This book brings together many of the world's leading experts in the fields of Antarctic terrestrial soil ecology, providing a comprehensive and completely up-to-date analysis of the status of Antarctic soil microbiology. Antarctic terrestrial soils represent one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Once thought to be largely sterile, it is now known that these diverse and often specialized extreme habitats harbor a very wide range of different microorganisms. Antarctic soil communities are relatively simple, but not unsophisticated. Recent phylogenetic and microscopic studies have demonstrated that these communities have well established trophic structuring and play a significant role in nutrient cycling in these cold and often dry desert ecosystems. They are surprisingly responsive to change and potentially sensitive to climatic perturbation. Antarctic terrestrial soils also harbor specialized 'refuge'habitats, where microbial communities develop under (and within) translucent rocks. These cryptic habitats offer unique models for understanding the physical and biological 'drivers' of community development, function and evolution.

This book provides an attractive and informative overview of Colombian landscapes and their geological evolution, including comprehensive descriptions of seventeen key selected sites in the country. It provides insight into the geomorphological diversity of Colombian landscapes characterized by climatic and topographic variation. The book covers the essence of the landscapes in the country: coastal features, mud volcanoes, desertic geoforms, snow covered peaks, active volcanoes, deeply incised canyons and subdesertic valleys. It contributes knowledge and understanding into Colombian landscapes and prospects.

The occurrence of seismic events in glaciers has been an issue in the scientific literature since the early 1950s, following the report about icequakes in Baffin Island. Targeted seismological studies were undertaken by the Polish Expedition to Spitsbergen in 1962 and then continued at various glaciers in the Arctic, Antarctic and the Alps. The author of the book has been engaged in the project since 1970; he designed the layout of observations and instrumentation. The quakes he observed were categorized into two groups: typical seismic events called icequakes, and relatively long-period events named ice vibrations. In the case of icequakes, the space-time distributions and focal parameters were determined. In the case of ice vibrations, a spectral analysis was made. The present book is a synthesis of the results obtained. There are reports that the number of seismic events in glaciers has recently grown, which may be related to changing geometry of glaciers due to changing thermal conditions.

This volume presents state-of-the-art research about mineral dust, including results from field campaigns, satellite observations, laboratory studies, computer modelling and theoretical studies. Dust research is a new, dynamic and fast-growing area of science and due to its multiple roles in the Earth system, dust has become a fascinating topic for many scientific disciplines. Aspects of dust research covered in this book reach from timescales of minutes (as with dust devils, cloud processes and radiation) to millennia (as with loess formation and oceanic sediments), making dust both a player and recorder of environmental change. The book is structured in four main parts that explore characteristics of dust, the global dust cycle, impacts of dust on the Earth system, and dust as a climate indicator. The chapters in these parts provide a comprehensive, detailed overview of this highly interdisciplinary subject. The contributions presented here cover dust from source to sink and describe all the processes dust particles undergo while travelling through the atmosphere. Chapters explore how dust is lifted and transported, how it affects radiation, clouds, regional circulations, precipitation and chemical processes in the atmosphere and how it deteriorates air quality. The book explores how dust is removed from the atmosphere by gravitational settling, turbulence or precipitation, how iron contained in dust fertilizes terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and about the role that dust plays in human health. We learn how dust is observed, simulated using computer models and forecast. The book also details the role of dust deposits for climate reconstructions. Scientific observations and results are presented, along with numerous illustrations. This work has an interdisciplinary appeal and will engage scholars in geology, geography, chemistry, meteorology and physics, amongst others with an interest in the Earth system and environmental change. body>

This thesis is remarkable for the wide range of the techniques and observations used and for its insights, which cross several disciplines. It begins by solving a famous puzzle of the ancient world, which is what was responsible for the tsunami that destroyed settlements in the eastern Mediterranean in 365 AD. By radiocarbon dating of preserved marine organisms, Shaw demonstrates that the whole of western Crete was lifted out of the sea by up to 10 meters in a massive earthquake at that time, which occured on a previously unknown fault. The author shows that the resulting tsunami would have the characteristics described by ancient writers, and uses modern GPS measurements and coastline geomorphology to show that the strain build-up near Crete requires such a tsunami-earthquake about every 6.000 years - a major insight into Mediterranean tsunami hazard. A detailed seismological study of earthquakes in the Cretan arc over the last 50 years reveals other important features of its behaviour that were previously unknown. Finally, she provides fundamental insights into the limitations of radiocarbon dating marine organisms, relating to how they secrete carbon into their skeletons. The thesis resulted in three major papers in top journals.

The purpose of the Three Gorges project is to construct a large dam, forming a large-scale water reservoir in the valley. When the ?nal design reservoir water level is reached, the length of the reservoir will be longer than 660 km, which extends from the dam site at Sandouping town to Maoer-Xia Gorge in Chongqing City. The reservoir crosses the low medium mountainous area consisting of the fold zone from Sinian system to Mesozoic Erathem, which is distributed in Hubei Province, HunanProvince, YunnanProvinceandChongqingCity, tothelowmountainousarea formed by the fold zone ranging from the Triassic to the Jurassic Periods, which is distributed in the eastern part of Chongqing City. Generally, the reservoir area can be divided into two parts. The eastern part is from Sandouping town to Baidicheng in Fengjie County, with a length of 160 km. In this part, three portions consisting of limestone formed the narrow Three Gorges. Between the Three Gorges are two portions consisting of clastic rocks forming wide valleys. At the dam site are the Pre-Sinian System crystal rocks. In the Three Gorges parts, thick bulk limestone anddolomitearemainlydistributed, sandwichingthinlayersof sandstoneandshale. The mountain height at the gorge areas is about 600 1,200 m, and the width at thoseareasis only200 300m. Thegeomorphologycharacterizedby high mountains and deep valleys formed the famous three gorges, namely, Qutang Gorge in the west, Wu Gorge in the middle, and Xiling Gorge in the east. The Xiling Gorge is divided into eastern part and western part."

The author of this book has been working in different types of karren landscapes for more than fifteen years. The book summarizes the scientific results of syst- atic observations made during field trips as well as the interpretation of the data collected in the sample localities of the high mountain karren area, and specifically in the European Alps, using modern analytical methods. This book is written for graduate students and university professors of a variety of disciplines such as Physical Geography, Karst Geomorphology, Carbonate Mineralogy, Geology, Environmental Engineering, Forestry, and Soil Science. The introductory chapter of this book underlines the importance of high mo- tain karren formation, in addition to charting the history of karren research at high altitude, and describes the major characteristics of high mountain karstification. Chapter 2 provides information regarding the research sites and methods. In Chapter 3, the general characteristics of the karren formation in different vegetation zones are discussed. In Chapter 4, the specific environment, morphology, formation and the development of the different high mountain karren forms are covered.

Exploratory data analysis (EDA) is about detecting and describing patterns, trends, and relations in data, motivated by certain purposes of investigation. As something relevant is detected in data, new questions arise, causing specific parts to be viewed in more detail. So EDA has a significant appeal: it involves hypothesis generation rather than mere hypothesis testing. The authors describe in detail and systemize approaches, techniques, and methods for exploring spatial and temporal data in particular. They start by developing a general view of data structures and characteristics and then build on top of this a general task typology, distinguishing between elementary and synoptic tasks. This typology is then applied to the description of existing approaches and technologies, resulting not just in recommendations for choosing methods but in a set of generic procedures for data exploration. Professionals practicing analysis will profit from tested solutions - illustrated in many examples - for reuse in the catalogue of techniques presented. Students and researchers will appreciate the detailed description and classification of exploration techniques, which are not limited to spatial data only. In addition, the general principles and approaches described will be useful for designers of new methods for EDA.

This book is one out of 8 IAEG XII Congress volumes and deals with climate change affecting different natural processes and environments, such as slope dynamics, water courses, coastal and marine environments, hydrological and littoral processes and permafrost terrain. Due to climate change, major effects are also expected on territorial planning and infrastructure, particularly in extreme climate regions. The volume and its contents aim to analyze the role of engineering geology and the solutions it may offer with respect to the ongoing environmental changes. Contributions regard the modeling of both the factors and the effects induced by climate change. Potential impacts of the climate change on the common practice and routine work of engineering geologists are also analyzed, with particular attention to the risk assessment and mitigation procedures and to the adaptation measures adopted. The Engineering Geology for Society and Territory volumes of the IAEG XII Congress held in Torino from September 15-19, 2014, analyze the dynamic role of engineering geology in our changing world and build on the four main themes of the congress: environment, processes, issues and approaches. The congress topics and subject areas of the 8 IAEG XII Congress volumes are: Climate Change and Engineering Geology. Landslide Processes. River Basins, Reservoir Sedimentation and Water Resources. Marine and Coastal Processes. Urban Geology, Sustainable Planning and Landscape Exploitation. Applied Geology for Major Engineering Projects. Education, Professional Ethics and Public Recognition of Engineering Geology. Preservation of Cultural Heritage.

This international rigorously peer-reviewed volume critically synthesizes current knowledge in forest hydrology and biogeochemistry. It is a one-stop comprehensive reference tool for researchers and practitioners in the fields of hydrology, biogeoscience, ecology, forestry, boundary-layer meteorology, and geography. Following an introductory chapter tracing the historical roots of the subject, the book is divided into the following main sections: * Sampling and Novel Approaches * Forest Hydrology and Biogeochemistry by Ecoregion and Forest Type * Hydrologic and Biogeochemical Fluxes from the Canopy to the Phreatic Surface * Hydrologic and Biogeochemical Fluxes in Forest Ecosystems: Effects of Time, Stressors, and Humans The volume concludes with a final chapter that reflects on the current state of knowledge and identifies some areas in need of further research.

Mylonites form in response to high rates of strain within deep ductile shear zones, which are the extensions at depth of surface faults, thrusts and fault breccias, They can have many different mineralogical compositions and are therefore defined on their textural appearance. This atlas provides high definition images of a large number of different mylonites allowing students and geologists to correctly classify them with greater ease. It also provides insights into the interpretation of mylonitic fabrics to answer questions such as; from what type of rock did this mylonite derive? What were the metamorphic circumstances during mylonitization? What was the intensity of deformation?, and What was the sense of shear? This book will complement the very successful textbook "Microtectonics" by Passchier and Trouw.

This unparelleled reference synthesizes the methods used in microfacies analysis and details the potential of microfacies in evaluating depositional environments and diagenetic history, and, in particular, the application of microfacies data in the study of carbonate hydrocarbon reservoirs and the provenance of archaeological materials. Nearly 230 instructive plates (30 in color) showing thin-section photographs with detailed explanations form a central part of the content. Helpful teaching-learning aids include detailed captions for hundreds of microphotographs, boxed summaries of technical terms, many case studies, guidelines for the determination and evaluation of microfacies criteria, self-testing exercises for recognition and characterization skills, and more

This thesis presents an impressive summary of the potential to use passive seismic methods to monitor the sequestration of anthropogenic CO2 in geologic reservoirs. It brings together innovative research in two distinct areas - seismology and geomechanics - and involves both data analysis and numerical modelling. The data come from the Weyburn-Midale project, which is currently the largest Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project in the world. James Verdon's results show how passive seismic monitoring can be used as an early warning system for fault reactivation and top seal failure, which may lead to the escape of CO2 at the surface.

Based on papers presented at a conference on the vadose zone held in Davis, California, in 1995, this book presents some of the state-of-the-art research advances in the hydrology of the vadose zone (the region between ground level and the upper limits of the soil that is wholly saturated with water). The editors have selected essays from the fields of soils, hydrology, biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and instrumentation, in line with their premise that our understanding of the vadose zone is imporved only through multi-disciplinary examination. Remaining within disciplinary boundaries, the editors state, limits "a comprehensive synthesis" of vadose zone phenomena.

Regional Geology Guides provide a broad view and interpretation of the geology of a region.

This book provides an updated review and criticism of the progress of the continental, transitional and marine Quaternary deposits of Uruguay. It is primarily based on an analysis of the geological and paleontological evidences, synthesizing the time (numerical ages, biostratigraphy), environment and climatic situations involved and highlighting the most relevant paleontological content.

Using an engineer's perspective, it offers a concrete account of the basic facts and experiences regarding the behavior of different rock types in engineering construction. Details geological exploration techniques, stressing drilling and logging core samples. Features a chapter on active faults in engineering projects including legal arguments about project sites. Illustrative case studies, ranging from the Auburn Dam controversy to international examples of single collapse problems, aid in students' awareness of rock mass propensities and structures.

Earth's present-day environments are the outcome of a 4.5 billion year period of evolution reflecting the interaction of global-scale geological and biological processes. Punctuating that evolution were several extraordinary events and episodes that perturbed the entire Earth system and led to the creation of new environmental conditions, sometimes even to fundamental changes in how planet Earth operated. Volume 3: Global Events and the Fennoscandian Arctic Russia - Drilling Earth Project represents another kind of illustrated journey through the early Palaeoproterozoic, provided by syntheses, reviews and summaries of the current state of our understanding of a series of global events that resulted in a fundamental change of the Earth System from an anoxic to an oxic state. The book discusses traces of life, possible causes for the Huronian-age glaciations, addresses radical changes in carbon, sulphur and phosphorus cycles during the Palaeoproterozoic, and provides a comprehensive description and a rich photo-documentation of the early Palaeoproterozoic supergiant, petrified oil-field. Terrestrial environments are characterised through a critical review of available data on weathered and calichified surfaces and travertine deposits. Potential implementation of Ca, Mg, Sr, Fe, Mo, U and Re-Os isotope systems for deciphering Palaeoproterozoic seawater chemistry and a change in the redox-state of water and sedimentary columns are discussed. The volume considers in detail the definition of the oxic atmosphere, possible causes for the oxygen rise, and considers the oxidation of terrestrial environment not as a single event, but a slow-motion process lasting over hundreds of millions of years. Finally, the book provides a roadmap as to how the FAR-DEEP cores may facilitate future interesting science and provide a new foundation for education in earth-science community. Welcome to the illustrative journey through one of the most exciting periods of planet Earth!

This book provides a comprehensive description of the volcanological, petrological and geochemical features of the Copahue volcano, located at the border between Argentina and Chile. Scientific studies are limited for this volcanic system, due to its remote location and difficult access in winter. However, Copahue is one of the most active volcanic systems in the southern Andes. Monitoring the volcano's activity is of utter importance, as it provides means of existence for the nearby village of the same name, hosting the world's highest-located hot-springs resort. This book's aim is to present the current monitoring activities,  and to describe future research programs that are planned in order to mitigate volcanic hazards. Special attention is therefore devoted to the social and industrial activities close to the volcano, such as health therapies and geothermal energy exploitation. In a special section, the Copahue volcano is presented as a terrestrial modern analog for early-Earth and Mars environments.

This book offers a new approach to interpreting the geodetic boundary value problem, successfully obtaining the solutions of the Molodensky and Stokes boundary value problems (BVPs) with the help of downward continuation (DC) based methods. Although DC is known to be an improperly posed operation, classical methods seem to provide numerically sensible results, and therefore it can be concluded that such classical methods must in fact be manifestations of different, mathematically sound approaches. Here, the authors first prove the equivalence of Molodensky's and Stoke's approaches with Helmert's reduction in terms of both BVP formulation and BVP solutions by means of the DC method. They then go on to show that this is not merely a downward continuation operation, and provide more rigorous interpretations of the DC approach as a change of boundary approach and as a pseudo BVP solution approach.

During the 1950s, leading American scientists embarked on an unprecedented project to remake high school science education. Dissatisfaction with the 'soft' school curriculum of the time advocated by the professional education establishment, and concern over the growing technological sophistication of the Soviet Union, led government officials to encourage a handful of elite research scientists, fresh from their World War II successes, to revitalize the nations' science curricula. In Scientists in the Classroom , John L. Rudolph argues that the Cold War environment, long neglected in the history of education literature, is crucial to understanding both the reasons for the public acceptance of scientific authority in the field of education and the nature of the curriculum materials that were eventually produced. Drawing on a wealth of previously untapped resources from government and university archives, Rudolph focuses on the National Science Foundation-supported curriculum projects initiated in 1956. What the historical record reveals, according to Rudolph, is that these materials were designed not just to improve American science education, but to advance the professional interest of the American scientific community in the postwar period as well.

In many parts of the world, groundwater resources are under increasing threat from growing demands, wasteful use, and contamination. To face the challenge, good planning and management practices are needed. A key to the management of groundwater is the ability to model the movement of fluids and contaminants in the subsurface. The purpose of this book is to construct conceptual and mathematical models that can provide the information required for making decisions associated with the management of groundwater resources, and the remediation of contaminated aquifers. The basic approach of this book is to accurately describe the underlying physics of groundwater flow and solute transport in heterogeneous porous media, starting at the microscopic level, and to rigorously derive their mathematical representation at the macroscopic levels. The well-posed, macroscopic mathematical models are formulated for saturated, single phase flow, as well as for unsaturated and multiphase flow, and for the transport of single and multiple chemical species. Numerical models are presented and computer codes are reviewed, as tools for solving the models. The problem of seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers is examined and modeled. The issues of uncertainty in model input data and output are addressed. The book concludes with a chapter on the management of groundwater resources. Although one of the main objectives of this book is to construct mathematical models, the amount of mathematics required is kept minimal.

This book is an ethnography of a Japanese white-collar workplace in Osaka carried out during the late 1990s. It explores the relevance of social models to the analysis of social relations and women's status in the workplace by examining concepts of time, ritual, and space via the theory of practice.