Tectonophysics
Tectonophysics covering lithospheric elasticity, heat conduction, mantle convection, earthquake mechanisms, and rock rheology through integrated observation and modeling.
Summary
What you’ll be able to do
Demonstrate an understanding of the Scientific Theory of Plate Tectonics by writing, solving, illustrating, and exemplifying Euler’s formula for rigid tectonic plates moving on a sphere.
Demonstrate an understanding of the earthquake deformation cycle in time and space by sketching a map over ~100 km and a time series over ~1000 years.
Demonstrate an understanding of the physical principles of crustal deformation by writing, applying, and solving the differential equations governing motion under the constitutive relations for rigid, elastic, and Maxwell visco-elastic rheologies.
Demonstrate an understanding of quantitative reasoning for testing geophysical hypotheses by comparing two competing models with appropriate statistical tests.
Visualize plate motions on a 3-dimensional sphere by writing, debugging, and writing computer applications.
Analyze geophysical data and interpret them by implementing simple models in the Matlab computer language.
Source: UW Guide 1· UW Guide 2
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Prerequisites
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- Graduate/professional standing
Professors
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Student experience
the class
Elasticity and flexure of the earth's lithosphere, heat conduction, mantle convection, earthquake mechanisms, rock rheology, and fluid migration in the earth's crust; integration of geophysical observations, laboratory experiments, and theoretical models.
difficulty & workload
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Topics
- Lithospheric mechanics and thermal processes
- Integration of observations, experiments, and models
- Plate tectonics and spherical kinematics
Skills
- Solving Euler’s formula for rigid tectonic plates
- Applying differential equations for crustal deformation
- Testing geophysical hypotheses using statistical tests
- Writing and debugging computer applications for visualization
- Implementing models in Matlab to analyze geophysical data
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Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
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Model & dataset provenance
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"output_id": "7e3b44386c9a892cceb214121affef2d3150c69a840cfd4ef021094debd93c9b",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}