Handbook

This subject outlines the theory of plate tectonics and evaluates its role as the dominant control of macrotopography on Earth. Controls of landforms and bathymetry are examined in relation to plate boundaries, ocean basins, continental margins, continental interiors and sedimentary basins. Part of the subject considers map and outcrop-scale geological structures, including faults and folds, and their relationship to plate tectonics. A brief introduction to stress, strain and earthquake analysis in the context of plate tectonics is given. Aspects of Earth history are considered in relation to past mountain belts, continents and oceans. Practicals are a series of exercises designed to reinforce the material covered in lectures and include techniques for analysing structures in maps and cross sections and problems on plate motion. One field trip to the South Coast of New South Wales is included in the subject.