West Somerset is an area of great geological diversity, straddling the Tees-Exe Line between highland and lowland Britain. The story of the last 400 million years of Earth history can be gleaned from its rocks: the opening and closing of oceans, the collision of continents and a journey across the Equator. The area may also provide the key to settle the controversy about the origin of South-West England, whose ancient geology is so different from the rest of the country. This unique and diverse geology is also the reason why it is one of the most beautiful and varied stretches of landscape in England. With nearly 170 illustrations, including maps, charts, diagrams and colour photographs, this book describes and explains the evidence for the geological history of the area, from the Palaeozoic, through the Mesozoic to the Pleistocene and Holocene. Regional guides, which discuss the factors that led to the landscape we see today and offer places of interest to visit, cover: the Northern Brendon Hills and Minehead; the Southern Brendon Hills; Wellington and the Blackdown Hills; Wiveliscombe and the Vale of Stogumber; the Quantock Hills; West Somerset coast and the Cannington and Bridgwater Lowlands.

A major new look at how Africa's geological history, climate, geography and biology resulted in the wonderful diversity of life found there. It is also the story of how it was the crucible for the evolution most extraordinary species on Earth - Homo sapiens.

Africa has properties that ensure that most of human evolution could have occurred nowhere else. A greater diversity of mammal, bird and many other forms of life has forced more and more species to squeeze into narrower and narrower niches. Human complexity has evolved directly in response to this, the most complex of continents.

On offer here is an intensely personal portrait of a continent bolstered by Jonathan Kingdon's own animal senses, the same excited set of senses he was born in Africa with. Senses that look, listen, scent and grasp at the mother-continent. Not just his personal motherland but the birthplace of all humanity.

Thoroughly revised and expanded from the 2012 edition (twice the number of pages, almost double the number of illustrations) this book pays tribute to the man and his diverse works and achievements. James Hutton (1726-1797) was one of the first environmentalists, a man ahead of his time. He developed a grand theory of the Earth in which he tried to make sense of a lifetime of observation and deduction about the way in which our planet functions. For example, he connected temperature with latitude. His measurements, with rudimentary thermometers, of temperature changes between the base and summit of Arthur's Seat, were remarkably accurate and he studied climate data from other parts of the world. A leading figure in the eighteenth-century Scottish Enlightenment, he was also an innovative farmer, successful entrepreneur and a man with endless intellectual curiosity. The year 2026 will be the tercentenary of his birth. There will be many special events leading up to and in that year organised by The James Hutton Institute, Scotland's premier environmental and agricultural research organisation.

Skuif handel oor die evolusie van ons wêreld vanaf die begin van lewe tot in die toekoms. Die boek gee ’n ongelooflike oorsig van elke tydperk in die aarde se tektoniese geskiedenis. Hierdie verstommende visuele voorstelling van die aarde se geologiese geskiedenis beskryf die verskuiwing van landmassas en die ontwikkeling van die kontinente soos ons dit vandag ken.

Met pragtige wêreldkaarte en illustrasies wat die oorsprong van lewe uitbeeld en die aarde se moontlike toekoms vorspel, is Skuif die ideale gids tot ons planeet se geskiedenis. Martin Ince beskryf op toeganklike wyse wat die impak van geologiese veranderinge op die lewe op aarde is.

This book is one of a popular and exciting series that seeks to tell the story of some of Britain's most beautiful landscapes. Written with the general reader - the walker, the lover of the countryside - firmly in mind, these pages open the door to a fascinating story of ancient oceans, deltas, mineralization and tundra landscapes. Over millions of years the rocks that now form the spectacular terrains of the White Peak and the Dark Peak were laid down on the floors of tropical seas and deformed by plate tectonics before being shaped by streams and rivers. The white limestone was fretted into its own distinctive landscape above hidden cave systems; then generations of miners and farmers modified and contributed to the landscapes we see today. With the help of photographs that are largely his own, geologist Tony Waltham tells the remarkable story of the Peak District, explaining just how the landscapes of limestone plateau, grit moors and river valleys came to look as they do. Including suggestions for walks and places to visit in order to appreciate the best of the National Park's landforms, this accessible and readable book opens up an amazing new perspective for anyone who enjoys this varied and beautiful area.

The Isle of Wight is a geological gem with its 110km (68 mile) long coastline displaying a range of rocks dating from Lower Cretaceous to Oligocene age. Many of the sands and clays yield fossil bivalves and gastropods, and its famous dinosaur footprints attract much attention from geologists and tourists alike. Yet the scenic beauty of the island is the product of its differing strata, former earth movements and the erosive power of the sea and the rivers. The monoclinal fold that crosses the island forms the chalk downland ridge that ends in the splendid cliffs of Culver in the east and The Needles in the west. By contrast, the softer rocks produce low, slumped cliffs often cut by steep-sided chines or alternatively, on the north coast, branching estuaries and salt marsh creeks. With over 120 colour illustrations this book discusses the geological processes that created the island's distinctive landscape; it provides a field guide to the identification of rocks and fossils and includes details of nineteen itineraries to discover the geological examples and fossils discussed.

An extraordinary life, recorded for posterity, by a man who beat adversity in his earlier days to fulfil his ambition to succeed in the commercial world. John Lucken tells the story of his time from an old-style naval school of the 1930s, thorugh WW11 and the Korean War to entering the field of hydrographic survey and exploration worldwide. He recalls working in Borneo and in the former Dutch New Guinea before the arrival there of the powerful mining companies and the influx of thousands of immigrants from other parts of Indonesia. He was present in Nigeria when the first oil well was discovered and stayed in contact throughout the Biafran civil war. Emotional recollections that are a real eye-opener and a lesson to anyone sat behind a desk in Britain about just how different a life can be.

Advances in Geophysics serial highlights new advances in the field with this new volume presenting interesting chapters. Each chapter is written by an international board of authors.