EARTH SCI 716 / Plate tectonics: Processes, models and reconstructions

3 unit(s)

Prerequisite(s): Students should have a background in structural geology and/or plate tectonics or permission of the instructor to enroll.

This course will provide students with an in-depth understanding of plate tectonics, plate reconstructions and models with direct relevance to numerous geoscientific disciplines (e.g., exploration geoscience and palaeoenvironmental studies). Students will learn to use the opensource GPlates plate tectonic visualisation software to conduct analysis of the past motions of Earth’s continents. Through GPlates, students will integrate geological and geophysical datasets as well as understand the mathematical description of the past movements of the Earth’s plates.