Natural sites around us offer numerous scientific questions. What is happening in front of us? What is going to happen after a perturbation? These questions we are asking ourselves, but also the persons around us ask, society asks, companies ask, are not trifle questions. While generally these questions are considered applied problems, related for example to economical resources or polluted sites, the underlying problems and the understanding of the processes taking place are fundamental and delicate questions, and, to be able to provide tentative answers, it is necessary to mobilize the latest concepts and the most refined technologies.
The purpose of this module is to introduce some of the concepts and methods used to address the physics of natural sites. The lectures will cover heuristic methods from applied geophysics, environmental geochemistry and fluid mechanics put into practice in IPGP in the team "Physics of Natural Sites". Classes will be linked to other MASTER classes (seismology, geochemistry, water chemistry, remote sensing) and research done in IPGP. Experimental methods will include the methods for the characterization and monitoring of active faults, active volcanoes, hydrothermal systems, and their application in industrial and environmental problems.
The course is divided in 8 units, listed below. Each unit consists generally in a 2-hour lecture and 2-hour practical work including exercises and experiments. Please see the planning on the Master web page.
PS1: What is a natural site? Overview (October 4, 2pm-4pm; October 4, 4pm-6pm) PS2: The underground environment (October 11, 2pm-4pm; October 11, 4pm-6pm) PS3: Groundwater in natural sites (October 18, 2pm-4pm; October 18, 4pm-6pm; Fieldwork October 24, 9am-6pm) PS4: Gases in natural sites (October 25, 2pm-4pm; October 25, 4pm-6pm) PS5: Environmental radioactivity in natural sites (October 30, 2pm-4pm; October 30, 4pm-6pm) PS6: Electromagnetism in natural sites (November 7, 9am-11am; November 7, 11am-1pm) PS7: Analog modelling of natural processes (November 14, 9am-11am; November 14, 2pm-4pm) PS8: Non-linear dynamics in natural sites & Synthesis (January 2020)
