GEO604: Water & Planetary Habitability

Course Description

Water is inseparable from life as we know it and from the physical, chemical, and dynamical processes that link planetary interiors, surfaces, atmospheres, and orbits. This seminar surveys the role of water in planetary habitability, drawing on geophysical, geochemical, atmospheric, and planetary science literature. Topics include the origin and evolution of water on Earth; its coupling to climate, tides, and interior convection; divergent outcomes on Venus and Mars; and subsurface oceans on icy moons and water-covered exoplanets. The aim is to understand, and perhaps to provoke new ways of thinking about, how water enables, mediates, and sometimes limits planetary habitability. Offered: Fall 2026.

References

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2. Zaki, A.S., Lamb, M.P. (2026). Identifying the topographic signature of early Martian oceans. Nature, 652, 878–885. [DOI]

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