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Faults and Earthquakes: Geology 2120
Instructor: Eric Sandvol, sandvole@missouri.edu
Mailing address: 101 Geology Building
Office: Room 9 Geology Building
Phone: 884-9616
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 2:00pm-4:00pm
and by appointment
Overview
This course is designed to cover the fundamentals of "earthquake science" and the relevance of the scientific questions to society. Earthquakes are one of the most important natural hazards that, in extreme cases, can kill 100,000 of people from a single event. We will cover several different aspects of of earthquakes societal impacts. The first is how scientists and engineers asses earthquake hazard and risk. The second is seismology and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). You will need to be familiar with algebra and some very basic fundementals of geology.
The USGS's global earthquake hazard map (red colors = large hazard; white = low hazard). Black regions are where the USGS was not able to reliably estimate the earthquake hazard.
Grading
25% Final Exam
20 % Exam #1
20 % Exam #2
15% Homework
20 % Term Project
Primary Reference Book:
Earthquakes; Bruce Bolt
Secondary References (Introductory):
Inside the Earth; Bolt
Earth; Marshak
The small red circles are earthquakes which have been recorded and located by seismometers, while the blue circles are earthquake locations from historical data. The yellow lines indicate regions of weakness in the crust in the central and eastern U.S.
MU policy on academic honesty
Academic honesty is fundamental to the activities and principles
of a university. All members of the academic community must be confident
that each person’s work has been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed,
and presented. Any effort to gain an advantage not given to all students
is dishonest whether or not the effort is successful. The academic community
regards academic dishonesty as an extremely serious matter, with serious
consequences that range from probation to expulsion. When in doubt about
plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, or collaboration, consult the course
instructor.
Accommodation of students
with disabilities
If you have special needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) and need assistance, please notify the Office of Disability
Services, A048 Brady Commons, 882 4696, or the course instructor immediately.
Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate your special needs.
Links
USGS's Seismic Hazard Homepage
Department
of Geological Sciences :: College
of Arts and Science
University of Missouri-Columbia
last revised: summer 2003
Copyright © The
Curators of the University of Missouri