Course: Extreme Geological Events

Just like earthquakes, there are regular and extreme versions of volcanic eruptions. Although earthquakes and eruptions are very different processes, they both share the fact that the largest events are …

In this video, Dr Wim Degruyter explains the two main types of volcanic eruptions, effusive and explosive. One of the main things that distinguishes these two is the material that …

We’ve looked at where volcanoes are located and which ones are erupting today. Here we’ll consider what we mean by a volcanic eruption. Magma At specific locations inside the Earth, …

Volcanic eruptions occur regularly on the Earth’s surface, several eruptions will be happening right now as you read this. They are a common activity, and range from the ones we …

When compared to the events in Week 1, even the largest megaquakes seem insignificant. But their impact on the planet hasn’t been insignificant. Earthquakes are the mechanism by which tectonic …

We’ve considered where earthquakes strike and some of the reasons for that. Now we’re going to delve more deeply into the causes of earthquakes. A simple definition of earthquakes is: …

In this video, Dr David Thompson explains where earthquakes occur in the world and the reasons for this. In Week 1, we looked at the differentiation or internal layering of …

Earthquakes are a regular and frequent activity on our planet. There are millions recorded everyday all over the world. They range from ones so small that we don’t even feel …

All of the types of events we look at this week highlight the fact that we live on a dynamic planet. It has been said that change is the only …

In Week 1, we’ve seen extreme events of enormous magnitudes. These events were very rare, in some cases they occurred only once in the universe’s or Earth’s lifetime. The cosmological …

This week we’ve looked at extreme events on cosmological and geological timescales. In Activity 2, Dr Morten Andersen explained how Earth was formed and took the shape we know today. …

In this video, Dr Morten Andersen explains how Earth began to take the shape we know today. During the first 800 million years or so of Earth’s existence it was …

There are many complex processes on Earth that make it suitable for life. Based on our current understanding the key ingredient is liquid water. Water turns into ice at a …

In the previous step we looked at the importance of the formation of light and then heavier elements. Elements can join together in millions of different combinations and are the …