Science now reveals the true cause of the dam breach flood that destroyed Johnstown in 1889. The tragic loss of more than 2200 lives was preventable; the initial investigation of the flood was hijacked, delayed, and distorted by powerful members of the industrial elite. This book bridges the gap between history and science, reexamining eyewitness accounts of the flood and historic documents about the investigation, and applying new LiDAR, GPS, and hydraulic studies to solve the mystery - what caused the Great Flood of 1889? The book includes a notable chapter on the "sister" of the South Fork Dam, "The Forgotten Dam" at Hollidaysburg, PA.

Buoyancy is one of the main forces driving flows on our planet, especially in the oceans and atmosphere. These flows range from buoyant coastal currents to dense overflows in the ocean, and from avalanches to volcanic pyroclastic flows on the Earth's surface. This book brings together contributions by leading world scientists to summarize our present theoretical, observational, experimental and modeling understanding of buoyancy-driven flows. Buoyancy-driven currents play a key role in the global ocean circulation and in climate variability through their impact on deep-water formation. Buoyancy-driven currents are also primarily responsible for the redistribution of fresh water throughout the world's oceans. This book is an invaluable resource for advanced students and researchers in oceanography, geophysical fluid dynamics, atmospheric science and the wider Earth sciences who need a state-of-the-art reference on buoyancy-driven flows.

Wave breaking represents one of the most interesting and challenging problems for fluid mechanics and physical oceanography. Over the last fifteen years our understanding has undergone a dramatic leap forward, and wave breaking has emerged as a process whose physics is clarified and quantified. Ocean wave breaking plays the primary role in the air-sea exchange of momentum, mass and heat, and it is of significant importance for ocean remote sensing, coastal and ocean engineering, navigation and other practical applications. This book outlines the state of the art in our understanding of wave breaking and presents the main outstanding problems. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in this topic, including researchers, modellers, forecasters, engineers and graduate students in physical oceanography, meteorology and ocean engineering.

Earth now is dominated by both biogeophysical and anthropogenic processes, as represented in these two images from a simulation of aerosols. Dust (red) from the Sahara sweeps west across the Atlantic Ocean. Sea salt (blue) rises into the atmosphere from winds over the North Atlantic and from a tropical cyclone in the Indian Ocean. Organic and black carbon (green) from biomass burning is notable over the Amazon and Southeast Asia. Plumes of sulfate (white) from fossil fuel burning are particularly prominent over northeastern North America and East Asia. If present trends of dust emissions and fossil fuel burning continues in what we call the Anthropocene epoch, then we could experience high atmospheric CO2 levels leading to unusual warming rarely experienced in Earth's history. This book focuses on human influences on land, ocean, and the atmosphere, to determine if human activities are operating within or beyond the safe zones of our planet's biological, chemical, and physical systems. Volume highlights include: - Assessment of civic understanding of Earth and its future - Understanding the role of undergraduate geoscience research and community-driven research on the Anthropocene - Effective communication of science to a broader audience that would include the public, the K-12 science community, or populations underrepresented in the sciences - Public outreach on climate education, geoscience alliance, and scientific reasoning Future Earth is a valuable practical guide for scientists from all disciplines including geoscientists, museum curators, science educators, and public policy makers. This volume was made possible with the support of the National Science Foundation through the National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics (EAR-0120914) and the Future Earth Initiative (DRL-0741760). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

The River Wensum is the reason the city of Norwich is located where it is. It has driven many of the processes that have shaped the city over centuries. In contrast, certain historic events of great significance have taken place over just days. One of these is the Great Flood that visited during late August 1912. This book sets that calamity in the context of earlier floods and the city's determined attempts to modernise from the late nineteenth century. By measurement of surviving flood plates and looking through city archives from a century ago, the author builds up a fascinating picture of how and why the floodwater engulfed the lower parts of Norwich. Evidence for the determined way in which the civic authorities responded to the 1912 flood can be seen along much of the river today, and the book helps us view Norwich's well-known bridges in a different light. Some questions are answered and inevitably some new ones posed. The author also considers what we can learn from the past, and whether there could be the prospect of another Great Flood in the twenty-first century. Norwich Submerged is Matthew Williams' second book that seeks to get beneath the skin of this much-loved city by looking at its underlying geology, drainage and engineering. As in the best-selling Subterranean Norwich, he conveys a deep understanding of how Norwich works as a physical entity with a comprehensible explanation of why the place is as it is. The book is copiously illustrated with maps, diagrams, archive material and modern photos.

Explore the latest research in anthropological genetics and understand the genome's role in cultural and social development A Companion to Anthropological Genetics illustrates the role of genetic analysis in advancing the modern study of human origins, populations, evolution, and diversity. Broad in scope, this essential reference work establishes and explores the relationship between genetic research and the major questions of anthropological study. Through contributions by leading researchers, this collection explores molecular genetics and evolutionary mechanisms in the context of macro- and microevolution, paleontology, phylogeny, diet, and disease, with detailed explanations of quantitative methods, including coalescent and approximate Bayesian computation. With an emphasis on contextualizing new and developing genetic research within anthropological frameworks, this text offers critical perspective on the conditions of molecular evolution that accompany cultural and social transformation, while also addressing critical disciplinary questions, such as the ethical issues surrounding ancestry testing and community-based genetic research. Acts as an essential reference on the contributions of genetic science to the field of anthropology Features new work by leading researchers of the field Explores the evolution of immunity, including the genetics and epigenetics of pathogens, chronic illness, and disease resistance Provides in-depth examination of mutation and dietary adaptation, including AMY1, lactase persistence, and sensory polymorphisms Explains essential quantitative and phylogenetic methods for aligning genomic analysis with evolution and migration time scales Offering thorough coverage on leading questions and developing research, A Companion to Anthropological Genetics is a comprehensive resource for students and scholars.

Formed by the confluence of the Ocmulgee and Oconee Rivers, the Altamaha is the largest free-flowing river on the East Coast and drains its third-largest watershed. It has been designated as one of the Nature Conservancy's seventy-five Last Great Places because of its unique character and rich natural diversity. In evocative photography and elegant prose, "Altamaha" captures the distinctive beauty of this river and offers a portrait of the man who has become its improbable guardian.
Few people know the Altamaha better than James Holland. Raised in Cochran, Georgia, Holland spent years on the river fishing, hunting, and working its coastal reaches as a commercial crabber. Witnessing a steady decline in blue crab stocks, Holland doggedly began to educate himself on the area's environmental and political issues, reaching a deep conviction that the only way to preserve the way of life he loved was to protect the river and its watershed. In 1999, he began serving as the first Altamaha Riverkeeper, finding new purpose in protecting the river and raising awareness about its plight with people in his community and beyond.
At first Holland used photography to document pollution and abuse, but as he came to appreciate and understand the Altamaha in new ways, his photographs evolved, focusing more on the natural beauty he fought to save. More than 230 color photographs capture the area's majestic landscapes and stunning natural diversity, including a generous selection of some the 234 species of rare plants and animals in the region. In their essays, Janisse Ray offers a profile of Holland's transformation from orphan and troubled high school dropout to river advocate, and Dorinda G. Dallmeyer celebrates the biological richness and cultural heritage that the Altamaha offers to all Georgians.

Providing a balance between principles and practice, this state-of-the-art overview of geophysical methods takes readers from the basic physical phenomena, through the acquisition and processing of data, to the creation of geological models of the subsurface and data interpretation to find hidden mineral deposits. Detailed descriptions of all the commonly used geophysical methods are given, including gravity, magnetic, radiometric, electrical, electromagnetic and seismic methods. Each technique is described in a consistent way and without complex mathematics. Emphasising extraction of maximum geological information from geophysical data, the book also explains petrophysics, data modelling and common interpretation pitfalls. Packed with full-colour figures, also available online, the text is supported by selected examples from around the world, including all the major deposit types. Designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in minerals geoscience, this is also a valuable reference for professionals in the mining industry wishing to make greater use of geophysical methods. In 2015, Dentith and Mudge won the ASEG Lindsay Ingall Memorial Award for their combined effort in promoting geophysics to the wider community with the publication of this title.

Comparative Ocean Governance examines the world's attempts to improve ocean governance through place-based management - marine protected areas, ocean zoning, marine spatial planning - and evaluates this growing trend in light of the advent of climate change and its impacts on the seas. This monograph opens with an explanation of the economics of the oceans and their value to the global environment and the earth's population, the long-term stressors that have impacted oceans, and the new threats to ocean sustainability that climate change poses. It then examines the international framework for ocean management and coastal nations' increasing adoption of place-based governance regimes. The final section explores how these place-based management regimes intersect with climate change adaptation efforts, either accidentally or intentionally. It then offers suggestions for making place-based marine management even more flexible and responsive for the future. Environmental law scholars, legislators and policymakers, marine scientists, and all those concerned for the welfare of the world's oceans will find this book of great value.

In Abundant Earth, Eileen Crist not only documents the rising tide of biodiversity loss, but also lays out the drivers of this wholesale destruction and how we can push past them. Looking beyond the familiar litany of causes--a large and growing human population, rising livestock numbers, expanding economies and international trade, and spreading infrastructures and incursions upon wildlands--she asks the key question: if we know human expansionism is to blame for this ecological crisis, why are we not taking the needed steps to halt our expansionism? Crist argues that to do so would require a two-pronged approach. Scaling down calls upon us to lower the global human population while working within a human-rights framework, to deindustrialize food production, and to localize economies and contract global trade. Pulling back calls upon us to free, restore, reconnect, and rewild vast terrestrial and marine ecosystems. However, the pervasive worldview of human supremacy--the conviction that humans are superior to all other life-forms and entitled to use these life-forms and their habitats--normalizes and promotes humanity's ongoing expansion, undermining our ability to enact these linked strategies and preempt the mounting suffering and dislocation of both humans and nonhumans. Abundant Earth urges us to confront the reality that humanity will not advance by entrenching its domination over the biosphere. On the contrary, we will stagnate in the identity of nature-colonizer and decline into conflict as we vie for natural resources. Instead, we must chart another course, choosing to live in fellowship within the vibrant ecologies of our wild and domestic cohorts, and enfolding human inhabitation within the rich expanse of a biodiverse, living planet.

An argument that we should be optimistic about the capacity of "methodologically omnivorous" geologists, paleontologists, and archaeologists to uncover truths about the deep past. The "historical sciences"-geology, paleontology, and archaeology-have made extraordinary progress in advancing our understanding of the deep past. How has this been possible, given that the evidence they have to work with offers mere traces of the past? In Rock, Bone, and Ruin, Adrian Currie explains that these scientists are "methodological omnivores," with a variety of strategies and techniques at their disposal, and that this gives us every reason to be optimistic about their capacity to uncover truths about prehistory. Creative and opportunistic paleontologists, for example, discovered and described a new species of prehistoric duck-billed platypus from a single fossilized tooth. Examining the complex reasoning processes of historical science, Currie also considers philosophical and scientific reflection on the relationship between past and present, the nature of evidence, contingency, and scientific progress. Currie draws on varied examples from across the historical sciences, from Mayan ritual sacrifice to giant Mesozoic fleas to Mars's mysterious watery past, to develop an account of the nature of, and resources available to, historical science. He presents two major case studies: the emerging explanation of sauropod size, and the "snowball earth" hypothesis that accounts for signs of glaciation in Neoproterozoic tropics. He develops the Ripple Model of Evidence to analyze "unlucky circumstances" in scientific investigation; examines and refutes arguments for pessimism about the capacity of the historical sciences, defending the role of analogy and arguing that simulations have an experiment-like function. Currie argues for a creative, open-ended approach, "empirically grounded" speculation.

"Richard Fortey is without peer among science writers."--Bill Bryson In his accessible introduction to the study and meaning of fossils, the world-renowned paleontologist Richard Fortey provides a comprehensive guide to all aspects of fossils and their use in reconstructing the history of life on Earth. Extensively illustrated in full color throughout, this fifth edition of Fossils includes the most recent advances in our understanding of the fossil record and the significance of new fossil finds. Fortey clearly explains what fossils are, how they form, how to identify them, and how they help us to understand Earth's geological past and the emergence of life. Drawing on all the latest research, including recent developments in molecular paleontology, he discusses evolution and extinction, the economic uses of fossil-derived products such as oil and coal, and offers practical advice for making a fossil collection. Fossils will appeal to everyone who shares an interest in the history of life on our planet.

Created through a "student-tested, faculty-approved" review process from nearly 70 students and faculty, EARTH is an engaging and accessible solution to accommodate the diverse lifestyles of today's learners. EARTH presents a rich overview of all Earth-related disciplines--from geology, hydrology, and oceanography to meteorology and astronomy. EARTH explores the physical attributes of planet Earth and its environment, emphasizing the human choices we have made, and exploring the physical consequences of those choices in the context of Earth systems.

The seismic ambient field allows us to study interactions between the atmosphere, the oceans and the solid Earth. The theoretical understanding of seismic ambient noise has improved substantially in the last decades, and the number of its applications has increased dramatically. With chapters written by eminent scientists from the field, this book covers a range of topics including ambient noise observations, generation models of their physical origins, numerical modelling and processing methods. The later chapters focus on applications in imaging and monitoring the internal structure of the Earth, including interferometry for time-dependant imaging and tomography. This volume thus provides a comprehensive overview of this cutting-edge discipline for graduate students studying geophysics and for scientists working in seismology and other imaging sciences.

Few animals spark the imagination as much as the sabertooth cat Smilodon. With their incredibly long canines, which hung like fangs past their jaws, these ferocious predators were first encountered by humans when our species entered the Americas. We can only imagine what ice age humans felt when they were confronted by a wild cat larger than a Siberian tiger. Because Smilodon skeletons are perennial favorites with museum visitors, researchers have devoted themselves to learning as much as possible about the lives of these massive cats. This volume, edited by celebrated academics, brings together a team of experts to provide a comprehensive and contemporary view of all that is known about Smilodon. The result is a detailed scientific work that will be invaluable to paleontologists, mammalogists, and serious amateur sabertooth devotees. The book * covers all major aspects of the animal's natural history, evolution, phylogenetic relationships, anatomy, biomechanics, and ecology * traces all three Smilodon species across both North and South America* brings together original, unpublished research with historical accounts of Smilodon's discovery in nineteenth-century Brazil The definitive reference on these iconic Pleistocene mammals, Smilodon will be cited by researchers for decades to come. Contributors: John P. Babiarz, Wendy J. Binder, Charles S. Churcher, Larisa R. G. DeSantis, Robert S. Feranec, Therese Flink, James L. Knight, Margaret E. Lewis, Larry D. Martin, H. Gregory McDonald, Julie A. Meachen, William C. H. Parr, Ashley R. Reynolds. Kevin L. Seymour, Christopher A. Shaw, C. S. Ware, Lars Werdelin, H. Todd Wheeler, Stephen Wroe, M. Aleksander Wysocki

River Science is a rapidly developing interdisciplinary field at the interface of the natural sciences, engineering and socio-political sciences. It recognises that the sustainable management of contemporary rivers will increasingly require new ways of characterising them to enable engagement with the diverse range of stakeholders. This volume represents the outcome of research by many of the authors and their colleagues over the last 40 years and demonstrates the integral role that River Science now plays in underpinning our understanding of the functioning of natural ecosystems, and how societal demands and historic changes have affected these systems. The book will inform academics, policy makers and society in general of the benefits of healthy functioning riverine systems, and will increase awareness of the wide range of ecosystem goods and services they provide.

This volume describes how controlled-source electromagnetic (CSEM) methods are used to determine the electrical conductivity and hydrocarbon content of the upper few kilometres of the Earth, on land and at sea. The authors show how the signal-to-noise ratio of the measured data may be maximised via suitable choice of acquisition and processing parameters and selection of subsequent data analysis procedures. Complete impulse responses for every electric and magnetic source and receiver configuration are derived, providing a guide to the expected response for real data. 1-D, 2-D and 3-D modelling and inversion procedures for recovery of Earth conductivity are presented, emphasising the importance of updating model parameters using complementary geophysical data and rock physics relations. Requiring no specialist prior knowledge of electromagnetic theory, and providing a step-by-step guide through the necessary mathematics, this book provides an accessible introduction for advanced students, researchers and industry practitioners in exploration geoscience and petroleum engineering.

Rivers have played an extraordinarily important role in creating the world in which we live. They create landscapes and provide water to people, plants and animals, nourishing both town and country. The flow of rivers has enthused poets and painters, explorers and pilgrims. Rivers have acted as cradles for civilization and agents of disaster; a river may be a barrier or a highway, it can bear trade and sediment, culture and conflict. A river may inspire or it may terrify. This Very Short Introduction is a celebration of rivers in all their diversity. Nick Middleton covers a wide and eclectic range of river-based themes, from physical geography to mythology, to industrial history and literary criticism. Worshipped and revered, respected and feared, rivers reflect both the natural and social history of our planet. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Carbonate cements are very common and abundant in clastic sequences. They profoundly influence the quality of hydrocarbon reservoirs and supply important information on palaeoenvironments and the chemical composition and flow patterns of fluids in sedimentary basins. Despite this importance, their distribution patterns in time and space and their geochemical evolution are not yet deeply explored and elucidated. This Special Publication contains 21 review papers and case studies on carbonate cementation in clastic sequences written by invited specialists on the subject. These papers present a wide and deep coverage that enhance our knowledge about carbonate cementation in various clastic depositional environments, tectonic settings and burial histories. The book will be of special interest to researchers, petroleum geologists and teachers and students at the postgraduate level.

If you are a member of the International Association of Sedimentologists, for purchasing details, please see: http: //www.iasnet.org/publications/details.asp?code=SP26

Part of a monograph series on fossils The publication, New Middle and Late Anisian (Middle Triassic) Ammonoid Faunas from Northwestern Nevada - Taxonomy and Biochronology details proceedings from the Fifth International Brachiopod Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2005. Congress topics included various aspects of the study of brachiopods.