It was the same here - fluid dynamics was an elective at my university as well (one I took, but still not core syllabus). I guess amount of funding for a domain

It was the same here - fluid dynamics was an elective at my university as well (one I took, but still not core syllabus). I guess amount of funding for a domain depends strongly on impact, and in the earth sciences output is much more immediately tangible than uncovering another supremely true but at-the-time inapplicable pattern of physical behaviour in the quantum, or context to humanity in the astronomical or cosmological domains.