DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

This course comprised of recent knowledge of earth especially crust and mantle. The course leads through the older ideas such as the geosynclinal theory, continental drift and sea floor spreading with emphasis given to the new plate tectonics theory for the development of crust. The second part comprises of continental rifts, hotspots and formulation of the theory of plate tectonics. Tectonic plates are pieces of earth that move around and float on top of mantle. Lastly, various types of plate boundaries, neotectonics, natural hazards and application to mineral industry are part of the course. 

1. To help students understand the history of plate tectonics and how it shaped our planet earth.
2. To deduce the knowledge of plate tectonics and use it as a tool for understanding natural hazards e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and for exploration of mineral and hydrocarbon resources.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course is designed to acquire the knowledge about the various types of plate boundaries, their kinematics and dynamics. This will help the students to understand the mountain building activity and changes that occurred on the earth with the passage of time.

COURSE CONTENTS

1. Concept of geosyncline and sedimentary basins
2. Sea floor spreading, oceanic ridges and trenches
3. Continental rifts
4. Intra-oceanic islands
5. Hot spot and mantle plumes
6. Continental drift and reconstruction
7. Concept of plate tectonics
8. Historical perspective
9. Mechanism of plate tectonics
10. Plates and plate boundaries
11. Relative and absolute plate motions
12. Extensional, compressional and transpressional tectonics
13. Subduction zones
14. Transform and transcurrent faults
15. Introduction to neo-tectonics and related hazards
16. Application of geotectonic in natural resource explorations