ELEMENTI DI SCIENZE DELLA TERRA

• provide general knowledge on control factors of geographic features at a global scale; • develop basic skills for the interpretation of the regional geographical features and their connection with the endogenous and exogenous dynamics of Planet Earth; • mature autonomous capacity to recognize the effects of the processes that have been active in a particular region and their role on the environmental equilibrium and their changes over time.

The course consists of 35 hours lectures integrated with 12 hours of practical activities dedicated to achievement of abilities in the use of topographic, geological and thematic maps. .

If the course will be held partially or totally online, due to the pandemic, some variations in the following list of contents could be necessary

• The Earth and its characteristics: the Lithosphere and the Internal structure of the Earth
• Plate tectonics: plate motion, global seismicity, plate margins and related geological processes
• Endogenous processes and tectonic motion: the relief and geological provinces
• Isostasy
• Evolution of the diverging margin: from the rifting to the ocean spreading
• Evolution of converging marins: from the subduction to the Mountain Building
• Plate tectonics and magmatism
• Plate tectonics and rock cycle
• Earthquakes and faults: intensity vs. magnitude, earthquakes and fault parameters, earthquake environmental effects
• Vulcanism: types of volcano, eruption styles and environmental effects: example from Italian volcanoes
• Exogenous processes: weathering and slope evolution, introduction to climate changes and environmental effects
• Sedimentary cycle and environmental effects: erosional processes and landforms, fluvial transport and landforms, introduction to the fluvial dynamics
• Climate changes and sedimentary cycle: oxygen isotopic curve and eustatism, marine terraces

Tutorials on

• Use of topographic map
• Introduction to the use of geological and thematic maps

Lupia Palmieri & Maurizio Parotto "Il Globo Terrestre e la sua evoluzione" Ed. Zanichelli