Welcome to ESS 211, the first in a series of three courses in the core of our undergraduate curriculum. For some of you, this will be your first step towards an earth-sciences major. For others, this will be the only university earth science class you ever take.  Either way, by the end of this course each of you will have developed the tools you need to do what your instructors do as scientists: make observations and use quantitative skills to interpret them in terms of the physical processes that shape our planet.

As you can tell from the title, the main objective of the course is to illustrate the nature of physical processes by showing how the earth’s surface and outer crust are physically shaped and modified. The course will serve as an introduction to the disciplines of geomorphology—the study of the evolution of landforms and the Earth’s surface—and of structural geology and tectonics—the study of how rocks on all scales, from an outcrop to a mountain range, are deformed. The course ties these disciplines together with the unifying theme of PLATE TECTONICS. We realize that for many of you, this class will be your first in university-level earth science, so we will begin the course with a summary of the Earth’s overall structure and composition.

ESS 211 serves students with diverse goals and interests. It is part of the core curriculum required for majors in Earth & Space Sciences, and as such it prepares majors for more advanced courses in geodynamics, geomorphology, and structure and tectonics. The course also constitutes one of the requirements for the minor. Students from other majors can elect part or all of the core series—ESS 211, 212, 213—if they wish to learn the fundamentals of solid-earth science.