B5723 - GEOFISICA AMBIENTALE

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student has a basic knowledge of the physical phenomena occurring within the solid Earth and of the physical models that describe them. The student is also able to understand and evaluate the main applications of geophysics in the environmental field.

Course contents

-Physical theory of the Earth: structure, composition, and moment of inertia.

-Terrestrial heat flow, Earth's thermal budget, the law of steady-state conduction, time-dependent conduction, ocean floor topography, and sea-level variations.

-Earth’s gravity field, geoid, reference ellipsoid, normal gravity, gravity measurements, free-air and Bouguer corrections, gravity anomalies, and the Airy and Pratt models of isostatic compensation.

-Stress and strain in isotropic and homogeneous elastic media. Seismic waves, seismic rays, reflection and refraction, seismic wave velocities within the Earth, surface waves, and anelastic attenuation.

-Earthquakes, hypocenter and magnitude, seismic moment and released energy, focal mechanisms.

-Geodetic techniques and their main applications for studying the Earth system.

-Introduction to the Earth’s magnetic field.

Readings/Bibliography

D. Turcotte e G. Schubert, Geodynamics, Cambridge, 2002.

Lecture notes by Prof. Paolo Gasperini.

Additional texts and online resources (articles, websites, and videos) will be suggested during the course.

Teaching methods

Classroom lectures with active student participation, including reports and collaborative presentations based on textbooks and online resources recommended by the instructor.

Assessment methods

The assessment consists of an oral examination, typically structured around three questions aimed at evaluating the student's knowledge of three topics covered during the course.

Students who participate in the practical sessions by presenting and discussing articles agreed upon with the instructor may answer two of the three questions through a review of the activities they have carried out. The third question will be chosen by the instructor and will concern another topic from the course.

The final grade is the average of the scores obtained on the three questions. The grading scale is as follows:

18–20: Limited preparation; knowledge emerges only with guidance from the instructor.
21–23: Preparation covering only a few topics.
24–26: Good preparation on most topics; satisfactory command of the basic tools.
27–29: Good preparation and solid command of the basic tools.
30–30 cum laude: Excellent preparation; strong ability to argue, make connections between topics, and demonstrate full mastery of the basic tools.

 

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

 

The use of AI is prohibited during the final exam. Any use constitutes a breach of academic integrity.

Teaching tools

Computer and projector, whiteboard.

Office hours

See the website of Massimo Nespoli