar system" Shokabo (in Japanese)
Jun'ich Matsuda, Hisayoshi Yurimoto "Cosmochemistry and Planetary chemistry" Baihukan (in Japanese)
Evaluation methods and criteria
Students will be assessed on their understanding of the origin and evolution of the solar system and early earth, including their timescales.
Students' course scores are based on the reports assigned during the class.
Related courses
- LAS.A101 ： Earth and Space Sciences A
- LAS.A102 ： Earth and Space Sciences B
Prerequisites
No prerequisites