Landslides represent one of the most destructive natural catastrophes. They can reach extremely long distances and velocities, and are capable of wiping out human communities and settlements. Yet landslides have a creative facet as they contribute to the modification of the landscape. They are the consequence of the gravity pull jointly with the tectonic disturbance of our living planet.

Landslides are most often studied within a geotechnical and geomorphological perspective. Engineering calculations are traditionally applied to the stability of terrains. In this book, landslides are viewed as a physical phenomenon. A physical understanding of landslides is a basis for modeling and mitigation and for understanding their flow behavior and dynamics. We still know relatively little about many aspects of landslide physics. It is only recently that the field of landslide dynamics is approaching a more mature stage. This is testified by the release of modelling tools for the simulation of landslides and debris flows. In this book the emphasis is placed on the problems at the frontier of landslide research. Each chapter is self-consistent, with questions and arguments introduced from the beginning.

Written for anyone interested in coastal geomorphology, this is the complete guide to the processes at work on our coastlines and the resulting features seen in coastal systems across the world. Accessible to students from a range of disciplines, the quantitative approach of this book helps to build a solid understanding of wave and current processes that shape coastlines. From sandy beaches to coral reefs, the major coastal features are related to contemporary processes and to sea-level changes over the past 25,000 years. Key equations describing these processes and standard methods and instrumentation used to collect measurements are all presented in this wide-ranging overview. Designed to support a one- or two-semester course and grounded in current research, this second edition has been substantially updated and rewritten - featuring cutting-edge new topics, insights from new models and technologies, additional global examples and an enhanced package of online teaching materials.

This review of techniques for studying the Earth's landforms has been updated. Retaining the five-part structure of the first edition, the specialist contributors to the text have augmented their original coverage with critical evaluations of recent major improvements in this field. As before, Part One is concerned with investigation methods and process determination; Part Two, with geomorphology and mapping, and Part Three, with the properties and measurements of materials. Part Four examines processes, and Part Five covers the history and evolution of landforms. A new chapter on neotectonics reflects the impact of developments in tectonic theory, and heavily revised sections deal with advances in remote sensing, image analysis, radiometric dating, geomorphometry, data loggers, radioactive tracers, and the determination of pore water pressure and the rates of denudation.

Geomorphology is the study of the earth's landforms and the processes that made the landscape look the way it does today. What we see when we look at a scenic view is the result of the interplay of the forces that shape the earth's surface. These operate on many different timescales and involve geological as well as climatic forces. Adrian Harvey introduces the varying geomorphological forces and differing timescales which thus combine: from the global, which shape continents and mountain ranges; through the regional, producing hills and river basins; to the local, forming beaches, glaciers and slopes; to those micro scale forces which weather rock faces and produce sediment. Finally, he considers the effect that humans have had on the world's topography.

Reprint from Pure and Applied Geophysics (PAGEOPH), Volume 124 (1986), No. 3

The first edition of this book was published in 1965 and its French translation in 1966. The revised second edition followed in 1967 and its Russian translation became available in 1969. Since then, many new petrographic observations and experimental data elucidat- ing reactions in metamorphic rocks have made a new approach in the study of metamorphic transformation desirable and possible. It is felt that this new approach, attempted in this book, leads to a better unders- tanding of rock metamorphism. The concept of metamorphic facies and subfacies considers asso- ciations of mineral assemblages from diverse bulk compositions as characteristic of a certain pressure-temperature range. As new petrographic observations accumulated, it became increasingly difficult to accommodate this information within a manageable framework of metamorphic facies and subfacies. Instead, it turned out that mineral assemblages due to reactions in common rocks of a particular composi- tion provide suitable indicators of metamorphic conditions. Metamorphic zones, defined on the basis of mineral reactions, very effectively display the evolution of metamorphic rocks. Thus the im- portance of reactions in metamorphic rocks is emphasized. Experimen- tal calibration of mineral reactions makes it possible to distinguish reac- tions which are of petrogenetic significance from those which are not. This distinction provides guidance in petrographic investigations un- dertaken with the object of deducing the physical conditions of metamorphism.

Fluid Physics in Geology provides an introductory treatment of the physical and dynamical behavior of fluids, considering first how fluids behave in a general way, then looking more specifically at how they are involved in certain geological processes. The book is aimed at those interested in understanding fluid behavior and motion in the context of a wide variety of geological problems. Helpful example problems following each chapter illustrate applications of the material to realistic problems involving groundwater flows, magma dynamics, open-channel flows, and thermal convection.

"Coastal Geomorphology, Second Edition" is a comprehensive and systematic introduction to this subject and demonstrates the dynamic nature of coastal landforms, providing a background for analytical planning and management strategies in coastal areas that are subject to continuing changes.

This introductory textbook has been completely revised and updated, and is accompanied by a website which provides additional illustrations, global examples, case-studies and more detailed and advanced information on topics referenced in the book, together with explanations of terminology, annotated references and research material.

How will global environmental change affect the landscape and our interaction with it? Apart from climate change, there are other important catalysts of landscape change, including relief, hydroclimate and runoff, sea level variations and human activity. This volume summarizes the state-of-the-art concerning the geomorphic implications of global environmental change, analyzing such effects on lakes, rivers, coasts, reefs, rainforests, savannas, deserts, glacial features, and mountains. Providing a benchmark statement from the world s leading geomorphologists on the current state of, and potential changes to, the environment, this book is invaluable for advanced courses on geomorphology and environmental science, and as a reference for research scientists. Interdisciplinary in scope, with a primary audience of Earth and environmental scientists, geographers, geomorphologists and ecologists, it also has a wider reach to those concerned with the social, economic and political issues raised by global environmental change, and is useful to policy makers and environmental managers.

On several occasions I have been asked wh ether topics of earth science could be explained in more or less conventional prose. Of course this can be done. I ho pe chapter I meets with the most extreme wishes in this respect. I even venture to believe that chapters II, IV, VI and VII can also be digested without special strain. Though chapter V, and parts of chapter III may require a special effort of concentration on the part of the reader, there should be nothing in this book that cannot be under- stood by an intelligent person who is willing to try. Sometimes, however, the use of technical terms cannot weIl be avoided without affecting the meaning and accuracy of the ideas. However, I have attempted to restrict the use of these terms to aminimum. Moreover most scientific expressions and terms will be explained when used for the first time and when occur- ring again one will find a reference to these pi aces in the index. Finally a list of the names of geological formations in their proper sequence is made available for consultation in table I, at the end of the Preface (p. XII). Each chapter constitutes a subject in itself. However, as in the author's "The Pulse of the Earth" the reader will find that the different topics demonstrate the deeper correlation that links together a variety of terrestrial processes, which - at first sight _. appear to be unconnected.

Although GIS provides powerful functionality for spatial analysis, data overlay and storage, these spatially oriented systems lack the ability to represent temporal dynamics, which is a major impediment to its use in surface modeling. However, rapid development of computing technology in recent years has made real-time spatial analysis and real-time data visualization become realizable. Based on newly developed methods, Surface Modeling: High Accuracy and High Speed Methods explores solutions to big-error and slow-efficiency problems, two critical challenges that have long plagued those working in with geographical information system (GIS) and computer-aided design (CAD). By developing high accuracy and high speed methods for surface modeling, the book builds a bridge between the mathematical-oriented theory of surface modeling and the user-oriented application where the user is actually able to retrieve information on the method itself. The author examines a novel method of high accuracy surface modeling (HASM) in terms of the fundamental theorem of surfaces. He then analyzes the coefficient matrix and develops an adaptive method of HASM (HASM-AM), a multi-grade method of HASM (HASM-MG), and an adjustment method of HASM (HASM-AD). He uses numerical tests and real world studies to demonstrate that HASM-AM, HASM-MG, and HASM-AD have highly accelerated computational speed, especially for simulations with huge computational work. Building on this, the book discusses a HASM-based method for dynamic simulation (HASM-FDS), and then applies HASM methods to simulate terrains, climate change, ecosystem change, land cover, and soil properties. It demonstrates HASM's potential for simulating population distribution, human carrying capacity, ecosystem services, ecological diversity, change detection, and wind velocity. The book concludes with a discussion of the problems that exist in surface modeling on a global level and evaluates possible solutions to these problems.

Geomorphology, the discipline which analyzes the history and nature of the earth's surface, deals with the landforms produced by erosion, weathering, deposition, transport and tectonic processes. In recent decades there have been major developments in the discipline and these are reflected in this major Encyclopedia, the first such reference work in the field to be published for thirty-five years. Encyclopedia of Geomorphology has been produced in association with the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG) and has a truly global perspective. The entries have been written by an international editorial team of contributors, drawn from over thirty countries, who are all among the leading experts in the discipline. In two lavishly illustrated volumes, Encyclopedia contains nearly 700 alphabetically organized entries to provide a comprehensive guide both to specific landforms and to the major types of geomorphological processes that create them. The Encyclopedia also demonstrates the major developments that have taken place in recent years in our knowledge of tectonic and climatic changes and in the use of new techniques such as modelling, remote sensing and process measurement. Older concepts, however, are not forgotten and provide an historical perspective on the development of ideas. Both accessible and authoritative, Encyclopedia of Geomorphology is destined to become the definitive resource for students, researchers and applied practitioners in the field of geomorphology and the cognate disciplines of geography, earth science, sedimentology and environmental science.

Considering that glaciers and ice sheets cover about 10% of the Earth's land surface in a world where human civilization is increasingly impacted by the effects of changing glacial activity, Colour Atlas of Glacial Phenomena presents itself as an indispensable guide for students, professionals, and researchers who want to be better informed while studying and tracking the future influences of glaciers and ice sheets on the global environment. While stressing both the beauty and utility of glaciers, the authors cover critical features of glaciers and their landforms and provide useful explanations of the key concepts in glaciology and glacial geology. The authors expand to demonstrate how our lives are influenced by the Cryosphere, a key component of the Earth system and how this heightens the vulnerability of glaciers and ice sheets to deterioration. This illustrated book also helpfully maps out regions of mountain glaciers and ice caps around the world for a practical reference and discusses the products of glacial erosion and deposition integral to understanding rising global sea levels.

This volume discusses geological, biological and sustainability aspects of coastal, estuary and lake environments. It offers a comprehensive understanding of biotic, physico-chemical, sedimentological and socio-environmental factors associated with the sustainable development of these environments in areas vulnerable to climate change and other anthropogenic activities. The book is divided into several main sections, covering the geological and biological processes and dynamics of these environments, water quality and hydrological modeling, sediment characteristics, bio-indicators and ecological analysis, climate change impacts, geospatial applications, and sustainable development practices and scenarios. The book aims to be a useful resource for academics, scientists, coastal and marine practitioners, meteorologists, environmental consultants and computing experts working in the areas of earth and ocean sciences.

This book investigates the historical evolution, regional differences, and quantitative measurement on street interface, which forms the street space and plays a very important role in urban form. Empirical research reveals the street interface in Chinese cities are much more complicated than European and American cities. This book explores the reason and reveals the relationship between street interface and urban form in morphology. By constructing quantitative measurement method on street interface morphology, quantitative parameters can be used in urban planning guidelines in China. Both researchers and students working in architecture, urban design, urban planning and urban studies can benefit from this book.

Glaciers and ice sheets have been melting significantly during recent decades, posing environmental threats at local, regional and global scales. Changes in glaciers are one of the clearest indicators of alterations in regional climate, since they are governed by changes in accumulation (from snowfall) and ablation (by melting of ice). Glacier changes have been measured for the last century by traditional field measurements, resulting in long time series for a few glaciers. Remote sensing data and methods, and geographic information systems, provide the means to allow glacier changes to be monitored at a global scale, to be analysed rapidly and to store the results and present information to both scientific and popular audiences in a way which was not possible before the digital revolution. Remote sensing of glaciers began with terrestrial and aerial photography during the middle of the 20th century, but today the discipline embraces a large variety of data types from laser scanner data to very high resolution satellite imagery, which can be applied to the mapping of glacier changes in terms of area, surface zonation or thickness. This book highlights the history of the remote sensing of glaciers, the physics of glaciers and remote sensing of them, and focuses particularly on modern data and methods used by remote sensing specialists and glaciologists. The book presents examples of glacier research carried out, for example in the Alps, Norway, Iceland, Caucasus, Patagonia, Rocky Mountains, Pakistan, Antarctica, New Zealand, and Svalbard. This book is of interest to specialists and students working in the field of remote sensing, glaciology, physical geography, geology and climate change.

Our landscape is constantly changing, but before the dramatic effects of erosion and mass movement take place, more subtle forces work on the rocks, minerals and soils around us. Weathering is the initial process which exposes the top few layers of the Earth to the potential for change.
This book provides an introduction to the scientific principles behind mechanical, chemical and biological weathering. Starting with a consideration of the chemical and physical properties of rocks and water, the authors proceed to an accessible explanation of the weathering processes themselves, concluding with a review of weathering rates and intensities, and a survey of the effects of weathering on the landscape. Assuming little background knowledge, the authors develop ideas from first principles to provide a straightforward introduction to weathering for students of geography, geology and earth and environmental science.

This new book is a substantially updated and expanded edition based upon the successful and acclaimed Basic Environmental and Engineering Geology by the late Professor Fred Bell. It incorporates the changes that have occurred since and also addresses some aspects of the discipline that have developed a much higher profile over the past few decades. The book is underpinned by two fundamental premises: that environmental and engineering geology represents a single coherent discipline that has a broad remit; and it is a vocational subject and not an academic pursuit, that aims to provide the societal means for safe, economic, and environmentally sustainable planning and development. The early chapters underpin the discipline and deal with: geology and geochemistry; geomorphology; engineering soils and rocks; pedological soils; hydrology and hydrogeology. A thorough appraisal of the various stages of site investigation is followed by nine chapters on the application of environmental and engineering geology. These chapters cover a broad range and draw on case studies taken both from the authors own files and those published elsewhere. In all examples the aim is to illustrate the way case studies have improved our knowledge and developed the science of environmental and engineering geology. The final chapter addresses some of the new issues that environmental and engineering geologists are now facing that were not considered in the first edition, including climate change, renewable energy, geoconservation, geoforensics, and modern military applications. In addition, the requirement for skills that are beyond subject knowledge required by practitioners are introduced, such as project management, health & safety, and seeking professional recognition. An extensive list of additional reading is provided for each of the chapters in the book, allowing readers to explore the rich literature that underpins this fascinating and important subject.

Filling a niche in the geomorphology teaching market, this introductory book is built around a 12 week course in fluvial geomorphology.

'Reading the landscape' entails making sense of what a riverscape looks like, how it works, how it has evolved over time, and how alterations to one part of a catchment may have secondary consequences elsewhere, over different timeframes. These place-based field analyses are framed within their topographic, climatic and environmental context. Issues and principles presented in the first part of this book provide foundational understandings that underpin the approach to reading the landscape that is presented in the second half of the book. In reading the landscape, detective-style investigations and interpretations are tied to theoretical and conceptual principles to generate catchment-specific analyses of river character, behaviour and evolution, including responses to human disturbance.

This book has been constructed as an introductory text on river landscapes, providing a bridge and/or companion to quantitatively-framed or modelled approaches to landscape analysis that are addressed elsewhere. Key principles outlined in the book emphasise the importance of complexity, contingency and emergence in interpreting the character, behaviour and evolution of any given system.

The target audience is second and third year undergraduate students in geomorphology, hydrology, earth science and environmental science, as well as river practitioners who use geomorphic understandings to guide scientific and/or management applications.

The primary focus of Kirstie and Gary's research and teaching entails the use of geomorphic principles as a tool with which to develop coherent scientific understandings of river systems, and the application of these understandings in management practice. Kirstie and Gary are co-developers of the River Styles(R) Framework and Short Course that is widely used in river management, decision-making and training.

Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/fryirs/riversystems.

Although much is known about the processes and effects of land degradation and climate change, little is understood about the links between them. Less still is known about how these processes are likely to interact in different social-ecological systems around the world, or how societies might be able to adapt to this twin challenge. This book identifies key vulnerabilities to the combined effects of climate change and land degradation around the world. It identifies triple-win adaptations that can tackle both climate change and land degradation, whilst supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services. The book discusses methods for monitoring effects of climate change and land degradation, and adaptations to these processes. It argues for better co-operation and knowledge exchange, so that the research, land user and policy communities can work together more effectively to tackle these challenges, harnessing the "wisdom of crowds" to assess vulnerability and adapt to climate change and land degradation, whilst protecting livelihoods and biodiversity.

Sixty-five million years ago, a comet or asteroid larger than Mount Everest slammed into the Earth, inducing an explosion equivalent to the detonation of a hundred million hydrogen bombs. Vaporized detritus blasted through the atmosphere upon impact, falling back to Earth around the globe. Disastrous environmental consequences ensued: a giant tsunami, continent-scale wildfires, darkness, and cold, followed by sweltering greenhouse heat. When conditions returned to normal, half the plant and animal genera on Earth had perished. This horrific chain of events is now widely accepted as the solution to a great scientific mystery: what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? Walter Alvarez, one of the Berkeley scientists who discovered evidence of the impact, tells the story behind the development of the initially controversial theory. It is a saga of high adventure in remote locations, of arduous data collection and intellectual struggle, of long periods of frustration ended by sudden breakthroughs, of friendships made and lost, and of the exhilaration of discovery that forever altered our understanding of Earth's geological history.

The cryosphere, that region of the world where water is temporarily or permanently frozen, plays a crucial role on our planet. Recent developments in remote sensing techniques, and the acquisition of new data sets, have resulted in significant advances in our understanding of all components of the cryosphere and its processes. This book, based on contributions from 40 leading experts, offers a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the methods, techniques and recent advances in applications of remote sensing of the cryosphere. Examples of the topics covered include: snow extent, depth, grain-size and impurities surface and subsurface melting glaciers accumulation over the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets ice thickness and velocities gravimetric measurements from space sea, lake and river ice frozen ground and permafrost fieldwork activities recent and future cryosphere-oriented missions and experiments All figures are in color and provide an excellent visual accompaniment to the technical and scientific aspect of the book. Readership: Senior undergraduates, Masters and PhD Students, PostDocs and Researchers in cryosphere science and remote sensing. Remote Sensing of the Cryosphere is the significant first volume in the new Cryosphere Science Series. This new series comprises volumes that are at the cutting edge of new research, or provide focussed interdisciplinary reviews of key aspects of the science.

For many years, planetary science has been taught as part of the astronomy curriculum, from a very physics-based perspective, and from the framework of a tour of the Solar System - body by body. Over the past decades, however, spacecraft exploration and related laboratory research on extraterrestrial materials have given us a new understanding of planets and how they are shaped by geological processes. Based on a course taught at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, this is the first textbook to focus on geologic processes, adopting a comparative approach that demonstrates the similarities and differences between planets, and the reasons for these. Profusely illustrated, and with a wealth of pedagogical features, this book provides an ideal capstone course for geoscience majors - bringing together aspects of mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry, volcanology, sedimentology, geomorphology, tectonics, geophysics and remote sensing.

This revised and updated edition continues to provide a comprehensive introduction to the subject, exploring the world's landforms from a broad systems perspective. It covers the basics of Earth surface forms and processes, while reflecting on the latest developments in the field. Fundamentals of Geomorphology begins with a consideration of the nature of geomorphology, including its relation to society, process and form, history, and geomorphic systems, and moves on to discuss: * Structure: structural landforms associated with plate tectonics and those associated with volcanoes, and folds, faults, and joints. * Process and form: landforms resulting from, or influenced by, the exogenic agencies of weathering, running water, flowing ice and meltwater, ground ice and frost, the wind, and the sea; landforms developed on limestone; extraterrestrial landforms; and landscape evolution, a discussion of ancient landforms. Fundamentals of Geomorphology provides a stimulating and innovative perspective on the key topics and debates within the field of geomorphology. Written in an accessible and lively manner, it includes guides to further reading, chapter summaries, and an extensive glossary of key terms. The book is also illustrated throughout with over 200 informative diagrams and attractive photographs, all in colour. It is supported by online resources for students and instructors.