Course: Extreme Geological Events

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 …

So far we’ve considered earthquakes, but what about the most extreme version, so called megaquakes. In this course we define extreme events by how frequent they have occurred relative to …

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. …

There was a cascade of extreme events that led to Earth forming and becoming able to support life. But in general, how likely or unlikely do you think it is …

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 …