Meteorite energy variation with size. (Image by Dr. Ila Pillalamarri.)
Instructor(s)
Dr. Ila Pillalamarri
(Dr. P. Ila)
MIT Course Number
12.091
As Taught In
January IAP 2008
Level
Undergraduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
There are now about 170 identified impact craters on the Earth, and this number is growing, ever since the well known discovery of Meteor Crater in 1920s. Currently, multi-interdisciplinary research studies of impact structures are getting conducted in fields like mineralogy, petrology, environmental geology, and marine biology. The course objectives are to introduce basic principles of impact cratering, understand the application of analytical tools, and become familiar with geological, geochemical and environmental studies.
This course is offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month.