SIO 225: Physics of Earth Materials

D. C. Agnew

This course covers the physics of and mathematical tools to describe some of the physical properties of rock, especially its deformation. The intention is to provide a clear picture of some of the basic concepts applicable to all continua, a thorough introduction to certain classes (notably elastic solids), and an overview of other areas, to the level that the student will know where to find out more. Methods for the solutions of specific problems will be discussed only briefly. The course is intended for first-year graduate students with a good undergraduate background in math and physics.

4 units, 3 lecture hours/week, Fall Quarter

Topics Included:

• Deformation: infinitesimal strain in 2-D and 3-D, elementary finite strain.
• Stress tensor and conservation equations
• Constitutive equations: elasticity
• 2-d elasticity problems, elastic dislocations
• Elastic waves in an unbounded medium
• Attenuation in nearly-elastic materials; viscoelasticity.
• Fracture mechanics applied to rock
• Porous media: fluid flow and poroelasticity

The primary books used for the course will be Malvern, Introduction to the Mechanics of a Continuous Medium, and Guegen and Palciuskas, Introduction to the Physics of Rocks.

Last Revised 20 May, 1997, dagnew@ucsd.edu