Ge169b: Great Papers in Earth Science – Syllabus

Ge169b: Great Papers in Earth Science – Syllabus Instructor: V.C. Tsai Goal: To gain an appreciation for key historical breakthroughs in the Earth sciences and an understanding of what makes these contributions great. Weekly assignments: 1. Reading (typically will be 1 primary and 0-­‐2 complementary papers) 2. Historical context review (see note below) 3. In 1-­‐2 paragraphs, describe (A) something of interest to you from the reading, and (B) why you think this paper was influential and/or important. (A) can be (1) an unexpected or intriguing idea, (2) a point you don't understand or assumption think is questionable, or (3) anything else that catches your attention. The paragraphs are due at the beginning of each class and will be shared/discussed. Note on readings: It is expected that everyone will completely read the primary paper in full. You are not required to read all of the secondary papers in detail, but you should try to appreciate the main idea of those papers as well. If you are not familiar with the historical context of the papers, you are encouraged to find and read additional material on the topic (e.g., google the week's topic). We will discuss the historical context prior to discussion of the paper(s). Week 1: Age of the Earth W. Thompson (Kelvin) (1863), "On the secular cooling of the Earth", Trans. Royal Society Edinburgh, 23, 157-­‐170. [Reprinted from "Mathematical and Physical Papers" (1890), Vol. III, 295-­‐311.] J. Perry (1895), "On the age of the Earth", Nature, 224-­‐227, 341-­‐342, 582-­‐585. P. England, P. Molnar, F. Richter (2007), "John Perry's neglected critique of Kelvin's age for the Earth: a missed opportunity in geodynamics", GSA Today, 4-­‐9. Week 2: Plate Tectonics F.J. Vine and D.H. Matthews (1963), "Magnetic anomalies over ocean ridges", Nature, 199, 947-­‐949. J.T. Wilson (1965), "A new class of faults and their bearing on continental drift", Nature, 207, 343-­‐347. Week 3: Neptune U.-­‐J. Le Verrier (1846), "Recherches sur les mouvements d'Uranus" ("Research on the movement of Uranus"), Les Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences, Semester 1, No.22, 907-­‐918. U.-­‐J. Le Verrier (1846), "Sur la planete qui produit les anomalies observees dans le mouvement d'Uranus – Determination de sa masse, de son orbite et de sa position actuelle" ("On the planet that produces the observed anomalies on the movement of Uranus – Determination of its mass, its orbit and its current position"), Les Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences, Semester 2, No.23, 428-­‐438. Ge169b: Great Papers in Earth Science – Syllabus (page 2) Instructor: V.C. Tsai Week 4: Core R.D. Oldham (1906), "The constitution of the interior of the Earth, as revealed by earthquakes", Quarterly J. Geological Society London, 62, 456-­‐475. Week 5: Stable Isotopes H.C. Urey (1948), "Oxygen isotopes in nature and in the laboratory", Science, 108, 489-­‐496. Week 6: Gulf Stream H. Stommel (1948), "The westward intensification of wind-­‐driven ocean currents", Trans. American Geophysical Union, 29, No.2, 202-­‐206. Week 7: Ozone S. Chapman (1930), "A theory of upper-­‐atmospheric ozone", Memoirs of the Royal Meteorological Society, 3, No.26, 103-­‐125. M.J. Molina and F.S. Rowland (1974), "Stratospheric sink for chlorogluoromethanes: chlorine atom-­‐catalysed destruction of ozone", Nature, 249, 810-­‐812. Week 8: Three Domains of Life C.R. Woese and G.E. Fox (1977), "Phylogenetic structure of the prokaryotic domain: The primary kingdoms", Proc. National Academy Sciences, 74, No.11, 5088-­‐5090. J.D. Watson and F.H.C. Crick (1953), "Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid", Nature, 171, 737-­‐738. E. Zuckerkandl and L. Pauling (1965), "Molecules as documents of evolutionary history", J. Theoretical Biology, 8, 357-­‐366. Week 9: Glacier Movement J. Weertman (1957), "On the sliding of glaciers", J. Glaciology, 3, 33-­‐38. J. Glen (1952), "Experiments on the deformation of ice", J. Glaciology, 2, 111-­‐114.