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Books > Earth & environment > Earth sciences > General
Leonard Horner (1785 1864) was a prominent geologist, educator and, later, a factory inspector. In 1833 he was appointed to the Royal Commission on the employment of children in factories, and he inspected sites around the north of England. His earlier scientific work saw him elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1813, and he was twice president of the Geological Society. The two-volume Memoir of Leonard Horner, edited by his daughter, Katharine Lyell, and published in 1890, is a selection of letters to and from his family and friends. The correspondence gives vivid insights into the world of this influential reformer. Volume 2 covers the period 1839 1864, and includes letters about Horner's activities at the Geological Society, his travels in Italy in 1861, his political concerns, and key moments in his personal life, such as the birth of his grandson in 1850.
The auroral emissions in the upper atmosphere of the polar regions of the Earth are evidence of the capture of energetic particles from the Sun, streaming by the Earth as the solar wind. These auroral emissions, then, are a window to outer space, and can provide us with valuable information about electrodynamic coupling processes between the solar wind and the Earth's ionosphere and upper atmosphere. Studying the physics of these phenomena extends our understanding of our plasma universe. Ground-based remote-sensing techniques, able to monitor continuously the variations in the signatures of aurorae, in combination with in-situ satellite and rocket measurements, promise to advance dramatically our understanding of the physical processes taking place at the interface of the atmospheres of the Earth and the Sun. Decoding their complexity brings us closer to reliable prediction of communication environments, especially at high latitudes. This understanding, in turn, will help us resolve problems of communication and navigation across polar regions. Aurorae have been the object of wonder and scientific curiosity for centuries. Only recently, however, have we been able to detect, with sensitive instrumentation, noontime aurorae, and persistent aurorae deep within the polar cap. This book is the first to provide a morphological and theoretical framework for understanding these dayside and polar cap aurorae. The book also communicates the excitement of discovery, as it details the nature of these newly revealed auroral displays. It is a fascinating voyage of exploration, one appropriate for students of nature, wherever and whoever they may be.
The Practice of Reproducible Research presents concrete examples of how researchers in the data-intensive sciences are working to improve the reproducibility of their research projects. Each of the thirty-one case studies in this volume describes the workflow that an author used to complete a real-world research project, highlighting how particular tools, ideas, and practices have been combined to support reproducibility. Authors emphasize the very practical how, rather than the why or what, of conducting reproducible research. Part 1 contains an accessible introduction to reproducible research, a basic reproducible research project template, and a synthesis of lessons learned from across the thirty-one case studies. Parts 2 and 3 focus on the case studies. The Practice of Reproducible Research is an invaluable resource for students and researchers who wish to better understand the practice of data-intensive sciences and learn how to make their own research more reproducible.
This book has evolved by processes of selection and expansion from its predecessor, Practical Scanning Electron Microscopy (PSEM), published by Plenum Press in 1975. The interaction of the authors with students at the Short Course on Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Microanalysis held annually at Lehigh University has helped greatly in developing this textbook. The material has been chosen to provide a student with a general introduction to the techniques of scanning electron microscopy and x-ray microanalysis suitable for application in such fields as biology, geology, solid state physics, and materials science. Following the format of PSEM, this book gives the student a basic knowledge of (1) the user-controlled functions of the electron optics of the scanning electron microscope and electron microprobe, (2) the characteristics of electron-beam-sample inter actions, (3) image formation and interpretation, (4) x-ray spectrometry, and (5) quantitative x-ray microanalysis. Each of these topics has been updated and in most cases expanded over the material presented in PSEM in order to give the reader sufficient coverage to understand these topics and apply the information in the laboratory. Throughout the text, we have attempted to emphasize practical aspects of the techniques, describing those instru ment parameters which the microscopist can and must manipulate to obtain optimum information from the specimen. Certain areas in particular have been expanded in response to their increasing importance in the SEM field. Thus energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry, which has undergone a tremendous surge in growth, is treated in substantial detail.
This book consists of 44 technical papers presented at the Ninth International Geostatistics Congress held in Oslo, Norway in June 2012. The papers have been reviewed by a panel of specialists in Geostatistics. The book is divided into four main sections: Theory; Petroleum; Mining; and Environment, Climate and Hydrology. The first section focuses on new ideas of general interest to many fields of applications. The next sections are more focused on the particular needs of the particular industry or activity. Geostatistics is vital to any industry dependent on natural resources. Methods from geostatistics are used for estimating reserves, quantifying economical risk and planning of future industrial operations. Geostatistics is also an important tool for mapping environmental hazard and integrating climate data.
The major components of most soils are inorganic. These constituents are derived from the weathering of rocks and minerals or from subsequent reaetions and interactions of the weathering products. During the weathering and interactions of weathering products, in organic soil colloids are formed. Large amounts of inorganic colloids are essential in soils if they are to support luxurious plant growth. The colloids adsorb water and nutrient element s that might be lost from the soil &ystem and they release these as plants need them. They also adsorb and buffer the soil system against large excesses of soluble toxic substances that might otherwise exist as free moieties in soils. Soil and plant root interactions occur across two interfaces. One is the interface between plant roots and the liquid phase and the other is the interface between the soil particles and the liquid phase. Reaetions across the interface between colloid crystals and the soilliquid phase may also suppress the availability of nutrient elements to plants. The effectiveness of these interfaciaI reaetions in supporting optimum plant growth ultimately depends on the arrangements of ions in the surfaces and subsurfaces of the mineraI crystals. For this reason much of this volume is devoted to the arrangement of ions in crystalline mineraI particles commonly occuring in soils and the properties that these particles contribute to soiI systems."
Sampling consists of selection, acquisition, and quantification of a part of the population. While selection and acquisition apply to physical sampling units of the population, quantification pertains only to the variable of interest, which is a particular characteristic of the sampling units. A sampling procedure is expected to provide a sample that is representative with respect to some specified criteria. Composite sampling, under idealized conditions, incurs no loss of information for estimating the population means. But an important limitation to the method has been the loss of information on individual sample values, such as, the extremely large value. In many of the situations where individual sample values are of interest or concern, composite sampling methods can be suitably modified to retrieve the information on individual sample values that may be lost due to compositing. This book presents statistical solutions to issues that arise in the context of applications of composite sampling.
This full color book is a comprehensive visual reference for the interpretation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images with examples of how technological specifications may affect interpretation solutions. It contains a summary review of image acquisition parameters of consequence on the visual representation of objects, introduces traditional interpretation keys under different light and applies them for considering regional landscape components and identifying large-scale geographical ensembles. Through elements of interpretation such as the construct of tone, texture, pattern, size, and shape, the book explains the rich unique context of many terrains. It provides also several SAR X- and C-band image examples of regional and large-scale land use and land cover (LULC) ensembles, includes important explanations for each illustration, and highlights selected SAR image applications. Ancillary information includes acquisition specifications, a geographic scale, and the image-center latitude and longitude. Features: Provides ready access to any type of information for an image interpretation problem related to current LULC classification schemes. Presents scalable geographic information interpreted at a regional scale and land cover ensembles that can also be interpreted locally. Provides comparative examples of images acquired from X- and C-band, opposed look directions, near- and far-range incidence angles, like- and cross-polarization modes. Includes practical explanations easily transferred to individual's research projects. Designed as "visual dictionary," SAR Image Interpretation for Various Land Covers: A Practical Guide, is an excellent introduction to the visual interpretation of SAR images for numerous types of LULC. Both practitioners and students will familiarize themselves with and expand their knowledge of geographic information conveyed from radar images while government agencies and businesses that use LULC-related data for emergency response cases of for urban and regional planning, will find this book invaluable.
In 1975-1976 a remarkable volcanic eruption took place on the Kamchtka peninsula, part of the Soviet Union's arc of active volcanoes. Dr Fedotov and his colleagues studied the largest basaltic eruption in history, one of the most important volcanic events in the twentieth century. During this prolonged eruption they carried out extensive seismological, geophysical, geodetic and geochemical investigations. The results of this detailed and thorough investigation were collected as a series of papers under the editorship of S. A. Fedotov and collected into this volume, which was originally published by Cambridge in 1983. The result is a classic descriptive work of a major volcanic eruption.
The fourth international symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences took place in Adelaide, South Australia during the week 16 20 August 1982. This volume contains a record of the centenary activities celebrating Sir Douglas Mawson and the one hundred and seventy-four papers that were presented by delegates for discussion over the five days. Sir Douglas Mawson was part of the first team to reach the magnetic South Pole, a leading geologist and scientific figure during the heroic age of of antarctic exploration. The papers presented during the symposium were divided into fifteen categories covering east and west Antarctica, marine, land and glacial geology, plate tectonics, islands, peninsulas, climatic change and Precambrian and Cenozoic era activity. The two hundred persons from sixteen countries who attended the symposium brought together a wide range of the most current expertise and research to share, of which this volume provides a record.
This book deals with the behaviour of soft ground improved by some of the more common methods, including the installation of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs), or the installation of soil-cement columns formed by deep mixing, or the preloading of soft ground by application of a vacuum pressure in addition to, or instead of, a surcharge loading. In particular, it describes the theories and the numerical modelling techniques that may be applied to these soft ground improvement schemes to estimate the immediate and time-dependent mechanical response of the in situ soil. Particular emphasis has been placed on methods that reliably predict ground deformations associated with ground improvement techniques. The book commences with a brief description of the various ground improvement methods and then describes general techniques for modelling the behaviour of soft clay subsoils by the finite element method, as well as details of the methods for modelling soft soils improved by the installation of PVDs. It also includes chapters describing the theory of vacuum consolidation and methods for calculating vacuum pressure-induced ground deformation, as well as a theory which can be used to predict the response of soft ground improved by the installation of soil-cement columns. An important distinguishing feature of this book is the routine use of comparisons of predictions of the proposed models with the results of laboratory studies, and particularly field case studies, in order to validate the proposed methods of analysis. The field case histories are from soft soil sites at various locations around the world. The book is directed towards students of geotechnical engineering as well as geotechnical practitioners. In the main it provides complete derivations of most of the important theoretical results, as the intention was to write a book that could be used as both a teaching text and a reference work for students and practitioners. Audience The book is intended for geotechnical practitioners as well as for students."
To better understand the various processes and interactions that govern the Earth system and to determine whether recent human-induced changes could ultimately de-stabilise its dynamics, both natural system variability and the consequences of human activities have to be observed and quantified. In this context, the European Space Agency (ESA) published in 2006 the document "The Changing Earth: New Scientific Challenges for ESA's Living Planet Programme" as the main driver of ESA's new Earth Observation (EO) science strategy. The document outlines 25 major scientific challenges covering all the different aspects of the Earth system, where EO technology and ESA missions may provide a key contribution. In this framework, and aiming at enhancing the ESA scientific support towards the achievement of "The Challenges", the Agency has launched in 2008 a new initiative - the Changing Earth Science Network - to support young scientists to undertake leading-edge research activities contributing to achieve the 25 scientific challenges of the LPP by maximising the use of ESA data. The initiative is implemented through a number of research projects proposed and led by early-stage scientists at post-doctoral level for a period of two years which are summarized in this SpringerBrief. These projects undertake innovative research activities furthering into the most pressing issues of the Earth system, while exploiting ESA missions data with special attention to the ESA data archives and the new Earth Explorer missions.
Space exploration and advanced astronomy have dramatically expanded our knowledge of outer space and made it possible to study the indepth mechanisms underlying various natural phenomena caused by complex interaction of physical-chemical and dynamical processes in the universe. Huge breakthroughs in astrophysics and the planetary s- ences have led to increasingly complicated models of such media as giant molecular clouds giving birth to stars, protoplanetary accretion disks associated with the solar system's formation, planetary atmospheres and circumplanetary space. The creation of these models was promoted by the development of basic approaches in modern - chanics and physics paralleled by the great advancement in the computer sciences. As a result, numerous multidimensional non-stationary problems involving the analysis of evolutionary processes can be investigated using wide-range numerical experiments. Turbulence belongs to the most widespread and, at the same time, the most complicated natural phenomena, related to the origin and development of organized structures (- dies of different scale) at a definite flow regime of fluids in essentially non-linear - drodynamic systems. This is also one of the most complex and intriguing sections of the mechanics of fluids. The direct numerical modeling of turbulent flows encounters large mathematical difficulties, while the development of a general turbulence theory is hardly possible because of the complexity of interacting coherent structures. Three-dimensional non-steady motions arise in such a system under loss of la- nar flow stability defined by the critical value of the Reynolds number.
THE quadrupling of oil prices within a few months in late 1973 and early 1974 brought to an abrupt end the era of inexpensive oil. Since then the continuing increases in the price of oil traded in the international market and the higher prices of imports of manu factured goods have seriously disrupted the foreign exchange balances of many developing countries and forced them to replan their development programmes. The impact of high oil prices is felt in every country, whether developed or developing, and has brought to world attention the fact that not only are petroleum resources in limited supply and exhaustible but also that substitutes cannot be found easily or quickly. In a world faced with the certainty of declining supplies of petroleum there is widespread interest and concern among all the oil producing countries to evaluate the extent of their petroleum resources and to examine more closely the problems of their development, rates of depletion and methods of conservation. The present work reviews some of the above issues and problems in relation to Indonesia, an OPEC member, and the major oil producing country in South-East Asia. More specifically, it seeks to provide the reader with an overview of the petroleum resources of the country their nature, extent, distribution as well as the problems of their development.
The 35th OHOLO Conference, which provided the basis for the present book covered a broad range of topics. Basic studies and newly developed methods in modeling atmospheric flows are discussed, besides analyses of concentration fluctuations in different atmospheric conditions, and techniques of data acquisition. The book gives an excellent state-of-the-art impression of the situation in turbulent diffusion and transport.
As corroborated by the never-sagging and even increasing interest within the last decade, the intuitive attraction of "True 3D" in geodata presentation is well worth covering its current status and recent developments in a compendium like the present one. It covers most aspects of (auto-) stereoscopic representation techniques of both topographic and thematic geodata, be they haptic or not. Theory is treated as well as are many fields of concrete applications. Displays for big audiences and special single-user applications are presented, well-established technologies like classical manual fabrication of landscape reliefs contrast with cutting-edge developments
This book describes the relationship between the atmosphere and the external plasma of Earth in an unconventional manner. While the main mechanical energy is located in the dense atmosphere, the presence of Earth's plasma environment, which is immersed in the magnetosphere, causes a number of very interesting effects on the atmosphere. A list of such effects includes magnetic substorms, magnetic storms and aurora to the dynamics of the upper atmosphere, heating, thermal expansion, and vertical and horizontal winds. Particle precipitation produces excess ionization and electric currents, causes electric fields, affects recombination and modifies chemical reactions. These are processes which may become important in the climate. The collected articles provide an overview of these effects. This volume is aimed at graduate students and researchers active in the areas of atmospheric science and space science. Previously published in Space Science Reviews, Vol. 168/1-4, 2012.
Recommended an open-air life from an early age as a cure for physical and nervous difficulties, the indefatigable Isabella Bird (1831 1904) toured the United States and Canada, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, the Far East, India, Turkey, Persia and Kurdistan. Her accounts of her travels, written in the form of letters to her sister, were bestsellers. In 1875 she published her account of six months in the Hawaiian archipelago. During this time she explored the islands on horseback, visiting volcanos, climbing mountains, and living with the natives. The book includes considerable detail about the lifestyles, customs, and habits of the people she encountered, and of the geography and geology of the islands. Her enthusiasm for Hawaii and its people is evident from her vivid descriptions, but she disliked the restrictive atmosphere of the foreign settlements. The book includes outlines of the history and economy of the islands.
In 1837 a comprehensive discussion of lightning appeared in the Annual of the French Bureau des Longitudes with a section on ball lightning which provided for the first time a readily available source in the scientific literature of the basic properties of this curious natural phenomenon. The author, Francois Arago, was the dominant influence in the French Academy of Sciences in the nineteenth century, having become a member of that august body at the age of twenty-three. His attention alone doubtless served at that time to establish the validity of scientific interest in the problem. In addition his discussion covered some of the major questions associated with ball lightning in a nota bly clear-sighted, effective style. Later reconsideration of the same questions often provided no significant improvement over Arago's discussion. There followed a dauntless band of varying but always small number who attempted to account for an apparently simple natural occurrence, a ball of fire usually seen in thunderstorms, with the best knowledge that advancing science could provide. All attempts to deal with this phenomenon were in variably frustrated. The characteristics of ball lightning could be readily cataloged, but they firmly resisted both experimental reproduction and theo retical explanation. One may say that to this day there is no explanation accepted by a large number of scientists. Several investigators of great ability and considerable accomplishment in different fields of science, including Faraday, Kelvin, and Arrhenius, took note of the problem.
During the last few decades anthropogenic activities in the industrially advanced countries have outcompeted nature in changing the global environment. This is best illustrated for example by the polluted lakes in Scandinavia and Canada, associated with acid deposition from fossil fuel combustion. One of the major challenges mankind is confronted with in the field of energy consumption is undoubtedly to ensure sustainability - a goal that requires improved management of natural resources and a substantial reduction of the noxious emissions which are dangerous to health and the environment. The threat of global climate change due to pollutant emissions causes se rious concern to many nations, and reaching an international consensus is likely to take some time. Carbon dioxide emissions have slowed only marginally in industrialized countries during the last few years, but have increased significantly in most developing countries due to increases in energy demand and the increasing use of fossil fuels, which remain the most readily available energy sources today. Unfortunately, far from learning lessons from the negative experiences of developed countries, many developing countries are taking the same path to development which has turned out to result in serious environmental consequences."
Since founding at the 23rd International Geological Congress in Prague in 1968, the International Association for Mathematical Geology has organized sessions in conjunction with the Congress. The 27th IGC in Moscow was no exception and the IAMG again held sessions and assisted the Congress in organizing Section 20 -Mathematical Geology and Geological Information ( D. F. Merriam, D. A. Rodionov, and R. Sinding-Larsen, conveners). All together 128 abstracts were published in the technical proceedings. Several of the papers were published prior to the Congress, others were not available, and others deemed not appropriate for publication in this volume. This collection then contains those papers aVailable and representative of the sessions. The collection is truly international with contributions from Canada, China, France, Poland, the UK, USA, and USSR. They are representative of the state-of-the-art as of the early 1980s in a variety of fields. The application of geomathematics/geostatistics to geological problems has been hastened by the availability of computers. These papers reflect that orientation -most of the results would not have been possible without the use of computers. Most of the approaches utilize techniques readily aVailable and adapted to solving geological problems -simulation, image analysis, decision theory, fuzzy sets, etc. However, one area, that of geostatistiques which includes Kriging, has been designed especially for use by earth scientists of the French school to solve geological problems.
These papers stem from the ISOTT Meeting held at Churchill College, Cambridge, from July 27th to 30th, 1986. Although the sun did not shine so brightly as during the Cambridge meeting in 1977, the communications and discussions were as lively and informative and some heat, as well as light, was generated in the presentation of differing views. The meeting was conducted in a generally informal way which allowed maximum time for discussion but the relatively unstructured nature of the debates made them unsuitable for publication. The amount of editing necessary meant that the printed version of the exchanges would bear little resemblance to the original, hence their omission. All the papers presented here have been scrutinized and retyped in a standard format. However, the diverse interests of ISOTT's members, reflected in the wide spectrum of the material submitted, made total editorial uniformity an unrealistic goal. Complete consistency in the use of symbols, abbreviations and units seemed less important than speed of publication.
'A delightful and engaging treasure trove of a book that brings the chemical elements to life and gives them personalities of their own. A wonderful read for young and old alike to get you inspired by chemistry.' Jim Al-Khalili 'The perfect book to escape our human-sized existence and take a tour of the atomic world instead.' Helen Arney, science comedian and broadcaster When we think of the periodic table we picture orderly rows of elements that conform to type and never break the rules. In this book Kathryn Harkup reveals that there are personalities, passions, quirks and historical oddities behind those ordered rows, and shows us that the periodic table is a sprawling family tree with its own black sheep, wayward cousins and odd uncles. The elements in the periodic table, like us, are an extended family - some old, some newborn, some shy and reticent, some exuberant or unreliable. Dr Harkup tells the weird and wonderful stories of just fifty two members of this family - remarkable tales of discovery, inspiration and revolution, from the everyday to the extraordinary. Some elements are relatively anonymous; others, already familiar, are seen in a new light; and old friends have surprising secrets to share. From our green-fingered friend magnesium to the devil incarnate polonium, this eclectic collection of engaging and informative stories will change the way you see the periodic table for ever.
In dem Jahrzehnt von 1952 bis 1961 ist in der Geo- ben einen statischen Charakter, sie lassen sich nicht zur Be- medizinischen Forschungsstelle der Heidelberger Aka- antwortung der Fragestellungen der Geomedizin verwen- demie der Wissenschaften in Heidelberg der Welt-Seuchen- den, die eine Erklarung der regionalen Unterschiede und Atlas bearbeitet worden. Zum ersten Male wurde der eine Prognose der weiteren Gefahrung zum Ziele haben. Versuch gemacht, mit Hilfe der medizinischen Karto- Krankheiten haben nicht nur eine Geschichte, sondern graphie Korrelationen zwischen dem Vorkommen von ihr Vorkommen und ihre Verbreitung auf der Erde Infektionskrankheiten, der Verbreitung ihrer Ubertrager ist auch raumlich differenziert. Eine Geographie der Krankheiten ist daher wissenschaftstheoretisch ebenso und Geofaktoren, die eine seuchenhafte Ausbreitung her- vorrufen oder fordern, in Weltkarten und Kontinentkar- gerechtfertigt wie eine Geschichte der Medizin als ein ten sichtbar zu machen. Dieses Kartenwerk sollte eine besonderes Teilgebiet der medizinischen Wissenschaft. Information uber den Stand der Seuchenverbreitung in Eine ganze Reihe von Krankheiten tragen sogar geo- graphische Herkunftsbezeichnungen, wie z. B. Indische der Welt bis zur Mitte unseres Jahrhunderts geben, dem Unterricht dienen und zur weiteren geomedizinischen Cholera, Asiatische Grippe, Mittelmeerfieber, Felsenge- Forschung anregen. Bei vielen Seuchen mussten aber erst birgsfieber u. a.
Recent progress in numerical methods and computer science allows us today to simulate the propagation of seismic waves through realistically heterogeneous Earth models with unprecedented accuracy. Full waveform tomography is a tomographic technique that takes advantage of numerical solutions of the elastic wave equation. The accuracy of the numerical solutions and the exploitation of complete waveform information result in tomographic images that are both more realistic and better resolved. This book develops and describes state of the art methodologies covering all aspects of full waveform tomography including methods for the numerical solution of the elastic wave equation, the adjoint method, the design of objective functionals and optimisation schemes. It provides a variety of case studies on all scales from local to global based on a large number of examples involving real data. It is a comprehensive reference on full waveform tomography for advanced students, researchers and professionals. |
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