Earth : portrait of a planet / Stephen Marshak.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Marshak, Stephen, 1955-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Geology--Textbooks.

Geology.

Genre:

Textbooks.

Physical Description:

xxxi, 819 pages, 135 unnumbered pages : color illustrations, color maps ; 28 cm

Edition:

Fourth edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : W.W. Norton, [2012]

Summary:

Marshak (U. of Illinois) provides a modified and thoroughly updated fourth edition of his introductory geology textbook. New to this edition are a stronger focus on narrative art, the latest developments in climate change, new components to help reinforce learning, and coverage of planetary geology and geobiology. The text is augmented with an extensive array of illustrations and photographs. In addition to comprehensive coverage of specific geologic features, events, and processes, the author also stresses the fundamental principles of the field. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

pt. I. Our island in space

1. Cosmology and the birth of Earth

How do we know the Earth rotates?

The forces of nature

Discovering and defining the planets

The nature of matter

Forming the Universe

Making order from chaos

We are all made of stardust

Forming the planets and the Earth-Moon system

2. Journey to the center of the Earth

Comets and asteroids : the other stuff of the Solar System

what is the Earth made of?

How do we know the Earth has layers?

What are the layers made of?

Meteorites : clues to what's inside

Heat and heat transfer

The Earth, from surface to center

The Lithosphere and Asthenosphere

3. Drifting continents and spreading seas

Wegener's evidence for continental drift?

Paleomagnetism and the proof of continental drift

Finding paleopoles

Setting the stage for sea-floor spreading

Harry Hess and his "Essay in Geopoetry"

Evidence for sea-floor spreading

Magnetic reversals and marine magnetic anomalies

4. The way the Earth works : plate tectonics

What do we mean by plate tectonics?

Archimedes' principle of buoyancy

Divergent plate boundaries and sea-floor spreading

Convergent plate boundaries and subduction

Transform plate boundaries

Special locations in the plate mosaic

How do plate boundaries form and die?

What drives plate motion, and how fast do plates move?

The theory of plate tectonics.

pt. II. Earth materials

5. Patterns in nature : minerals

What is a mineral?

Beauty in patterns : crystals and their structure

The basics of chemistry

How do we "see" the arrangement of atoms in a crystal?

How can you tell one mineral from another?

Organizing our knowledge : mineral classification

Something precious : gems!

Where do diamonds come from?

Rock groups

What is a rock?

Rock occurrences

The basis of rock classification

Studying rock

6. Up from the inferno : magma and igneous rocks

Why does magma form?

What is magma made of?

Movement of molten rock

Transforming magma and lava into rock

How do extrusive and intrusive environments differ?

Bowen's reaction series

How do you describe an igneous rock?

Classifying igneous rocks

Formation of igneous rocks

Where does igneous activity occur, and why?

A surface veneer : sediments and soils

Weathering : forming sediment

Soil

Weathering, sediment, and soil production

7. Pages of Earth's past : sedimentary rocks

Classes of sedimentary rocks

Sedimentary structures

How do we recognize depositional environments?

The formation of sedimentary rocks

Sedimentary basins

8. Metamorphism : a process of change

Consequences and causes of metamorphism

Types of metamorphic rocks

How do we define the intensity of metamorphism?

Metamorphic facies

Where does metamorphism occur?

Pottery making : an analog for thermal metamorphism

Environments of metamorphism

The rock cycle

Case study of the rock cycle

Rates of movement through the rock cycle

What drives the rock cycle in the Earth system?

Rock-forming environments and the rock cycle.

pt. III. Tectonic activity of a dynamic planet

9. The wrath of Vulcan : volcanic eruptions

The products of volcanic eruptions

The structure and eruptive style of volcanoes

Volcanic explosions to remember

Geologic settings of volcanism

Volcanoes

Beware : volcanoes are hazards!

Protection from Vulcan's wrath

Effects of volcanoes on climate and civilization

volcanoes on other planets

10. A violent pulse : earthquakes

What causes earthquakes?

Faulting in the crust

Seismic waves

How do we measure and locate earthquakes?

Defining the "size" of earthquakes

Where and why do earthquakes occur?

The Haiti catastrophe of 2010

How do earthquakes cause damage?

When earthquake waves resonate : beware!

Can we predict "the big one"?

Earthquake engineering and zoning

The Earth's interior revisited : seismic layering, the magnetic field, and gravity

Setting the stage for seismic study of the interior

The movement of seismic waves through the Earth

Seismic study of Earth's interior

Fine-tuning our image of the Earth's interior : seismic tomography

Seismic-reflection profiling

Earth's gravity

The meaning of acceleration

Earth's magnetic field, revisited

11. Crags, cracks, and crumples : crustal deformation and mountain building

Rock deformation in the Earth's crust

Joints and veins : natural cracks in rocks

Describing the orientation of geologic structures

Faults : surfaces of slip

Folds and foliations

Causes of mountain building

Uplift and the formation of mountain topography

The collision of India with Asia

The basins and domes of cratons

Life story off a mountain range : a case study

Measuring mountain building in progress.

pt. IV. History before history

Memories of past life : fossils and evolution

The discovery of fossils

Fossilization

Classifying life

Classifying fossils

The fossil record

Evolution and extinction

12. Deep time : how old is old?

The concept of geologic time

A human obsession

Physical principles for defining relative age

Unconformities : gaps in the record

Stratigraphic formations and their correlation

The geologic column

How do we determine numerical age?

Carbon-14 dating

How do we add numerical ages to the geologic column?

What is the age of the Earth?

13. A biography of Earth

Methods for studying the past

The Hadean Eon : hell on Earth?

The Archean Eon : the birth of the continents and the appearance of life

The Proterozoic Eon : transition to the modern world

The evolution of atmospheric oxygen

The Phanerozoic Eon : life diversifies and today's continents form

The Paleozoic Era : from Rodinia to Pangaea

Stratigraphic sequences and sea-level change

The Mesozoic Era : when dinosaurs ruled

The Cenozoic Era : the final stretch to the present

The evolution of Earth.

pt. V. Earth resources

14. Squeezing power from a stone : energy resources

Sources of energy in the Earth system

Oil and gas

Oil exploration and production

Types of oil and gas traps

Spindletop

Alternative reserves of hydrocarbons

The Marcellus gas play

Coal : energy from the swamps of the past

Nuclear power

Other energy sources

Energy choices, energy problems

Power from the Earth

Offshore drilling and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster

15. Riches in rock : mineral resources

Metals and their discovery

Ores, ore minerals, and ore deposits

Ore-mineral exploration and production

Nonmetallic mineral resources

The amazing Chilean mine rescue of 2010

The sidewalks of New York

Global mineral needs

Forming and processing Earth's mineral resources.

pt. VI. Processes and problems at the Earth's surface

Ever-changing landscapes and the hydrologic cycle

Shaping the Earth's surface

Factors controlling landscape development

Topographic maps and profiles

The hydrologic cycle

Landscapes of other planets

Water on Mars?

16. Unsafe ground : landslides and other mass movements

Types of mass movement

What goes up must come down

Why do mass movements occur?

The Storegga slide and the North Sea tsunamis

Mass movement

Where do mass movements occur?

How can we protect against mass-movement disasters?

17. Streams and floods : the geology of running water

Draining the land

Describing flow in streams : discharge and turbulence

The work of running water

How do streams change along their length?

Streams and their deposits in the landscape

The evolution of drainage

Raging waters

Calculating the threat posed by flooding

Rivers : a vanishing resource?

18. Restless realm : oceans and coasts

Landscapes beneath the sea

Ocean water and currents

The Coriolis Effect

The tides go out ... the tides come in

Wave action

Where land meets sea : coastal landforms

Organic coasts

Causes of coastal variability

Oceans and coasts

coastal problems and solutions

19. A hidden reserve : groundwater

Where does groundwater reside?

Groundwater and the water table

Groundwater flow

Tapping groundwater supplies

Oases

Hot springs and geysers

Groundwater usage problems

Caves and karst : a spelunker's paradise

Caves and karst landscapes

20. An envelope of gas : Earth's atmosphere and climate

The formation of the atmosphere

The atmosphere in perspective

Why is the sky blue?

Wind and global circulation in the atmosphere

The Earth's tilt : the cause of seasons

Weather and its causes

Storms : Nature's fury

Hurricane Katrina!

Global climate

21. Dry regions : the geology of deserts

The nature and location of deserts

Weathering and erosional processes in deserts

Depositional environments in deserts

Desert landscapes and life

Uluru (Ayers Rock)

The desert realm

Desert problems

22. Amazing ice : glaciers and ice ages

Ice and the nature of glaciers

Polar ice caps on Mars

Carving and carrying ice

Deposition associated with glaciation

Glaciers and glacial landforms

Other consequences of continental glaciation

Periglacial environments

The Pleistocene Ice Age

So you want to see glaciation?

The cause of ice ages

23. Global change in the Earth system

The Earth system

Unidirectional changes

Physical cycles

Biogeochemical cycles

Global climate change

Global climate change and the birth of legends

The Goldilocks Effect, through time

Human impact on the Earth system

The future of the Earth : a scenario.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780393935189

0393935183

9780393118261

0393118266

OCLC:

751780685