ERS404H5 • Volcanology and Geothermal Systems

Volcanic eruptions are one of the most dangerous and volatile geological hazard. In the 20th Century, almost 100,000 people are believed to have been killed in volcanic eruptions, with another 4.7 million directly affected by them, but, at the end of the 20th century, over 500 million people lived within the hazard zone of a volcano worldwide; cities such as Tokyo, Mexico City, Naples and Seattle are besieged by the threat of nearby volcanoes. Volcanoes also provide fertile soils, near-unlimited geothermal power generation potential and are an intricate part of the Earth system. This course aims to study the mechanism through which volcanoes form, erupt and evolve, their impact on our society and the benefits they provide in the form of geothermal energy. This will be accomplished through discussion, lab and scenario based learning exercises that will take place over one weekend (approx. 16 hours).

ERS201H5 and ERS203H5 and 0.5 credits from any other ERS course at the 200- or 300-level
Science
48P
In Class
Earth Science