Advanced Approaches to Crustal Deformation
E-PSCI 269
Subject & Catalog Number
Course Information
Description
This graduate course considers quantitative approaches to crustal deformation outside of classical numerical methods. Beginning with observational constraints such as fractal fault structure and kinematic histories, the course first develops the Somigiana tensor and distance scaling relationships. This is followed by an overview of boundary integral methods, both in their classical form and in possible nonlocal, higher-order, and mollified extensions. Fracture is treated using maximum-entropy concepts, and similar rheology-free descriptions of two-dimensional orogens are considered. Inertial and quasi-static discrete element models, along with smooth particle hydrodynamics, are discussed in the context of finite deformation problems. This leads naturally to peridynamic models that do not include notions of strain and stress. The course concludes with lattice models of fracture and finite-deformation orogenic evolution.
Recommended Prep
Continuum mechanics at the level of "Introduction to the Mechanics of Solids" (ENG-SCI 120) or equivalent in fluid mechanics.
Available for Harvard Cross Registration
