Geophysics uses physical methods to study the Earth’s system, including seismology, geodesy, and atmospheric science. It is computationally intensive, with the Earth Simulator being the fastest supercomputer from 2002-2004. Geophysicists use supercomputers to study the Earth’s core and predict climate change, but the latter remains a challenge.
Geophysics is a branch of Earth sciences that uses quantitative physical methods to clarify some aspects of the planetary system. Geophysics includes much of seismology, geodesy (size and shape of the Earth), atmospheric science, the study of the Earth’s magnetic field, geothermometry, hydrology, oceanography, tectonophysics, geodynamics (study of Inner Earth), Exploration and Engineering Geophysics, Engineering Geophysics, Glaciology, Petrophysics, Applied Geophysics, Mineral Physics and Engineering Geology.
Geophysics is based on the reality that mass processes in matter can often be characterized in the abstract using simple physical equations. Unfortunately, when many component pieces are in play, even if the pieces move according to simple laws, their emergent properties are complex. As a result, geophysics has a reputation for being one of the most computationally hungry domains of science. The Earth Simulator (ES), capable of performing 35.86 trillion floating point calculations per second, or 35.86 TFLOPS, located in Kanagawa, Japan, was the world’s fastest supercomputer from 2002 to 2004 and is primarily used for geophysical applications.
An example of the application of geophysics is the study of the earth’s core through the analysis of seismic waves. Using supercomputers, geophysicists can map irregularities in the Earth’s core on scales as small as a kilometre. One topic that currently baffles geophysicists is the heterogeneity of the Earth’s outer core, which is believed to be liquid. At one point, the outer core was believed to be quite homogeneous, but geophysical calculations have shown otherwise. Scientists now suspect that the outer core may consist of alternating layers of liquid and solid material.
There are many possible geophysical computational studies that we currently do not have the computing power to launch. One notoriously difficult area is that of climate prediction. The extent of climate change over the next century is a variable that many world governments would like to know, but there is no scientific method to reliably predict the world’s climate so far in advance.
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