Tectonophysics

The course unit aims to make students acquire the ability to understand and describe mathematically the main physical processes that take place within our planet, from the Earth's surface to the core-mantle boundary, with particular regard to phenomena that modify the Earth on time scales of 102 - 106 years. The mathematization of these processes is also relevant to achieve the goal of making us understand the changes that our planet undergoes and that collectively take the name of global change. The student will be able to mathematically model the perturbations in radial and tangential displacements and gravitational potential, today monitored through different geophysical and geodetic techniques, due to a wide range of Solid Earth phenomena, from the redistribution of masses at the Earth's surface (changes in sea level, mass instability in the glacial compartment of the planet, earthquakes) and inside (convection of the mantle), to instability in the Earth's rotation.

At the end of the course unit the student will have acquired the following skills:
1) will be able to matematize a realistic model of the Earth, spherically symmetric, self-gravitating and viscoelastic, in which the fundamental equations of conservation of momentum of momentum, angular momentum and Poisson are expanded in spherical harmonics;
2) will be able to derive in a completely analytical way the Green functions, relating to the perturbation of gravitational potential and surface deformations of the Earth, for surface and internal loads as well as dislocations, for a spherical, self-gravitating and incompressible model, due to surface and internal mass and redistribution and earthquakes;
3) will be able to use the results of the previous two points to matematize the physics inherent in the global processes that the Earth undergoes, following the melting taking place in the glacial compartment interacting with the solid part of the Earth, the changes in the average sea level and following the earthquakes that occur both in the Pacific belt of fire and in Italy, targeted towards a modern control the territory in which we live;
4) will be able to model and interpret from a physical point of view the perturbations of the Earth's rotation and gravitational potential, traceable to point 3) above, aimed at the exploitation of satellite gravitational data and GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) data;
5) will be able to apply the acquired methodologies to other planets and satellites of the Solar System, in particular to Icy Moons, such as Europa, Ganymede and Callisto of Jupiter and Titan and Enceladus of Saturn.