Volcanoes are some of the most dramatic expressions of the powerful tectonic forces at work in the Earth beneath our feet. But volcanism, a profoundly important feature of Earth, and indeed of other planets and moons too, encompasses much more than just volcanoes themselves. On a planetary scale, volcanism is an indispensable heat release mechanism, which on Earth allows the conditions for life. IIt releases gases into the atmosphere and produces enormous volumes of rock, and spectacular landscapes - landscapes which, during major eruptions, can be completely reshaped in a matter of hours. Through geological time volcanism has shaped both climate and biological evolution, and volcanoes can affect human life, too, for both good and ill. Yet, even after much study, some of the fundamental aspects of volcanicity remain mysterious. This Very Short Introduction takes the readers into the inferno of a racing pyroclastic current, and the heart of a moving lava flow, as understood through the latest scientific research. Exploring how volcanologists forensically decipher how volcanoes work, Michael Branney and Jan Zalasiewicz explain what we do (and don't) understood about the fundamental mechanisms of volcanism, and consider how volcanoes interact with other physical processes on the Earth, with life, and with human society. 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.

Bioremediation: A Sustainable Approach to Preserving Earth's Water discusses the latest research in green chemistry practices and principles that are involved in water remediation and the quality improvement of water. The presence of heavy metals, dyes, fluoride, dissolved solids and many other pollutants are responsible for water pollution and poor water quality. The removal of these pollutants in water resources is necessary, yet challenging. Water preservation is of great importance globally and researchers are making significant progress in ensuring this precious commodity is safe and potable. This volume illustrates how bioremediation in particular is a promising green technique globally. Features: Addresses bioremediation of all the major water pollutants Approaches the chemistry of water and the concept of water as a renewable resource from a green chemistry aspect Discusses environmental chemistry and the practice of industrial ecology Explains the global concern of adequate high quality water supplies, and how bioremediation can resolve this Explores sustainable development through green engineering

The art and science of groundwater age dating

Traditionally concerned with the flow rate calculation, recharge estimation, and renewability of groundwater resources, the application of groundwater age data has now expanded to include such issues as the calibration of groundwater flow and transport models, the management of dry land salinity, and the study of groundwater vulnerability and pollution. In short, thanks to both technical developments in the field and worldwide concerns about water resources, the study of groundwater age has coalesced into a potent and much respected field. In this comprehensive book, the field of groundwater age dating receives the major reference it needs and deserves.

Written by three leading experts in the field, "Groundwater Age" aggregates, in one volume, state-of-the-art knowledge concerning groundwater dating, including its historical development, principles, applications, various methods, and likely future progress in its concepts.

The book discusses such topics as: Essential definitions and the basics of groundwater dating science The history of groundwater dating, including pioneers and key contributors to the field Applications and uses of age data for consulting companies and resource managers Various methods for age dating young, old, and very old groundwaters New mathematical approaches Modeling of groundwater age and residence time distributions Thoughts on and suggestions for current practices and future progress

Presenting modern knowledge and cutting-edge research simply and clearly, "Groundwater Age" will satisfy and stimulate both seasoned professionals and student novices alike.

This book chronicles how successive generations of natural philosophers, geologists and geomorphologists have come to invent the view of the Earth over the past 250 years.
Chronicles how successive generations of natural philosophers, geologists and geomorphologists have come to invent different views of the Earth over the last 250 years.
Uses as its central viewpoint changing ideas about the significance of the action of rain and rivers on the Earth's surface.
Shows how our contemporary "truths" have come to be accepted and exposes the frailty of even the most impeccably scientific visions of the Earth.

The fourth edition of this highly acclaimed text provides an up-dated examination of the natural environment of the earth at various levels, from the global to the local. Integrating the study of geomorphology, climatology, hydrology, pedology and biogeography, it considers the ways in which we both mould and are moulded by our landscape and environment. The book also presents an historical perspective, and investigates natural climatic changes, hazardous events and human impacts.

This new edition follows the same successful framework of earlier editions, with extra material, including an extra chapter on The Organic World. In addition, a list of key concepts has been added at the end of each chapter and the book now also includes points for review. With substantially more "windows," updated and expanded guides to reading, new plates, diagrams, and tables, and up-to-date examples and case studies, this fourth edition of "Nature of the Environment" will be welcomed by students and teachers alike.

Please visit the accompanying website at: http: //www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/goudie to view sample material from both the new edition and forthcoming instructor's manual online.

An increasing number of enthusiasts are attracted by the rich variety of rocks and minerals around us, and new ways of looking at them. In this book, Walther Cloos views the Earth as a living organism, with different kingdoms of nature -- mineral, plant and animal as stages left behind as the earth developed. He argues that everything currently inert and static was once dynamic and living. The author considers many different aspects of geology, including chapters on oil, sedimentary rocks, radioactivity, volcanoes and metals. Written over fifty years ago, this book is a classic, pioneering a scientific, geological understanding of Rudolf Steiner's spiritual insights into the evolution of the earth The previous edition of this book was published as 'The Living Earth'.

The Key to Earth History introduces students to the basic tools used by geologists to reconstruct the Earth's history, and shows how these tools can be used to chart the pattern of global environmental change since the formation of the Earth some 4600 million years ago. It tells a story of mountain building, climate change and of the evolution of life, and uses the North Atlantic region (Europe and North America) as a study area to illustrate this story.
Divided into two parts, the book shows how stratigraphy is the key to understanding the history of the Earth. The first part examines the basic stratigraphical methods used to establish, date and interpret the rock record as the product of a series of events whithin Earth history. The second part presents the results obtained by geologists, who have used these stratigraphical tools to reconstruct the pattern of global environmental change through geological time and focuses on the geological evolution of the North Atlantic region. The Key to Earth History is essential reading for geologists, geographers and environmental scientists, as well as to all those interested in the story of the planet.
'The authors provide no one with an alibi for bad stratigraphic teaching!'
Geoscientist
'The aims of this introductory textbook are to explain the process and pattern of Earth history, to generate interest and enthusiasm, to make stratigraphy fun and exciting! These aims are admirably achieved.'
The Holocene
'This is a great little book! I found that, not only was everything covered, but that it was covered in a refreshing, readable, no-nonsense fashion.'
Earth Science Reviews
'The Key to Earth History really should be compulsory reading for all ... geology students.'
Geologie

Continental Scientific Drilling Project of the Cretaceous Songliao Basin (SK-1) in China is the first reference to provide the results of the first part of scientific drilling project at the Songliao Basin in the Daqing oil field, the largest known oil field in China. The project has two major objectives: one is to correlate the oceanic and continental records and determine the principal drivers of climate change in order to assist in future climate change predictions and its influence on the earth's environment. The second is to further test the theory of terrestrial genesis of hydrocarbons, and to explore the formation of intra-continental sedimentary basins, as many are major hydrocarbon provinces. In addition, this project provides the scientific basis for exploration of the Daqing Oilfields, which have a yearly production of forty million tons of oil. The world is entering a new exciting era to explore in which scientific drilling will provide a quantum leap in our understanding of its deep earth and history. Continental Scientific Drilling Project of the Cretaceous Songliao Basin (SK-1) in China will play an important role in promoting scientific drilling and earth system science research.

Der geologische Bau Deutschlands ist vielfAltig und teilweise kompliziert. Dieses Buch beschreibt die wesentlichen Strukturen und geologischen Einheiten von ganz Deutschland. EinfA1/4hrend behandeln die Autoren die regionalgeologische Stellung und erdgeschichtliche Entwicklung sowie den geologischen Bauplan und den tieferen Untergrund Deutschlands. Danach erklAren sie die vielfAltigen geologischen Landschaften - von den Altesten bis zu den jA1/4ngsten Baueinheiten. Der Leser erhAlt einen fundierten Aoeberblick ohne ermA1/4dende Details. Das Buch ist daher als Einstieg besonders geeignet. Zahlreiche Karten und Profile sowie Farbfotos veranschaulichen den Text. Fast alle Zeichnungen sind farbig. Diese 7. Auflage wurde um ein Kapitel erweitert und insgesamt wieder grA1/4ndlich A1/4berarbeitet. Viele Farbfotos sind neu. InhaltsA1/4bersicht Geologischer Bauplan und tieferer Untergrund Deutschlands Regionalgeologische Stellung und Entwicklung Kristallingebiete Mittelgebirge aus verfaltetem und verschiefertem PalAozoikum und VorpalAozoikum Oberkarbonische Steinkohlen-Gebiete Rotliegend-Landschaften Zechstein-Gebiete in der Umrandung der Mittelgebirge Landschaften des Mesoziokums Deutsche Alpen TertiAr-Senken Junge Vulkangebiete Norddeutsches Tiefland

Interpretation of Micromorphological Features of Soils and Regoliths, Second Edition, provides researchers and students with a tool for interpreting features observed in soil thin sections and through submicroscopic studies. After an introduction and general overview, micromorphological aspects of regoliths (e.g., saprolites, transported materials) are highlighted, followed by a systematic and coherent discussion of the micromorphological expression of various pedogenic processes. The book is written by an international team of experts in the field, using a uniform set of concepts and terminology, making it a valuable interdisciplinary reference work. The following topics are treated: freeze-thaw features, redoximorphic features, calcareous and gypsiferous formations, textural features, spodic and oxic horizons, volcanic materials, organic matter, surface horizons, laterites, surface crusts, salt minerals, biogenic and pedogenic siliceous materials, other authigenic silicates, phosphates, sulphidic and sulphuric materials, and features related to faunal activity. The last chapters address anthropogenic features,archaeological materials and palaeosoils.

Rainbows of Rock, Tables of Stone is an exploration of the natural arches and pillars of Ohio.

The heart of the book is the identification, description, and interpretation of some 83 arches and 18 pillars known to occur in the state. Background information about the bedrock geology of Ohio, the methods of measuring and describing natural arches and pillars, the processes by which these features can be formed, and the ways that they are eventually removed from the landscape provide interesting and valuable context for better understanding the creation, destruction, and study of these unusual elements of the geological landscape. The names and locations of publicly accessible arches and pillars are given. Rainbows of Rock, Tables of Stone is the most extensive statewide review of natural arches and pillars known, and it will almost certainly become a model that will inspire and influence similar compilations for other states.

Shows the drift geology. Information on the solid geology may be omitted or shown in abridged form.

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Water Resources Monograph Series, Volume 15.

Here is your state-of-the-art guidebook through soil infiltration theory in response to hydrologic problems. By focusing on the theoretical basis of physically based infiltration functions and their application, "Infiltration Theory for Hydrologic Applications" presents an in-depth review of current issues and concerns. For scientists wishing concise and robust equations that can be applied in models for a variety of objectives.

Stone maps the force, vivacity, and stories within our most mundane matter, stone. For too long stone has served as an unexamined metaphor for the "really real": blunt factuality, nature's curt rebuke. Yet, medieval writers knew that stones drop with fire from the sky, emerge through the subterranean lovemaking of the elements, tumble along riverbeds from Eden, partner with the masons who build worlds with them. Such motion suggests an ecological enmeshment and an almost creaturely mineral life. Although geological time can leave us reeling, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen argues that stone's endurance is also an invitation to apprehend the world in other than human terms. Never truly inert, stone poses a profound challenge to modernity's disenchantments. Its agency undermines the human desire to be separate from the environment, a bifurcation that renders nature "out there," a mere resource for recreation, consumption, and exploitation. Written with great verve and elegance, this pioneering work is notable not only for interweaving the medieval and the modern but also as a major contribution to ecotheory. Comprising chapters organized by concept -"Geophilia," "Time," "Force," and "Soul"-Cohen seamlessly brings together a wide range of topics including stone's potential to transport humans into nonanthropocentric scales of place and time, the "petrification" of certain cultures, the messages fossils bear, the architecture of Bordeaux and Montparnasse, Yucca Mountain and nuclear waste disposal, the ability of stone to communicate across millennia in structures like Stonehenge, and debates over whether stones reproduce and have souls. Showing that what is often assumed to be the most lifeless of substances is, in its own time, restless and forever in motion, Stone fittingly concludes by taking us to Iceland a land that, writes the author, "reminds us that stone like water is alive, that stone like water is transient."

Climate Change: Alternate Governance Policy for South Asia provides an assessment of climate change issues through the socioeconomic lens of one of the world's poorest, most populous regions. Although climate change is a global issue, localized solutions have become increasingly necessary to address political, economic and cultural factors in underdeveloped regions. Identifying successes, gaps and shortcomings in existing policies and regional laws relating to climate change, this book evaluates the sustainability of current practices, examining mitigation strategies and suggesting a comprehensive, innovative model of sustainable policies and governance strategy specific to the region. While the book approaches climate change, policy and mitigation from a regionally-focused standpoint, it has an underlying philosophy of Think Global, Act Local, making it universally applicable to anyone interested in climate change and its effects.

Indian Shield: Precambrian Evolution and Phanerozoic Reconstitution highlights unique evolutionary trends covering a period of over 3,500 million years, from the oldest crust to the most recent geological activity of the Indian Subcontinent. The book discusses regional terrain geology in terms of the evolutionary history of the crust, describing how the Precambrian Shield evolved from a stable continental region to a tectonically unstable zone marked by frequent high-intensity earthquakes in a Plate-interior setting. It is a complete and readable account of the history of growth and evolution of the Indian Subcontinent, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The book is intended for graduate students, researchers, and teachers in the geosciences, especially geophysics, geomorphology and geology. The book also serves as an important resource for tectonics and petrology researchers, as well as those involved in exploration of mineral resources.

Rockslides and Rock Avalanches of Central Asia: Distribution, Impacts, and Hazard Assessment arms scientists with an inclusive and specialized reference for future studies of large-scale bedrock landslides in Central Asia, a phenomenon that poses a major threat to local communities, infrastructure and industrial facilities. The book covers the Dzungaria, Tien Shan, and Pamir mountain systems that are characterized by arid climates and scarce forestation, and is an ideal reference for scientists searching for data that accurately summarizes bedrock landslides through the analyses of a multitude of case studies that have applications in comparable, global scenarios. Through its relatively low precipitation and good preservation of minor geomorphic features, particularly those formed by past landslides, this region provides opportunities for detailed study of the internal structure of landslide bodies.

More than half of the world's petroleum is to be found in carbonate rocks, for example in the Middle East, the former USSR and in North America. These rocks show a bewildering diversity of grains and textures, due in part to the wealth of different fossil organisms which have contributed to carbonate sedimentation, and in part to a wide variety of diagenetic processes which can radically modify textures and obscure the depositional fabric.Careful petrographic study with a polarising microscope is a key element of any study of carbonate sediments, as a companion to field or core logging, and as a necessary precursor to geochemical analysis. This atlas, which illustrates in full colour a range of features not attempted in any general textbook, is designed as a laboratory manual to keep beside the microscope, as an aid to identifying grain types and textures in carbonates. It appeals alike to undergraduate and graduate students and to professionals in teaching institutions, research laboratories and industry.

Steepland geomorphology concerns high gradient landscapes which are either tectonically active or influenced by volcanism and where there is a perceived close relationship between soils, incomplete vegetation cover, recent geomorphic processes and associated landforms. Such areas are difficult to manage because of their high variability in terms of natural stability and because of inadequate theory and models. This book, through thirteen independent steepland field investigations, illustrates the differing conceptual frameworks that are used at four different temporal scales of investigation. The first four investigations, from Southern Africa, the Yukon Territory, the German Alps and Colombia, define relevant temporal scales. The other investigations concern the sediment production problem in Spitzbergen and northern Norway, sediment storage phenomena in Iceland, Bolivia, the Himalayas and the Apennines, and methods of interpreting environmental change from Japan, the Canadian Rockies, Ecuador and Bolivia.

Land Reclamation in Ecological Fragile Areas contains the proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Land Reclamation and Ecological Restoration (LRER 2017, Xi'an, China, 20-23 October 2017). The contributions cover a wide range of topics: * Mining impact on environment * Monitoring, prediction and assessment of mining impact on land environment * Mining methods and measurements to minimize the land and environment impact * Mining and reclamation policies, regulations and standard * AMD treatment * Soil and landscape reconstruction * Revegetation and biodiversity protection * Subsidence land reclamation and ecological restoration * Surface mined land reclamation and ecological restoration * Solid wastes management, waste dump and tailings pond restoration * Case study * Abandoned mine land reclamation and ecological restoration * Contaminated land remediation * Reclaimed land monitoring and evaluation * Land reclamation supervision * Products and industrialization * Education, technology transfer and international cooperation of mine land reclamation * "The Belt and Road Initiative" and mine land restoration Land Reclamation in Ecological Fragile Areas will be of interest to engineers,scientists, consultants, government officials and students in this area.

Bio-Geotechnologies for Mine Site Rehabilitation deals with the biological, physical, chemical, and engineering approaches necessary for the reclamation of mine waste. As mining has negative effects on natural resources and deteriorates the quality of the surrounding environment, this book provides coverage across different types of mining industries, which are currently creating industrial deserts overloaded with technogenic waste. The book offers cost-effective strategies and approaches for contaminated sites, along with remediation and rehabilitation methods for contaminated soils and waste dumps. It is an essential resource for students and academics, but is also ideal for applied professionals in environmental geology, mineral geologists, biotechnologists and policymakers.

Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene, Five Volume Set presents a currency-based, global synthesis cataloguing the impact of humanity's global ecological footprint. Covering a multitude of aspects related to Climate Change, Biodiversity, Contaminants, Geological, Energy and Ethics, leading scientists provide foundational essays that enable researchers to define and scrutinize information, ideas, relationships, meanings and ideas within the Anthropocene concept. Questions widely debated among scientists, humanists, conservationists, politicians and others are included, providing discussion on when the Anthropocene began, what to call it, whether it should be considered an official geological epoch, whether it can be contained in time, and how it will affect future generations. Although the idea that humanity has driven the planet into a new geological epoch has been around since the dawn of the 20th century, the term 'Anthropocene' was only first used by ecologist Eugene Stoermer in the 1980s, and hence popularized in its current meaning by atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen in 2000.

Every year that passes without a tsunami means that we're just that much closer to our next one. What can we do to ensure we're prepared when the next catastrophic tsunami strikes? The ferocious waves of a tsunami can travel across oceans at the speed of a jet airplane. They can kill families, destroy entire cultures, and even gut nations. To understand these beasts in our waters well enough to survive them, we must understand how they're created and learn from the past. In this book, tsunami specialists James Goff and Walter Dudley arm readers with everything they need to survive a tsunami - and maybe even avoid the next one. The book takes readers on a historical journey through some of the most devastating tsunamis in human history, some of the quirky ones, and even some that may not even be what most of us think of as tsunamis. Diving into personal and scientific stories of disasters,Tsunami pulls readers into the many ways these waves can be generated, ranging from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to explosions, landslides, and beyond. The book provides overviews of some of the great historical events - the 1755 Lisbon, 1946 Aleutian, 1960 Chile, and 2004 Indian Ocean tsunamis, but also some of the less well-known as well such as the 1958 Lituya Bay, 563 CE Lake Geneva, a 6,000 year old Papua New Guinean mystery, and even a 2.5 Million year old asteroid. This is not straight science, though. Each event is brought to life in a variety of ways through stories of survival, human folly, and echoes of past disasters etched in oral traditions and the environment. The book combines research from oceanography, biogeography, geology, history, archaeology and more, with data collected from over 400 survivor interviews. Alongside carefully selected images and the scientific measurements of these tsunamis, the book offers tales of survival, heroism, and tragic loss. Through a balanced combination of personal experience, the Earth's changing environment, tales of tragedy, and a recount of oral traditions, Tsunami allows readers to engage with a new scientific approach to these overwhelming waves. The resulting book unveils the science of disaster like never before.

Advances in Sequence Stratigraphy, Volume Two covers current research across a wide range of stratigraphic disciplines, providing information on the most recent developments for the geoscientific research community. Chapters in this volume include Sequence Stratigraphy - Oman, Sequence Stratigraphy and diagenesis, Sequence Stratigraphy of Siliciclastic Systems, Upper Devonian Biostratigraphy, Event Stratigraphy and Late Fransian Kellwasser Extinction Bio-events in the Iowa Basin: Western Euramerica, Sea-level change and Sequence Stratigraphy, Sequence Stratigraphy: A Material-based Approach Versus A Time-Based Approach, and Anisian-Ladinian marker horizon: Implications for sequence stratigraphy and intra-tethyan correlation. This fully commissioned review publication aims to foster and convey progress in stratigraphy, including geochronology, magnetostratigraphy, lithostratigraphy, event-stratigraphy, isotope stratigraphy, astrochronology, climatostratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, ice core chronology, cyclostratigraphy, palaeoceanography, sequence stratigraphy, and more.