ESC2011

Crustal processes

Dr David Lambert (Coordinator)

8 points
* 8 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton
* Prerequisites: ESC1011 and ESC1022, or permission of head of department
* Prohibitions: ESC2081, ESC2091

Objectives On the completion of this subject students will be able to characterise sedimentary processes and their products in marine and terrestrial environments; review the interpretation of past depositional environments and tectonic processes; describe and classify large and small scale structural features of deformed rock sequences; outline the structural makeup of orogenic belts; analyse the rheological properties of the crust and mantle.

Synopsis This subject consists of two units run in parallel; both are compulsory. (1) Sedimentation stratigraphy and biostratigraphy. Characterisation of sedimentary processes and their products in marine and terrestrial environments; interpretation of past depositional environments; relationships between depositional environments and tectonic processes; consideration of large scale stratigraphic relationships and changes in sediment types through time; biostratigraphic and palaeoecological inferences of fossil groups, emphasis given to Pre-Cambrian and Palaeozoic faunas. (2) Structural geology and tectonics. Description and classification of large and small scale structural features of deformed rock sequences; relationships between geometry of structures, and applied stress fields; structural make-up of orogenic belts, the geometry of thrust-belts and extensional terrains in a plate tectonic framework; rheological properties of the crust and mantle; Navier-Coulomb relations and faulting; ductile creep; crustal extension models; continental collision; deep seismic reflection results.

Assessment Examinations (4 hours): 65%
* Practical work/fieldwork: 35%

Prescribed texts

Boggs S Principles of sedimentology and stratigraphy Prentice-Hall, 1995
Clarkson E N Invertebrate palaeontology and evolution 2nd edn, Allen and Unwin, 1987
McClay K R The mapping of geological structures Hallsted Press, 1987