This book presents the first overview of the composition and structure of the Earth's lower mantle. The first part focuses on the study of lower-mantle minerals, identified as inclusions in diamonds from different regions of the world. Three associations are established among the lower-mantle minerals: ultramafic, mafic, and carbonatic. The carbonatic association is of particular interest because it characterizes the media of natural diamond formation. In turn, the second part analyzes the structure of the lower mantle, revealing its heterogeneous composition. It is based on the results of experiments demonstrating phase transitions in lower-mantle minerals, and on seismological data. Deep-seated earthquakes point to the presence within the lower mantle of numerous seismic boundaries caused by mineral structure transitions. In closing, the last part of the book compares observed data with experimental data, highlighting several discrepancies that indicate Earth may have a more complex planetary history than previously assumed, and examining its primarily non-chondritic composition.

This book presents an overview of recent advances in our understanding of the genesis of diamonds and the associated phases. It is divided into three main parts, starting with an introduction to the analysis of diamond inclusions to infer the formation processes. In turn, the second part of the book presents high-pressure experimental studies in mantle diamond-parental mineral systems with representative multicomponent boundary compositions. The experimental syngenesis phase diagrams provided reveal the physicochemical mechanisms of diamond nucleation and substantiate the mantle-carbonatite concept of the genesis of diamonds and associated phases. Lastly, the book describes the genetic classification of diamond-hosted mineral inclusions and experimentally determined RE "mineral-parental melt" partition coefficients. The physicochemical experimental evidence presented shows the driving forces behind the fractional evolution of the mantle magmas and diamond-parental melts. Given the depth and breadth of its coverage, the book offers researchers essential new insights into the ways diamonds and associated minerals and rocks are naturally created.

This book highlights various aspects of shale gas production and discusses the associated problems, which have greatly influenced the current situation on the global gas market. It focuses on issues such as production technologies, environmental protection, and the impacts of shale gas production on human beings. Further, it investigates the role of shale gas in the development and implementation of foreign policy of many nations that welcomed the possibility to produce this hydrocarbon in their own countries. Taking into consideration the information published by world energy research centers, the prospects of shale gas production in different regions of the world are examined in detail. Given its coverage and scope, the book will greatly benefit specialists in the areas of hydrocarbon production, international relations and foreign policy, world economics and technologies, ecology and environmental protection.

This book is a state-of-the-art review of the physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of anthropogenic soils, their genesis morphology and classification, geocultural setting, and strategies for reclamation, revitalization, use and management.

Do you know silica, the tetrahedra of silicon and oxygen constituting the crystals of New Agers and the desiccant in a box of new shoes? It's no mere mundane mineral. As chemically reacting silicate rocks, silica set off the chain of events known as the origin of life. As biomineralized opal, it is the cell wall, skeleton, spicules, and scales of organisms ornamenting numerous lobes of the tree of life. Cryptocrystalline silica made into stone tools helped drive the evolution of our hands and our capability for complex grammar, music, and mathematics. As quartz crystals, silica is impressively electric and ubiquitous in modern technology (think sonar, radios, telephones, ultrasound, and cheap but precise watches). Silica is inescapable when we take a drink or mow the lawn and it has already started to save the Earth from the carbon dioxide we're spewing into the atmosphere. This book tells these scientific tales and more, to give dear, modest silica its due.

This edited book is devoted to environmental risk management in gas industry impacted polar ecosystems of Russia, one of the hottest topics of modern environmental science. The contributions from experts cover topics that shed new light on the impacts of oil and natural gas production on arctic ecosystems in the country as well as biogeochemical engineering technologies to manage pollution in these areas. Readers will also discover new insights on potential ecological indicators for assessing geo-environmental risks of these impacted ecosystems, and climate modeling in polar areas. The book has interdisciplinary appeal, and specialists and practitioners in environmental sciences, ecology, biogeochemistry and those within the energy sector who are interested in understanding ecosystems affected by anthropogenic impacts in severe climatic conditions will find it particularly engaging. Through this book, readers will learn more about biogeochemical cycling through food chains and specific reactions of biota to environmental pollution in extreme environments through the lens of experts.

The authoritative contributions gathered in this volume reflect the state of the art in compositional data analysis (CoDa). The respective chapters cover all aspects of CoDa, ranging from mathematical theory, statistical methods and techniques to its broad range of applications in geochemistry, the life sciences and other disciplines. The selected and peer-reviewed papers were originally presented at the 6th International Workshop on Compositional Data Analysis, CoDaWork 2015, held in L'Escala (Girona), Spain. Compositional data is defined as vectors of positive components and constant sum, and, more generally, all those vectors representing parts of a whole which only carry relative information. Examples of compositional data can be found in many different fields such as geology, chemistry, economics, medicine, ecology and sociology. As most of the classical statistical techniques are incoherent on compositions, in the 1980s John Aitchison proposed the log-ratio approach to CoDa. This became the foundation of modern CoDa, which is now based on a specific geometric structure for the simplex, an appropriate representation of the sample space of compositional data. The International Workshops on Compositional Data Analysis offer a vital discussion forum for researchers and practitioners concerned with the statistical treatment and modelling of compositional data or other constrained data sets and the interpretation of models and their applications. The goal of the workshops is to summarize and share recent developments, and to identify important lines of future research.

This book analyzes hydrocarbon generation and accumulation within space-limited source rocks. The authors draw conclusions based on the principles of basin formation, hydrocarbon generation and accumulation, coupled with the practice of terrigenous basins in eastern China. Hydrocarbon generation and expulsion have been quantitatively assessed in space-limited source rock systems. This book explores new hydrocarbon generation and expulsion models to reflect real geological situations more accurately. The theory and practice proposed in this book challenge the traditional theory of kerogen thermal degradation and hydrocarbon generation.

This doctoral thesis applies measurements of ground deformation from satellite radar using their potential to play a key role in understanding volcanic and magmatic processes throughout the eruption cycle. However, making these measurements is often problematic, and the processes driving ground deformation are commonly poorly understood. These problems are approached in this thesis in the context of the Cascades Volcanic Arc. From a technical perspective, the thesis develops a new way of using regional-scale weather models to assess a priori the influence of atmospheric uncertainties on satellite measurements of volcano deformation, providing key parameters for volcano monitoring. Next, it presents detailed geodetic studies of two volcanoes in northern California: Medicine Lake Volcano and Lassen Volcanic Centre. Finally, the thesis combines geodetic constraints with petrological inputs to develop a thermal model of cooling magma intrusions. The novelty and range of topics covered in this thesis mean that it is a seminal work in volcanic and magmatic studies.

This book explores different aspects of LA-ICP-MS (laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry). It presents a large array of new analytical protocols for elemental or isotope analysis. LA-ICP-MS is a powerful tool that combines a sampling device able to remove very small quantities of material without leaving visible damage at the surface of an object. Furthermore, it functions as a sensitive analytical instrument that measures, within a few seconds, a wide range of isotopes in inorganic samples. Determining the elemental or the isotopic composition of ancient material is essential to address questions related to ancient technology or provenance and therefore aids archaeologists in reconstructing exchange networks for goods, people and ideas. Recent improvements of LA-ICP-MS have opened new avenues of research that are explored in this volume.

This book focuses on the metallogeny and main tectonic events of the North China Craton from early Precambrian to Phanerozoic. It covers the Archean crustal growth, Paleoproterozoic rifting-subduction-collision processes, Great Oxidation Event, Meso-Neoproterozoic multiple rifting, Phanerozoic reworking of the North China Craton, as well as metallogeny related to above different processes. The North China Craton is one of the oldest cratons in the world. It has experienced a complex geological evolution since the early Precambrian, and carries important records of secular changes in tectonics and metallogeny. It provides a systematic review and new results on the growth and evolution of the North China Craton and metallogeny. It will be of broad interest to the earth scientists working in the fields of economic geology, geochemistry, and tectonics of the North China Craton and eastern Asian.

This book focuses on environmental aspects of Boka Kotorska Bay in Montenegro (South Adriatic Sea), an area that has been shaped by seasonal tourism, and explores the use and limitations of its natural resources. The individual chapters highlight its geographic and oceanographic characteristics, climate, history and development, biology, fisheries, agriculture, coastal zones, shipping, marine tourism and pollution. Above all, the environmental impact of tourism on marine, coastal and shoreline areas and the resulting conflicts are discussed in detail. The volume is intended for specialists working in various fields of environmental sciences and ecology, water resources and management, land reclamation and agriculture, and regional climate change.

Monitoring of Harmful Algae Blooms is a timely guide to the research techniques in use to monitor visible algae blooms and through remote sensing, including infrared techniques, predict them through mathematical modeling. Drawing on current and future satellite data, the book presents visible perspectives on a more efficient HAB monitoring system for the future. It also emphasizes practical applications, impacting on marine ecology, national economy, health, food and safety and quality assurance.

This book presents the first overview of the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event in the southern Iberian paleomargin, in the western Tethys. The study of catastrophic events that affected the ecosystems in the past is of great interest, because it offers the possibility of establishing models that can be applied to current and future environmental changes. The book provides comprehensive information on the changes in marine ecosystems in connection with a global massive extinction, the Early Toarcian, and with the deposition of black shales, global warming and a disruption of the carbon cycle. In addition, the book describes the incidence of this event in this part of the Tethys close to the connection with the Protoatlantic, the Hispanic Corridor. Special attention is paid to sedimentological and ichnological aspects, fossil content (macroscopic and microscopic), and geochemistry. It also presents the facies changes related to fragmentation of the shelf and the evolution to hemipel agic troughs and swells in this paleomargin. Lastly, it characterizes this anoxic event in under-researched outcrops from southern Spain and compares the findings with those in well-known sections from northern and central Europe. This book offers a unique resource for all researchers interested in the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, but also in oceanic anoxic events that occurred during the Mesozoic in general, because of their similarity to recent climatic changes.

This book provides the first comprehensive compilation of cutting-edge research on Merapi volcano on the island of Java, Indonesia, one of the most iconic volcanoes in the world. It integrates results from both the natural (geology, petrology, geochemistry, geophysics, physical volcanology) and social sciences, and provides state-of-the-art information on volcano monitoring, the assessment of volcanic hazards, and risk mitigation measures. As one of Indonesia's most active and dangerous volcanoes, Merapi is perhaps best known for its pyroclastic density currents, which are produced by gravitational or explosive lava dome failures (commonly referred to as Merapi-type nuees ardentes). Merapi's eruptions have posed a persistent threat to life, property and infrastructure within the densely populated areas on the volcano's flanks, as demonstrated most recently by catastrophic eruptions, which attracted worldwide media interest.

There have been numerous computer-based simulation studies carried out on the subject of CO2 geo-sequestration. However, the amount of experimental data available in the literature on this topic, especially with regards to multiphase flow characteristics of fluid-rock systems during such processes, is very limited. This research was carried out with the aim of providing a better understanding of the multiphase fluid flow characteristics of fluid-rock systems during the geo-sequestration process. The ultimate goal of this research was to experimentally evaluate the change in a number of multiphase flow characteristics of the system over time caused by the potential chemical and physical/mechanical processes occurring during deep CO2 disposal. In order to achieve this goal the effects of cyclic/alternating CO2-brine flooding, flow direction, existence of residual hydrocarbon (natural gas) and change in the reservoir stress field on the system's multiphase flow behaviour were investigated. Until completion of this study there were no experimental data published in the literature addressing the above mentioned issues and the results obtained, and published within this thesis were the first of their kind.

This textbook details basic principles of planetary science that help to unify the study of the solar system. It is organized in a hierarchical manner so that every chapter builds upon preceding ones. Starting with historical perspectives on space exploration and the development of the scientific method, the book leads the reader through the solar system. Coverage explains that the origin and subsequent evolution of planets and their satellites can be explained by applications of certain basic principles of physics, chemistry, and celestial mechanics and that surface features of the solid bodies can be interpreted by principles of geology.

This book brings together eastern and western scholarship on a controversial subject: a catastrophic inundation of the Pontic basin which might have inspired the biblical story of Noah's flood. In 35 papers, many previously unavailable in English, experts in oceanography, marine geology, paleoclimate, paleoenvironment, archaeology, and linguistic spread offer data and arguments for or against the flood hypothesis. Appendices include 600 radiocarbon dates from the region, obtained by USSR and western labs.

concentrates on teaching techniques using as much theory as needed. application of the techniques to many problems of materials characterization. Moessbauer spectroscopy is a profound analytical method which has nevertheless continued to develop. The authors now present a state-of-the art book which consists of two parts. The first part details the fundamentals of Moessbauer spectroscopy and is based on a book published in 1978 in the Springer series 'Inorganic Chemistry Concepts' by P. Gutlich, R. Link and A.X. Trautwein. The second part covers useful practical aspects of measurements, and the application of the techniques to many problems of materials characterization. The update includes the use of synchroton radiation and many instructive and illustrative examples in fields such as solid state chemistry, biology and physics, materials and the geosciences, as well as industrial applications. Special chapters on magnetic relaxation phenomena (S. Morup) and computation of hyperfine interaction parameters (F. Neese) are also included. The book concentrates on teaching the technique using theory as much as needed and as little as possible. The reader will learn the fundamentals of the technique and how to apply it to many problems of materials characterization. Transition metal chemistry, studied on the basis of the most widely used Moessbauer isotopes, will be in the foreground.

The twelve chapters of this volume aim to provide a complete manual for using noble gases in terrestrial geochemistry, covering applications which range from high temperature processes deep in the Earth's interior to tracing climatic variations using noble gases trapped in ice cores, groundwaters and modern sediments. Other chapters cover noble gases in crustal (aqueous, CO2 and hydrocarbon) fluids and laboratory techniques for determining noble gas solubilities and diffusivities under geologically relevant conditions. Each chapter deals with the fundamentals of the analysis and interpretation of the data, detailing sampling and sampling strategies, techniques for analysis, sources of error and their estimation, including data treatment and data interpretation using recent case studies.

This handbook is a reference guide for selecting and carrying out numerous methods of soil analysis. It is written in accordance with analytical standards and quality control approaches. It covers a large body of technical information including protocols, tables, formulae, spectrum models, chromatograms and additional analytical diagrams. The approaches are diverse, from the simplest tests to the most sophisticated determination methods.