EESB15H3

Earth History

Planet Earth is at least 4,400 million years old and a geological record exists for at least the last 3,900 million years in the form of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. The changing dynamics of convection deep within the Earth's mantle and associated super-continent assembly and breakup along with meteorite impacts, are now recognized as the major controls on development of the planet's atmosphere, oceans, biology, climate and geo-chemical cycles. This course reviews this long history and the methods and techniques used by geologists to identify ancient environments.