Università Roma Tre

THE AIM OF THIS COURSE IS TO PROVIDE THE BASIS ON THE DYNAMICS (I.E. FORCES) CONTROLLING THE EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH. IN THIS CLASS, WE WILL INTRODUCE AND USE CONTINUUM MECHANICS TO STUDY AND UNDERSTAND CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GEOMETRY, KINEMATICS AND DYNAMICS OF THE SOLID EARTH (WITH REFERENCES TO PLANETOLOGY), TO ALLOW THE STUDENTS TO IDENTIFY AND QUANTITATIVELY ANALYZE THE RELATIONS BETWEEN CAUSES (I.E. FORCES AND STRESSES) AND EFFECTS (TECTONICS). THE SUBJECTS INCLUDE THE ROLE PLAYED BY VOLUME (E.G. GRAVITY) AND SURFACE FORCES (E.G. PLATE TECTONICS, CRUSTAL STRESSES) AND THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH THE MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES OF THE EARTH CRUST/LITHOSPHERE.
SUBJECTS WILL BE PRESENTED FROM THE BASIC THEORETICAL BACKGROUND UP TO THEIR APPLICATIONS, INCLUDING THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF MINERAL AND ENERGY RESOURCES, WITHIN THE COMPLEX SYSTEM THAT CONSTITUTES THE LITHOSPHERE WITH PRACTICAL EXAMPLES AND INCLUDING THE PREPARATION BY STUDENTS OF A QUANTITATIVE GEODYNAMIC MODEL IN A SELECTED SECTOR OF THE LITHOSPHERE, ALSO BY SIMPLE NUMERICAL METHODOLOGY.