Essentials of Geophysics

As taught in: Fall 2004

An illustration demonstrating surface and nodal patterns of free oscillations.

Surface and nodal patterns of free oscillations. (Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.)

Instructors:

Prof. Robert Van Der Hilst

MIT Course Number:

12.201 / 12.501

Level:

Undergraduate / Graduate

Course Features

Course Description

This course is designed to be a survey of the various subdisciplines of geophysics (geodesy, gravity, geomagnetism, seismology, and geodynamics) and how they might relate to or be relevant for other planets. No prior background in Earth sciences is assumed, but students should be comfortable with vector calculus, classical mechanics, and potential field theory.