This text details the plant-assisted remediation method, "phytoremediation", which involves the interaction of plant roots and associated rhizospheric microorganisms for the remediation of soil contaminated with high levels of metals, pesticides, solvents, radionuclides, explosives, crude oil, organic compounds and various other contaminants. Many chapters highlight and compare the efficiency and economic advantages of phytoremediation to currently practiced soil and water treatment practices. Volume 5 of Phytoremediation: Management of Environmental Contaminants provides the capstone of the series. Taken together, the five volumes provide a broad-based global synopsis of the current applications of phytoremediation using plants and the microbial communities associated with their roots to decontaminate terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Impact of Tectonic Activity on Ancient Civilizations: Recurrent Shakeups, Tenacity, Resilience, and Change observes a remarkable spatial correspondence of zones of active tectonism (i.e. plate boundaries in the earth's crust) with the most complex cultures of antiquity ("great ancient civilizations"), and continues to explore the meaning of this relationship from a number of independent angles. Due to resulting site damage, this distribution is counter-intuitive. Nevertheless, systematic differences between "tectonic" and "quiescent" cultures show that tectonic activity corresponded in antiquity with more cultural dynamism. Data of several independent types support direct cultural influence of tectonism, including vignettes of the impact of tectonism in specific ancient cultures. An expectation of change seems to be a feature such tectonic cultures shared, and led to an acceleration of development. These dynamics continue though much obscured in the present day.

The book introduces tourism earth-science as a new scientific discipline by applying the principles of earth-science in the study of natural and human tourism resources. It involves studying the geo-scientific characteristics of these tourism resources through surveys, evaluation and aesthetic value assessment. It also discusses about the principles behind geopark establishment and management. It is an important publication providing direction for geopark and tourism developments in China. The book is a tool for geological heritage survey, assessment and research. It can also be used to assist planning of geopark, national parks, heritage protection and scientific interpretation. It is a valuable teaching material for teachers and students of geoscience and tourism as well as providing useful guidance for geopark managers and tour guides in their operation. In addition, the book also offers scientific knowledge of the surrounding natural and cultural landscapes to the public and the general visitors.

This book presents insights into the complex processes controlling sediment behavior in river basins and into state of the art integrated sediment management concepts. Main topics are: sediment transport, modelling sediment transfer in rivers, sediment quality, sediment monitoring and integrated sediment management at catchment scale. Interlinkages of sediment dynamics and quality with biogeochemistry, ecology, climate change and human activities are discussed. Drivers, boundary conditions and processes of erosion, sediment transport and sedimentation are presented with the aim to help the reader putting sediment quantity and quality issues into perspective.

The world is changing. Human population is surging towards 10 billion, food, water, climate and energy security are all at risk. Nitrogen could be our life raft in this global 'perfect storm'. Get it right and it can help to feed billions, fuel our cars and put a dent in global warming. Get it wrong and it will make things a whole lot worse.

This book provides a brief geology, tectonic structure and metallogeny of Mongolia, central part of the giant Central Asian Orogenic Belt, and broad overview of major metallic (copper, gold, rare metals and rare earths, iron, lead and zinc, silver and platinum group), non-metallic (phosphorite and fluorspar) and fuel (uranium and coal) mineral deposits and occurrences, covering their tectonic position, metallogeny and deposit types, geological characteristics and origin, including newly found deposits and occurrences based on authors research data and a large information obtained during geological exploration work. The book is intended for professional economic geologists, for earth science students and practicing geologists.

The aim of this book is to unlock the power of the freeware R language to advanced university students and researchers dealing with whole-rock geochemistry of (meta-) igneous rocks. The first part covers data input/output, calculation of commonly used indexes and plotting in R. The core of the book then focusses on the presentation and practical implementations of modelling techniques used for fingerprinting processes such as partial melting, fractional crystallization, binary mixing or AFC using major-, trace-element and radiogenic isotope data. The reader will be given a firm theoretical basis for forward/reverse modelling, followed by exercises dealing with typical problems likely to be encountered in real life, and their solutions using R. The concluding sections demonstrate, using practical examples, how a researcher can proceed in developing a realistic model simulating natural systems. The appendices outline the fundamentals of the R language and provide a quick introduction to the open-source R-package GCDkit for interpretation of whole-rock geochemical data from igneous and metamorphic rocks.

This volume provides a detailed overview of water pollution and control of several selected Chinese reservoirs. It explores sediment contamination as well as algal blooms and their impact on water quality. Several chapters also discuss various methods of quality control, such as mixing-oxygenation combined with microbial remediation technologies. Due to their broad geographical distribution and different nutrition levels, the investigated reservoirs, the Jinpen, Shibianyu, Fenhe, Zhelin and Zhoucun reservoirs, can be regarded as representative for China. This comprehensive work will appeal to researchers, advanced students and reservoir managers.

The liquid phase of soil (soil solution) is a very thin, penetrating and all-embracing water layer. It has the most extensive surface among the biosphere components and interacts with all these components. Presented in this work is a new complex approach developed for soil liquid phase investigation that is based on "in situ" measurements. Investigation of the soil liquid phase can be of great significance in environmental research.

This volume sums up the vast experience of the authors' research into soil liquid phase composition in various ecosystems of Central and Eastern Europe. It describes the methodological basics of soil liquid phase research: methods of soil solution extraction, the main problems of application of ion-selective electrodes for immediate "in situ" assessment of ionic activity in soil liquid phase and redox potential, and ways to overcome those problems. Data are presented on soil liquid phase composition in natural and agricultural ecosystems, their redox, pH, carbonate and other regimes as well as the relations between the composition of the soil liquid phase and different ecological properties.

This work is devoted to the pursuit of new approaches to soil liquid phase analysis with a goal of discovering the role of soil liquid phase in the functioning of natural and agricultural ecosystems in recent soil-formation, formation of primary biological production, and in bio-geochemical turnover of elements. It includes new field investigation data as well as all data generalization carried out by means of a special complex database (developed by the authors) on soil liquid phase composition and other soil-ecological properties in various ecosystems in Central and Eastern Europe.

This book is the first English edition that integrally considers both methodological aspects and results of investigation of composition, formation, dynamics, spatial heterogeneity, and interrelations of soil liquid phase with other components of ecosystems. Soil scientists, agricultural chemists and ecologists will find this title of great interest.

This book begins with the dynamic characteristics of the covering layerbedrock type slope, containing monitoring data of the seismic array, shaking table tests, numerical analysis and theoretical derivation. Then it focuses on the landslide mechanism and assessment method. It also proposes a model that assessing the hazard area based on the field investigations. Many questions, exercises and solutions are given. Researchers and engineers in the field of Geotechnical Engineering and Anti-seismic Engineering can benefit from it.

This book develops a fundamental understanding of geophysical fluid dynamics based on a mathematical description of the flows of inhomogeneous fluids. It covers these topics: 1. development of the equations of motion for an inhomogeneous fluid 2. review of thermodynamics 3. thermodynamic and kinetic energy equations 4. equations of state for the atmosphere and the ocean, salt, and moisture effects 5. concepts of potential temperature and potential density 6. Boussinesq and quasi-geostrophic approximations 7. conservation equations for vorticity, mechanical and thermal energy instability theories, internal waves, mixing, convection, double-diffusion, stratified turbulence, fronts, intrusions, gravity currents Graduate students will be able to learn and apply the basic theory of geophysical fluid dynamics of inhomogeneous fluids on a rotating earth, including: 1. derivation of the governing equations for a stratified fluid starting from basic principles of physics 2. review of thermodynamics, equations of state, isothermal, adiabatic, isentropic changes 3. scaling of the equations, Boussinesq approximation, applied to the ocean and the atmosphere 4. examples of stratified flows at geophysical scales, steady and unsteady motions, inertia-gravity internal waves, quasi-geostrophic theory 5. vorticity and energy conservation in stratified fluids 6.boundary layer convection in stratified containers and basins

This book describes the second phase of the Qinghai-Tibetan railway construction project and is the first technological book discussing the geological routing of the Qinghai-Tibetan railway project on the "roof of the world." Based on practical experience of railway construction work, it provides a substantial number of examples with detailed descriptions and conclusions. The complex geological environment of the Qinghai-Tibetan railway as well as the selection and optimization of the route are illustrated vividly and clearly with quotes, figures, photos, and tables. Connecting Golmud and Lhasa, it has a total length of 1142 km and at the Tanggula Pass has an altitude of 5072m-higher than any other in the world. A 960 km section is on a plateau at altitudes above 4000 m, and 550 km are in the permafrost region, making it the world's longest and highest railway in the permafrost plateau region. The book is a model for the integration of theory and practice, making it a valuable reference source for civil engineering professionals working in geological routing in permafrost plateau regions, active fault zones, meizoseismal areas, nature reserves, and regions with geohazards such as steep slopes, sand and snow drifts and geothermal hazards.

The geochemistry of the earth 's surface is controlled by chemical equilibrium, and the kinetics of the approach toward equilibrium. Many low temperature processes, such as weathering, do not reach equilibrium except over geologically long time periods. The approach to equilibrium can be described by kinetic theory and the application of kinetic theory to geochemical systems has made vast advances in the last several decades. Geochemical kinetics as a topic is now of importance to a wide range of geochemists in academia, industry, and government, and all geochemists need a rudimentary knowledge of the field. This book will summarize the fundamentals of geochemical kinetics with examples drawn especially from mineral dissolution and precipitation, but will also encompass discussion of high temperature processes and global geochemical cycle modeling. Analysis of textures of rocks, sediments, and mineral surfaces will be incorporated throughout and will be a subtheme of the book.

This book provides a global review of the mechanisms, incidence and control measures related to the problems of soil compaction in agriculture, forestry and other cropping systems. Among the disciplines which relate to this subject are soil physics, soil mechanics, vehicle mechanics, agricultural engineering, plant physiology, agronomy, pedology, climatology and economics.

The volume will be of great value to soil scientists, agricultural engineers, and all those involved with irrigation, drainage and tillage. It will help to facilitate the exchange of information on current work throughout the world, as well as to promote scientific understanding and stimulate the development, evaluation and adoption of practical solutions to these widespread and urgent problems.

The BIOGEOMON conference, held in Prague, September 1993, was dedicated to the use of geochemistry and biology in the elucidation of biogeochemical processes in the context of research on small catchments, which are natural systems that lend themselves to the study of environmental problems at the ecosystem level. Biogeochemical Monitoring in Small Catchments, which contains reviewed papers from the conference, includes long-term studies of nutrient cycling in forested catchments, effects of anthropogenic action on streamwater chemistry, stable isotope studies for tracing biogeochemical processes, determination of the process rates, and mathematical modelling of ecosystem behaviour and mass fluxes. For research scientists and students of ecology, biology, hydrology and geochemistry as well as professionals in natural resources management.

This book gives background information why shale formations in the world are important both for storage capacity and enhanced gas recovery (EGR). Part of this book investigates the sequestration capacity in geological formations and the mechanisms for the enhanced storage rate of CO2 in an underlying saline aquifer. The growing concern about global warming has increased interest in geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2). The main mechanism of the enhancement, viz., the occurrence of gravity fingers, which are the vehicles of enhanced transport in saline aquifers, can be visualized using the Schlieren technique. In addition high pressure experiments confirmed that the storage rate is indeed enhanced in porous media. The book is appropriate for graduate students, researchers and advanced professionals in petroleum and chemical engineering. It provides the interested reader with in-depth insights into the possibilities and challenges of CO2 storage and the EGR prospect.

The present book provides guidance to understanding complicated coupled processes based on the experimental data available and implementation of developed algorithms in numerical codes. Results of selected test cases in the fields of closed-form solutions (e.g., deformation processes), single processes (such as groundwater flow) as well as coupled processes are presented. It is part of the OpenGeoSys initiative - an open source project to share knowledge and experience in environmental analysis and scientific computation with the community.

This book details how the GALO system of basin modelling may be used in the analysis of actual, non-standard problems of geology. It begins by addressing the tectonic subsidence of sedimentary basins, and goes on to consider the problems of maturation of organic matter and hydrocarbon generation in the vicinity of intrusions and subtrappean sedimentary complexes. Lastly, the book discusses the formation of temperature and heat flow distributions with depth due to the sharp climate variations in the Quaternary, which was marked by repeated formation and degradation of permafrost. The book studies the application of the GALO basin modelling system to the three problems mentioned above. Employing the GALO system provides a unique opportunity to assess the amplitude and duration of the stretching and thermal activation of the basin lithosphere, and to study in detail the formation of a maturity aureole of organic matter in the basin's subtrappean sedimentary cover. This book offers a valuable resource for all graduate students and professionals interested in numerical modelling of the thermal evolution of sedimentary basins. It will also be of great interest to petroleum geologists engaged in oil and gas exploration in the trap provinces of the world. Lastly, it will benefit those students and geologists dealing with the thermal field of sedimentary blankets in actual and degraded permafrost areas.

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.