A handful of Minnipins, a sober and sedate people, rise up against the Periods, the leading family of an isolated mountain valley, and are exiled to a mountain where they discover that the ancient enemies of their people are preparing to attack.

Prompted by a terrible flood, a seemingly unheroic group of little people sets out on a quest to restore an ancient treasure and make the valley of the Watercress safe again.

This book represents a new "earth systems" approach to catchments that encompasses the physical and biogeochemical interactions that control the hydrology and biogeochemistry of the system. The text provides a comprehensive treatment of the fundamentals of catchment hydrology, principles of isotope geochemistry, and the isotope variability in the hydrologic cycle -- but the main focus of the book is on case studies in isotope hydrology and isotope geochemistry that explore the applications of isotope techniques for investigating modern environmental problems.

"Isotope Tracers in Catchment Hydrology" is the first synthesis of physical hydrology and isotope geochemistry with catchment focus, and is a valuable reference for professionals and students alike in the fields of hydrology, hydrochemistry, and environmental science. This important interdisciplinary text provides extensive guidelines for the application of isotope techniques for all investigatores facing the challenge of protecting precious water, soil, and ecological resources from the ever-increasing problems associated with population growth and environmental change, including those from urban development and agricultural land uses.

Twenty-four unusual tales from various periods in Chinese history, some complex, others as brief as a joke, display the wit, cleverness, and down-to-earth wisdom of the Chinese people.