Lesson 1Primary reference sources and where to extract real data: recommended textbooks, review papers, and institutional data repositories (e.g., USGS, IRIS, DOI links)Dis section guide students to top data sources pon Earth composition an structure. It highlight key textbooks, review papers, an institutional repositories, an give strategies fi access, cite, an update quantitative datasets.
Core textbooks on Earth structure and compositionKey review papers and classic reference modelsUSGS, IRIS, and other institutional portalsUsing DOIs and citation practices for datasetsDownloading, formatting, and documenting dataLesson 2Physical states and rheology: solids, partially molten zones, liquid outer core, solid inner core; factors controlling phase (pressure, temperature, composition)Dis section talk bout physical states an rheology cross Earth interior, from brittle crust to ductile mantle an liquid core. Students link phase to pressure, temperature, composition, an volatiles, an check partially molten an weak zones.
Elastic, brittle, and ductile deformation regimesAsthenosphere and low-velocity zonesPartial melt generation and segregationViscosity controls: T, P, grain size, and fluidsRheology of the liquid outer core and solid inner coreLesson 3Outer core composition: Fe-Ni alloy with light elements (S, O, Si, C, H); measured constraints from seismology and cosmochemistryDis section check outer core composition as liquid Fe–Ni alloy wid light elements. Students mix seismology, density deficits, an cosmochemical arguments to check candidate components an dem implications fi di geodynamo.
Seismic evidence for a liquid metallic outer coreDensity deficit relative to pure liquid ironCandidate light elements: S, O, Si, C, and HCosmochemical and experimental constraintsImplications for convection and the geodynamoLesson 4Typical densities and density ranges: average values for continental crust, oceanic crust, upper/lower mantle, outer core, inner core with sources (kg/m^3)Dis section show representative density ranges fi major Earth layers an explain how dem determine. Students connect density to composition, pressure, an mineral phase, an learn use reference models an tables in quantitative problems.
Densities of continental and oceanic crustUpper and lower mantle density structureOuter and inner core density estimatesMethods: seismology, gravity, and mineral physicsUsing PREM and similar reference Earth modelsLesson 5Mantle composition: peridotite end-members (olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, garnet); major elements (Mg, Fe, Si, O) and trace elementsDis section analyze mantle mineralogy rule by peridotite, focus pon olivine, pyroxenes, an garnet. Students link major an trace element chemistry to phase stability, melting behavior, an geophysical observations of mantle structure.
Olivine structure, chemistry, and stability fieldOrthopyroxene and clinopyroxene in mantle rocksGarnet versus spinel facies in the upper mantleMajor element budgets: Mg, Fe, Si, and OTrace elements and mantle melting signaturesLesson 6Bulk elemental abundances of Earth: Fe, O, Si, Mg, S, Ni, Al, Ca; source datasets and where to find themDis section review bulk Earth elemental abundances, emphasize Fe, O, Si, Mg, an other major constituents. Students learn how estimates come from chondrites, mantle samples, an models, an practice find an interpret global compositional datasets.
Chondritic reference models for bulk EarthPartitioning of Fe, Ni, and siderophile elementsSilicate Earth versus total Earth compositionGlobal budgets of O, Si, Mg, and volatile SUsing published compilations and online databasesLesson 7Inner core composition: predominantly Fe-Ni with possible light-element admixture; crystallinity and seismic constraintsDis section explore inner core composition rule by Fe–Ni alloy, possible light elements, an crystalline structure. Students check seismic constraints, anisotropy, an phase relations, an evaluate competing models fi inner core growth an stratification.
Fe–Ni alloy and candidate light elementsSeismic velocities, anisotropy, and layeringSolidification, latent heat, and core growthCrystal structure: bcc, hcp, and phase relationsConstraints from high-pressure laboratory experimentsLesson 8Crust composition: continental vs oceanic; major oxides (SiO2, Al2O3, FeO, CaO, Na2O, K2O, MgO) and typical minerals (feldspars, quartz, mica, pyroxene, olivine)Dis section compare continental an oceanic crust compositions, emphasize major oxides, normative mineralogy, an tectonic setting. Students interpret whole-rock data, link oxides to minerals, an contrast felsic, intermediate, an mafic crustal domains.
Average continental crustal oxide compositionAverage oceanic crust and mid-ocean ridge basaltsLinking oxides to minerals: quartz and feldsparsMafic versus felsic crustal sections and layeringCrustal evolution through magmatism and recycling
