Geology of the Himalayan Belt: Deformation, Metamorphism, Stratigraphy presents sophisticated metamorphic and igneous rock data across various Himalayan geographic sectors, capturing their petrography, metamorphism, structure, mineralization, and regional tectonic research. With an east-west extension of about 3000 kilometers and numerous 8000 meter peaks, the Himalayas are the most spectacular mountain ranges on earth. Since the 19th century, they have provided a testing ground of global importance for the development of geodynamic concepts, from isostasy over continental collision, to more recently, feedback mechanisms between tectonics and climate. This book collects the broad range of data that's been gathered on the Himalayas over the past 50 years, providing a comprehensive analysis and interpretation on the available data that brings the scientific community a better understanding of the geological diversity and structure of the Himalayan belt, along with new techniques that have applications in a host of global geological settings.

This book discusses the entire lithostratigraphy of Iran from the Proterozoic to recent. This unique book manages to elucidate the stratigraphy of Iran, after an exhausting and long-term process; the creation of a comprehensive stratigraphic framework required input from many Iranian specialist stratigraphers - a process which will be ongoing in the future. However, the main purpose of this work is to provide a concise summary of the state of the art of the lithostratigraphy for Iranian formations. The geology of the various sedimentary basins is described for each geological time period, together with the constituent lithostratigraphic units. The available stratigraphic data are summarized in tables, providing all relevant references. Finally, the book presents the spatial and temporal distribution of the various formations, together with their geographic locations, type sections and lithological composition.

John K. DeLaski, M.D. practiced medicine in the Penobscot Bay region of Maine and, in addition, was a naturalist with keen powers of observation. His study of the landscape led to the conclusion that a thick glacier had overtopped the highest hills, flooded all of Penobscot Bay, extended far to the east and west and probably was part of a greater continental glacier. He published these very critical field observations and inferences in numerous articles in local newspapers and magazines, and in the American Journal of Science in 1864. His work put him on the "team" of Benjamin Silliman, James D. Dana and Louis Agassiz as an advocate for glaciation as the regional land shaping force opposed to that of the Biblical Deluge, a major scientific conflict of the day both in North America and Europe. He remained a shadowy player, in the background, but clearly contributed critical observations to the argument through personal interactions with Agassiz and other prominent naturalists. They incorporated DeLaski's observations into their own presentations, often without giving him credit. John DeLaski's summary work, a 400 page handwritten manuscript for the book, "The Ancient Great Glacier of North America", was dated 1869. He died in 1874 and the book was not published. The historic significance of DeLaski's unpublished book is based upon its startling contribution to one of the major scientific questions of the day of whether the surficial geology of northern U.S. and Canada was caused by the actions of the Biblical Flood or by continental glaciation. If published, this would have been the first book on this continent, at least, to present a holistic discussion of the controversy in which he presented his critical observations of the surficial geology in Maine, southern New England and New Brunswick, Canada and concluded that these depositional and erosional features must be of glacial origin. DeLaski then incorporated other evidence into the book for glaciation reported by others from the region during a decade or two, and from the mid and far west and Canada to advocate that the entire region was covered by an ice sheet that was at least 5,000 feet and probably much thicker over interior northern U.S. and Canada and which terminated along a glacial margin which extended from southern new England as far westward along the courses of the Ohio, and Missouri Rivers. All this was done while most "naturalists" still advocated the Biblical Flood to explain the major components of the surficial geology in North America and abroad. DeLaski's book containing his critical observations of clearly so many landscape features of glacial origin, if published would have been a pivotal document that would have strongly supported those arguing for glaciations in the glaciations vs. flood international argument.

From tidal waves and sandstorms to lava flows and glaciers, natural geological processes are often hazardous to human life. This book examines the scientific principles behind these processes, explaining how and why they pose a frequent threat. Twelve chapters cover such topics as:

Earthquakes

Volcanic eruptions

Tsunami

Mass wasting

Streams and floods

Coastal hazards

Deserts, droughts, and wind

Glaciers and glaciation

Hazardous geologic materials, such as asbestos and radon gas

Natural geologic subsidence, such as sinkholes

Sudden catastrophic geologic events, such as asteroid impacts

Each chapter includes an extensive list of additional resources, featuring books, journal articles, Web sites, and contact information for relevant organizations. In addition to a general introduction, the volume also contains a detailed subject index and over 60 photographs, tables, and charts.

Written in a clear, engaging manner with numerous examples of famous or recent geological disasters, the Sourcebook is an excellent introduction to the topic for high school and college students, as well as a valuable resource for teachers, professors, journalists, and interested general readers. Government agencies and private relief organizations that deal with natural disasters will also find the book useful.

Geomorphology of Central America is authored by a scientist with more than 30 years of regional assessment research experience in Central American countries, arming scientists with a classic research method-a method most effective when applied to specific geographic regions globally. The scientific techniques used for assessing regional studies of an area reflect a level of expertise that has become more difficult to come by over the past three decades and underscores the importance of regional assessments of geomorphological features. Complemented with beautifully crafted and exacting maps that capture the region's unique landscapes, Geomorphology of Central America introduces a global vision of the geomorphology and volcanic field of Central America from Guatemala to Panama, making it the first single source of geomorphological content for the region.

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP: 2000-2013) has provided crucial records of past and present processes and interactions within and between the biosphere, cryosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere. Research in IODP encompasses a wide range of fundamental and applied issues that affect society, such as global climate change, biodiversity, the origin of life, natural hazards involving the study of earthquakes processes, and the internal structure and dynamics of our planet. This compilation of major findings from the 2003-2013/14 phase of IODP, focusing on scientific results rather than description of data acquisition and early inferences, provides invaluable information. Anyone wondering what scientific drilling can achieve will gain quick understanding of the range of questions that are uniquely addressed with this methodology and the ways these data dovetail with other regional information. The excitement of breakthrough findings that occasionally accompanies a drilling project will be evident. IODP obtained unique records from the global ocean basins during the 2003-2013 program phase. This book highlights findings in three theme areas: Subseafloor life and the marine biosphere; Earth's changing environments; and Dynamics of the solid Earth. Each core or borehole log provides a window revealing insights that no other data achieve.

Geomorphological Fieldwork addresses a topic that always remains popular within the geosciences and environmental science. More specifically, the volume conveys a growing legacy of field-based learning for young geomorphologists that can be used as a student book for field-based university courses and postgraduate research requiring fieldwork or field schools. The editors have much experience of field-based learning within geomorphology and extend this to physical geography. The topics covered are relevant to basic geomorphology as well as applied approaches in environmental and cultural geomorphology. The book integrates a physical-human approach to geography, but focuses on physical geography and geomorphology from an integrated field-based geoscience perspective.

Soils, invaluable indicators of the nature and history of the physical and human landscape, have strongly influenced the cultural record left to archaeologists. Not only are they primary reservoirs for artifacts, they often encase entire sites. And soil-forming processes in themselves are an important component of site formation, influencing which artifacts, features, and environmental indicators (floral, faunal, and geological) will be destroyed and to what extent and which will be preserved and how well. In this book, Holliday will address each of these issues in terms of fundamentals as well as in field case histories from all over the world. The focus will be on principles of soil geomorphology, soil stratigraphy, and soil chemistry and their applications in archaeological research.

Our understanding of the rheological and seismic properties of the Earth's interior relies on interpreting geophysical observations using mineral physics data. The complexity of natural materials complicates these interpretations, but here the key features of such materials in controlling the attenuation of seismic waves are determined by a set of careful experiments. This thesis clearly explains how dynamic mechanical spectroscopy has been used to determine the visco-elastic properties of igneous and sedimentary rocks containing geological fluids. These experiments highlight, for the first time, the importance of mineral and rock microstructures as controls on geophysical properties of solids, particularly near the melting point. The results have impacts in areas ranging from volcanic processes, through the structure of the deep Earth, to fluid-saturated porous media.

This book presents investigations on the Earth's seismic structure using both active-source and natural earthquake records. It discusses the ground-truth data obtained from the TAiwan Integrated GEodynamics Research (TAIGER) active-source experiments that provides excellent and unique insights into the shallow crustal structures beneath Taiwan. It also explores the full-wave sensitivity kernels, which account for the effects of all possible wave interferences involved in shear-wave splitting and therefore loosen the restrictions on source-receiver geometry amenable to shear-wave splitting analysis. Moreover, it describes the 3D Frechet kernels, which enable us to resolve the vertical and lateral variations in seismic anisotropy and obtain 3D images of the Earth's anisotropic structure, as well as the practice in Southern California that enables us to infer the state of the stress and strain in the lithosphere and the dynamics of the asthenospheric mantle flow for a better understanding of the strength and deformation in the upper mantle beneath the San Andreas Fault system.

Globally, mineral exploration has grown significantly in recent years, driven by the rapid acceleration in prices for gold and diamonds since 2004 and the emergence of a middle class in both China and India-aggressively increased demand. Despite this resurgence, no single book has been published that takes an interdisciplinary approach in addressing the full scope of mineral exploration-from mining and extraction to economic evaluation, policies, sustainability, and environmental impacts. "Mineral Exploration: Principles and Applications" accomplishes this by presenting each topic with theoretical approaches first followed by specific applications that can be immediately implemented in the field.
Presents16 case studies that allow readers to quickly apply exploration concepts to real-life scenarios in the fieldIncludes more than 200 illustrations and full-color photographsthat aid the reader in retaining key procedures and applicationsEach chapter is structured so that its topic is discussed theoretically first followed by specific applicationsCombines both theory and application in a multidisciplinary reference that thoroughly addresses the full scope of mineral explorationAuthored by an instructor with more than 30 years of experience in the field and a decade as a consultant for commercial mining companies
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Teide Volcano has many different meanings: For the Guanche aborigines, who endured several of its eruptions, it was Echeide (Hell). Early navigators had in Teide, a lifesaving widely visible landmark that was towering over the clouds. For the first explorers, Teide was a challenging and dangerous climb, since it was thought that Teide's peak was so high that from its summit the sun was too close and far too hot to survive. Teide was considered the highest mountain in the world at that time and measuring its height precisely was a great undertaking and at the time of global scientific significance. For von Buch, von Humboldt, Lyell and other great 18th and19th century naturalists, Teide helped to shape a new and now increasingly 'volcanic' picture, where the origin of volcanic rocks (from solidified magma) slowly casted aside Neptunism and removed some of the last barriers for the development of modern Geology and Volcanology as the sciences we know today. For the present day population of Tenerife, living on top of the world's third tallest volcanic structure on the planet, Teide has actually become "Padre Teide", a fatherly protector and an emblematic icon of Tenerife, not to say of the Canaries as a whole. The UNESCO acknowledged this iconic and complex volcano, as "of global importance in providing evidence of the geological processes that underpin the evolution of oceanic islands". Today, 'Teide National Park' boasts 4 Million annual visitors including many 'volcano spotters' and is a spectacular natural environment which most keep as an impression to treasure and to never forget. For us, the editors of this book, Teide is all of the above; a 'hell of a job', a navigation point on cloudy days, a challenge beyond imagination, a breakthrough in our understanding of oceanic volcanism that has shaped our way of thinking about volcanoes, and lastly, Teide provides us with a reference point from where to start exploring other oceanic volcanoes in the Canaries and beyond. Here we have compiled the different aspects and the current understanding of this natural wonder.

Flood Risk Change: A Complexity Perspective focuses on the dynamic nature of flood risks and follows a systemic approach - including environmental, socioeconomic and socio-technical factors for modeling and managing flood risk change. Readers will gain a more complete picture of the topic for understanding the complexity of flood risk change, both from human and natural causes of flooding. The book includes a mix of theory (introduction to complex system science from the flood risk management perspective) and case studies. It features maps and figures focusing on the system components as well as on the dynamic interactions between the drivers of change. Researchers studying flood risk, environmental engineering, disaster risk reduction, and land use, as well as those in industry and responsible for policy, will find this an invaluable resource.

The Howgill Fells in Cumbria, represent one of the most erosionally active landscapes in Britain. The bedrock geology, folded Silurian mudstones, is not especially well seen. The direct effects of Pleistocene glaciation are limited and not as well developed as in the neighbouring Lake District, although glacial meltwaters did have an important impact. However, it is in its post-glacial landscape that the Howgills are exceptional. The steep hillslopes of the headwater valleys are riddled by networks of erosional gullies, many active during the last few thousand years but now stabilised, others actively erosional now. The gully systems feed sediment downslope, locally forming large tributary-junction alluvial fans, elsewhere creating braided reaches within the stream channels.The Holocene sequence of hillslope gully erosion, alluvial fan deposition, and stream terrace aggradation and dissection is exceptionally well exhibited by numerous exposed sections through the sedimentary sequences. The modern active gully systems have been monitored for more than thirty years. The results of this long-term study illustrate two fundamental aspects of process geomorphology: first, the importance of coupling, i.e. linkages, within the geomorphic system, and secondly, the significance of magnitude/frequency relationships. Essentially, the Howgills form an excellent field laboratory for the study of modern processes and landforms as well as retaining the evidence for reconstructing the erosion/deposition sequence of the last few thousand years.The book is organised in two sections. A series of thematic chapters is followed by chapters dealing with details of recommended field excursions. The first excursion is a car-based excursion around the margins of the Howgills but the other excursions are all hiking excursions into the interior of the Howgills. One of the joys of the interior of the Howgills is that they form an upland block, within which there is no settlement, there are no roads and virtually no walls. You have to hike in to see, study and learn!The book is copiously illustrated by maps, diagrams and colour photographs.

This book presents an analysis of our current knowledge on the origin of the Earth's continental crust. There are two aspects to consider: tectonic and igneous processes. Tectonic aspects include sedimentary accretion, terrane accretion, and continental collision at continental margins, in association with plate subduction. These processes result in the formation of large mountain belts, the building up of which literally grows the continents. However, these tectonic aspects are concerned with material recycling within the crust, and hence do not contribute to volumetric growth of continental crust. Igneous processes concern separation of continental crust from the mantle and result in the volumetric growth of continental crust. Therefore, the main focus of this book is to systematically examine why and how the Earth's continental crust forms, by evaluating magmatic processes at island arcs where new continental crust forms.

The book presents an up-to-date, detailed overview of the Quaternary glaciations all over the world, not only with regard to stratigraphy but also with regard to major glacial landforms and the extent of the respective ice sheets. The locations of key sites are included. The information is presented in digital, uniformly prepared maps which can be used in a Geographical Information System (GIS) such as ArcView or ArcGIS. The accompanying text supplies the information on how the data were obtained (geomorphology, geological mapping, air photograph evaluation, satellite imagery), how the features were dated (14C, TL, relative stratigraphy) and how reliable they are supposed to be. All references to the underlying basic publications are included. Where controversial interpretations are possible e.g. in Siberia or Tibet, this is pointed out. As a result, the information on Quaternary glaciations worldwide will be much improved and supplied in a uniform digital format. The information on the glacial limits is compiled in digital form by the coordinators of the project, and is available for download at: http: //booksite.elsevier.com/9780444534477/

* completely updated detailed coverage of worldwide Quaternary glaciations * information in digital, uniformly prepared maps which can be used in a GIS such as ArcView or ArcGis * step-by-step guideline how to open and use ArcGis files * possibility to convert the shapefiles into GoogleEarth kmz-files * availability of chronological controls

Landslides in sensitive clays represent a major hazard in the northern countries of the world such as Canada, Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and in the US state of Alaska. Past and recent examples of catastrophic landslides at e.g. Saint-Jean-Vianney in 1971, Rissa in 1979, Finneidfjord in 1996 and Kattmarka in 2009 have illustrated the great mobility of the remolded sensitive clays and their hazardous retrogressive potential. These events call for a better understanding of landslide in sensitive clay terrain to assist authorities with state-of-the-art hazard assessment methods, risk management schemes, mitigation measures and planning. During the last decades the elevated awareness regarding slope movement in sensitive clays has led to major advances in mapping techniques and development of highly sophisticated geotechnical and geophysical investigation tools. Great advances in numerical techniques dealing with progressive failure and landslide kinematic have also lead to increase understanding and predictability of landslides in sensitive clays and their consequences. This volume consists of the latest scientific research by international experts dealing with geological, geotechnical and geophysical aspects of slope failure in sensitive clays and focuses on understanding the full spectrum of challenges presented by landslides in such brittle materials.

Beaches in Japan have been eroding since the 1970s as a result of the artificial land alterations. Approximately 3000 fishing ports and 1000 commercial ports have been built nationwide, as well as 2532 large dams being constructed in the upstream basins of large rivers. Due to the port and dam developments, fluvial sand supply has significantly reduced resulting in shoreline recession around the river mouths. Continuous sand supply along the coastline has also been obstructed by the port breakwaters. The formation of wave shelter zone by the port breakwaters induce longshore sand transport, thereby leading to an accretion of large amount of sand in the wave shelter zone and erosion in the surrounding area. Thus, almost all causes of the beach erosion in Japan are due to anthropogenic factors. The exact situation of the beach erosion has never been clear in literatures that are written in Japanese, or in English. Coastal engineers can and should learn from these results, otherwise the same situation and problems, which were induced by excessive coastal development without protection measures and due attention given to nearby coasts, will recur throughout the world.Textbooks on coastal engineering, that were already published, describe only the theoretical fundamentals of the subject, but lack the practical perspectives and field studies. The book examines many coastal areas as examples, highlighting the various erosion factors which should be avoided elsewhere globally. This book was first published in Japanese in 2004, and was translated into English by the present author.

The Dead Sea transform is an active plate boundary connecting the Red Sea seafloor spreading system to the Arabian-Eurasian continental collision zone. Its geology and geophysics provide a natural laboratory for investigation of the surficial, crustal and mantle processes occurring along transtensional and transpressional transform fault domains on a lithospheric scale and related to continental breakup. There have been many detailed and disciplinary studies of the Dead Sea transform fault zone during the last20 years and this book brings them together.

This book is an updated comprehensive coverage of the knowledge, based on recent studies of the tectonics, structure, geophysics, volcanism, active tectonics, sedimentology and paleo and modern climate of the Dead Sea transform fault zone. It puts together all this new information and knowledge in a coherent fashion."

This book presents recent findings on the structure and evolution of the Southern Andes. Through a detailed description of a series of orogenic segments reviewed by the different groups that have worked with structural and geophysical tools in each area over the last several years, it illustrates the diversity of mechanisms that have impacted strong orogenic gradients and consequently mountain morphology, from the southern Pampean flat subduction zone to the southern tip of the continent (33-56 S). The book also revises our conventional understanding of the source of the different Mesozoic to Cenozoic sections exhumed in the orogenic wedge, with the objective of discussing basin mechanisms through time. A final chapter discusses probable orogenic controls that have acted together in order to explain structure, the different deformational stages and intra-orogenic extensional collapses that affected the fold and thrust belt over time.

This book details the analytical processes, and interpretation of the resulting data, needed in order to achieve a comprehensive source-rock evaluation of organic-rich shales. The authors employ case studies on Permian and Cretaceous shales from various Indian basins and other petroleum-bearing basins around the world to illustrate the key features of their organic-rich shale characterization methodology. These case studies may also help to identify potential zones within shale formations that could be exploited for commercial gas and/or oil production. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to all researchers working in the field of source-rock analysis. In addition, the source-rock evaluation techniques - and the various intricacies associated with them - discussed here offer valuable material for postgraduate geology courses.

Wind erosion occurs in many arid, semiarid and agricultural areas of the world. It is an environmental process in?uenced by geological and climatic variations as well as human activities. In general, wind erosion leads to land degradation in agricultural areas and has a negative impact on air quality. Dustemissiongeneratedbywinderosionisthelargestsourceofaerosolswhich directly or indirectly in?uence the atmospheric radiation balance and hence global climatic variations. Strong wind-erosion events, such as severe dust storms, may threaten human lives and cause substantial economic damage. The physics of wind erosion is complex, as it involves atmospheric, soil and land-surface processes. The research on wind erosion is multidisciplinary, covering meteorology, ?uid dynamics, soil physics, colloidal science, surface soil hydrology, ecology, etc. Several excellent books have already been written about the topic, for instance, by Bagnold (1941, The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes), Greeley and Iversen (1985, Wind as a Geological P- cess on Earth, Mars, Venus and Titan), Pye (1987, Aeolian Dust and Dust Deposits), Pye and Tsoar (1990, Aeolian Sand and Sand Dunes). However, considerable progress has been made in wind-erosion research in recent years and there is a need to systematically document this progress in a new book.

This book discusses how sediments compact with depth and applications of the compaction trends. Porosity reduction in sediment conveniently indicates the degree of sediments compacted after deposition. Published empirical curves- the compaction curves- are depth-wise porosity variation through which change in pore spaces from sediment surface to deeper depths e.g. up to 6 km can be delineated. Porosity is derived from well logs. Compaction curves, referred to as the Normal Porosity Profile of shales, sandstones and shale bearing sandstones of different models are reviewed along with the different mechanical and chemical compaction processes. These compaction models reveals how porosity reduces depth-wise and the probable reason for anomalous zones. Deviation from these normal compaction trends may indicate abnormal pressure scenarios: either over- or under pressure. We highlight global examples of abnormal pressure scenarios along with the different primary- and secondary mechanisms. Well logs and cores being the direct measurements of porosity, well log is the only cost-effective way to determine porosity of subsurface rocks. Certain well logs can detect overpressure and the preference of one log above the other helps reduce the uncertainty. Apart from delineation of under-compacted zones by comparing the modeled- with the actual compaction, porosity data can also estimate erosion.

Rivers are significant geomorphological agents, they show an amazing diversity of form and behaviour and transfer water and sediment from the land surface to the oceans. This book examines how river systems respond to environmental change and why this understanding is needed for successful river management. Highly dynamic in nature, river channels adjust and evolve over timescales that range from hours to tens of thousands of years or more, and are found in a wide range of environments. This book provides a comprehensive overview of recent developments in river channel management, clearly illustrating why an understanding of fluvial geomorphology is vital in channel preservation, environmentally sensitive design and the restoration of degraded river channels. It covers: flow and sediment regimes: flow generation; flow regimes; sediment sources, transfer and yield channel processes: flow characteristics; processes of erosion and sediment transport; interactions between flow and the channel boundary; deposition channel form and behaviour: controls on channel form; channel adjustments; floodplain development; form and behaviour of alluvial and bedrock channels response to change: how channels have responded to past environmental change; impacts of human activity; reconstructing past changes river management: the fluvial hydrosystem; environmental degradation; environmentally sensitive engineering techniques; river restoration; the role of the fluvial geomorphologist. Fundamentals of Fluvial Geomorphology is an indispensable text for undergraduate students. It provides straightforward explanations for important concepts and mathematical formulae, backed up with conceptual diagrams and appropriate examples from around the world to show what they actually mean and why they are important. A colour plate section also shows spectacular examples of fluvial diversity.

This book on multiscale seismic tomography, written by one of the leaders in the field, is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and professionals in Earth and planetary sciences who need to broaden their horizons about seismotectonics, volcanism, and interior structure and dynamics of the Earth and Moon. It describes the state-of-the-art in seismic tomography, with emphasis on the new findings obtained by applying tomographic methods in local, regional, and global scales for understanding the generating mechanism of large and great earthquakes such as the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake (Mw 9.0), crustal and upper mantle structure, origin of active arc volcanoes and intraplate volcanoes including hotspots, heterogeneous structure of subduction zones, fate of subducting slabs, origin of mantle plumes, mantle convection, and deep Earth dynamics. The first lunar tomography and its implications for the mechanism of deep moonquakes and lunar evolution are also introduced.