Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309140242
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 180
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Book Description
During geologic spans of time, Earth's shifting tectonic plates, atmosphere, freezing water, thawing ice, flowing rivers, and evolving life have shaped Earth's surface features. The resulting hills, mountains, valleys, and plains shelter ecosystems that interact with all life and provide a record of Earth surface processes that extend back through Earth's history. Despite rapidly growing scientific knowledge of Earth surface interactions, and the increasing availability of new monitoring technologies, there is still little understanding of how these processes generate and degrade landscapes. Landscapes on the Edge identifies nine grand challenges in this emerging field of study and proposes four high-priority research initiatives. The book poses questions about how our planet's past can tell us about its future, how landscapes record climate and tectonics, and how Earth surface science can contribute to developing a sustainable living surface for future generations.
Author: Sir Charles Lyell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Geology
Languages : en
Pages : 512
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Book Description
Author: Andrew H. Knoll
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062853937
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272
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Book Description
Harvard’s acclaimed geologist “charts Earth’s history in accessible style” (AP) “A sublime chronicle of our planet." –Booklist, STARRED review How well do you know the ground beneath your feet? Odds are, where you’re standing was once cooking under a roiling sea of lava, crushed by a towering sheet of ice, rocked by a nearby meteor strike, or perhaps choked by poison gases, drowned beneath ocean, perched atop a mountain range, or roamed by fearsome monsters. Probably most or even all of the above. The story of our home planet and the organisms spread across its surface is far more spectacular than any Hollywood blockbuster, filled with enough plot twists to rival a bestselling thriller. But only recently have we begun to piece together the whole mystery into a coherent narrative. Drawing on his decades of field research and up-to-the-minute understanding of the latest science, renowned geologist Andrew H. Knoll delivers a rigorous yet accessible biography of Earth, charting our home planet's epic 4.6 billion-year story. Placing twenty first-century climate change in deep context, A Brief History of Earth is an indispensable look at where we’ve been and where we’re going. Features original illustrations depicting Earth history and nearly 50 figures (maps, tables, photographs, graphs).
Author: Conrad J. Storad
Publisher: Lerner Publications ™
ISBN: 1541506596
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 41
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Book Description
The outside layer of our planet is an active place. Earth's crust is always growing and changing. But do you know how Earth's crust forms? And what happens when its plates shift suddenly? Find out more about the moves that make mountains and ocean ridges in this interesting book!
Author: Conrad J. Storad
Publisher: Britannica Digital Learning
ISBN: 1615358994
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 28
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Book Description
Early readers examine how volcanoes, earthquakes, and erosion change the surface of the Earth.
Author: Alfred Wegener
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486143899
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276
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Book Description
A source of profound influence and controversy, this landmark 1915 work explains various phenomena of historical geology, geomorphy, paleontology, paleoclimatology, and similar areas in terms of continental drift. 64 illustrations. 1966 edition.
Author: Arthur R. Kruckeberg
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 9780295984520
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 378
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Book Description
Before any other influences began to fashion life and its lavish diversity, geological events created the initial environments--both physical and chemical--for the evolutionary drama that followed. Drawing on case histories from around the world, Arthur Kruckeberg demonstrates the role of landforms and rock types in producing the unique geographical distributions of plants and in stimulating evolutionary diversification. His examples range throughout the rich and heterogeneous tapestry of the earth's surface: the dramatic variations of mountainous topography, the undulating ground and crevices of level limestone karst, and the subtle realm of sand dunes. He describes the ongoing evolutionary consequences of the geology-plant interface and the often underestimated role of geology in shaping climate. Kruckeberg explores the fundamental connection between plants and geology, including the historical roots of geobotany, the reciprocal relations between geology and other environmental influences, geomorphology and its connection with plant life, lithology as a potent selective agent for plants, and the physical and biological influences of soils. Special emphasis is given to the responses of plants to exceptional rock types and their soils--serpentines, limestones, and other azonal (exceptional) substrates. Edaphic ecology, especially of serpentines, has been his specialty for years. Kruckeberg's research fills a significant gap in the field of environmental science by connecting the conventionally separated disciplines of the physical and biological sciences. Geology and Plant Life is the result of more than forty years of research into the question of why certain plants grow on certain soils and certain terrain structures, and what happens when this relationship is disrupted by human agents. It will be useful to a wide spectrum of professionals in the natural sciences: plant ecologists, paleobiologists, climatologists, soil scientists, geologists, geographers, and conservation scientists, as well as serious amateurs in natural history.
Author: John Bridge
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521857805
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
A unique, advanced textbook combining sedimentology and geomorphology in a comprehensive and integrated way.
Author: Kenneth J Gregory
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 144620376X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362
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Book Description
"Given the sheer scale of the topic under consideration here, Professor Gregory does well to condense it into bite-size pieces for the reader. I recommend this text to all undergraduate students of physical geography and earth sciences, particularly to those in their first and second years... This book is a comprehensive and (crucially) inexpensive text that will provide students with a useful source on geomorphology." - Lynda York, The Geographical Journal "I would highly recommend this to anyone doing geology or geography at university as a ′go to′ book for geomorphology and landform." - Sara Falcone, Teaching Earth Science "An excellent source of information for anyone who needs a well-informed, easy to use reference volume to introduce them to the fascinating complexities of the earth’s land surface, past, present and future." - Angela Gurnell, Queen Mary, University of London This introductory text details the land surface of the earth in a readable style covering the major issues, key themes and sensitivities of the environments/landscape. Emphasising the major ideas and their development, each chapter includes case studies and details of influential scientists (not necessarily geomorphologists) who have contributed to the progress of understanding. Providing a very clear explanation of the understanding achieved and of the debates that have arisen, the book is comprised of 12 chapters in four sections: Visualising the land surface explains and explores the composition of the land surface and outlines how it has been studied. Dynamics of the land surface considers the dynamics affecting the earth′s land surface including its influences, processes and the changes that have occurred. Environments of the land surface looks to understand the land surface in major world regions highlighting differences between the areas. Management of the land surface is an examination of the current and future prospects of the management of the earth′s land surface. With pedagogical features including further reading, questions for discussion and a glossary, this original, lively text is authored by one of the leading experts in the field and will be core reading for first and second year undergraduates on all physical geography courses.
Author: Robert M. Hazen
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143123645
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 322
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Book Description
Hailed by The New York Times for writing “with wonderful clarity about science . . . that effortlessly teaches as it zips along,” nationally bestselling author Robert M. Hazen offers a radical new approach to Earth history in this intertwined tale of the planet’s living and nonliving spheres. With an astrobiologist’s imagination, a historian’s perspective, and a naturalist’s eye, Hazen calls upon twenty-first-century discoveries that have revolutionized geology and enabled scientists to envision Earth’s many iterations in vivid detail—from the mile-high lava tides of its infancy to the early organisms responsible for more than two-thirds of the mineral varieties beneath our feet. Lucid, controversial, and on the cutting edge of its field, The Story of Earth is popular science of the highest order. "A sweeping rip-roaring yarn of immense scope, from the birth of the elements in the stars to meditations on the future habitability of our world." -Science "A fascinating story." -Bill McKibben
