Geopedia : a brief compendium of geologic curiosities / Marcia Bjornerud ; illustrations by Haley Hagerman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bjornerud, Marcia, author.

Contributor:

Hagerman, Haley, illustrator.

Series:

Pedia Bks.

Pedia Bks. ; v.6

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Geology--Encyclopedias.

Geology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (201 pages)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2022]

Summary:

A garden of geologic delights for all EarthlingsGeopedia is a trove of geologic wonders and the evocative terms that humans have devised to describe them. Featuring dozens of entries—from Acasta gneiss to Zircon—this illustrated compendium is brimming with lapidary and lexical insights that will delight rockhounds and word lovers alike.Geoscientists are magpies for words, and with good reason. The sheer profusion of minerals, landforms, and geologic events produced by our creative planet demands an immense vocabulary to match. Marcia Bjornerud shows how this lexicon reflects not only the diversity of rocks and geologic processes but also the long history of human interactions with them.With wit and warmth, she invites all readers to celebrate the geologic glossary—a gallimaufry of allusions to mythology, imports from diverse languages, embarrassing anachronisms, and recent neologisms. This captivating book includes cross-references at the end of each entry, inviting you to leave the alphabetic trail and meander through it like a river. Its pocket-friendly size makes it the perfect travel companion no matter where your own geologic forays may lead you.With whimsical illustrations by Haley Hagerman, Geopedia is a mix of engaging and entertaining facts about how the earth works, how it has coevolved with life over billions of years, and how our understanding of the planet has deepened over time.Features a real cloth cover with an elaborate foil-stamped design

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Preface

Acasta Gneiss The Old World

Allochthon Rocks that roam

Amethyst Purple haze

Amygdule On the bubble

Anthropocene It's about time

Areology Wars of the Worlds

Benioff-Wadati Zone Off the deep end

Bioturbation The worm churns

Boudin Secrets of sausage making

Breccia You're breaking up

Brimstone Volcanic theology

Chondrite Recipe for a small planet

Cryogenian Many are cold but few are frozen

Darcy A truth universally acknowledged

Deborah Number Beyond measure

Dreikanter Three, of a kind

Eclogite Pulling its weight

Ediacara Peaceable kingdom

Erg The sands of time

Firn Snows of yesteryear

Gastrolith From the gizzards of lizards

Geodynamo Electromagnetic blanket

Geophagy Raw terroir

Geosyncline Magic mountains

Granitization Igneous agnostics

Grus Things fall apart

Haboob Dust in the wind

Hoodoo Hats off

Jökulhlaup Breaking the ice

Karst The holey land

Katabatic Winds Blow me down

Kimberlite Diamonds are ephemeral

Klippe Strata gone astray

Komatiite The rock that went extinct

Lahar Abhorrent torrent

Lazarus Taxa Zombie fossils

Lusi Its name is Mud

Moho Setting boundaries

Mylonite Faulty logic

Namakier Salt - water = taffy

Nuée Ardente Cloud with a white-hot lining

Nunatak Peaks in a blanket

Nutation Nodding off

Oklo The original Manhattan project

Ophiolite Crocodile rock

Panthalassa Oceans of time

Pedogenesis Dirt rich

Pingo Young as the hills

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcaniconiosis

Polynya Window of opportunity

Porphyry All crystals great and small

Pseudotachylyte Hot flashes

Rapakivi Oddballs

Scree Slippery slopes

Skarn A slow roast.

Slickensides Science friction

Speleothem Drip feed

Stygobite What lives beneath

Stylolite Marble marvels

Sverdrup Current affairs

Taphonomy What becomes a fossil most

Thalweg The valley below

Thixotropy Call me quick

Tiktaalik Fish out of water

Tully Monster Alien autopsy

Turbidite Muddy waters

Twist Hackle Give me a break

Unconformity Conspicuous absence

Uniformitarianism Same as it ever was

Varve Dear diary

Xenolith Wayfaring stranger

Yardang Gone with the wind

Yazoo Parallel lives

Zircon I will survive

Appendix 1. Simplified Geologic Timescale

Appendix 2. Entries by Language of Origin

Appendix 3. Entries by Topical Category

Appendix 4. Entries by Geographic Location

Appendix 5. Biographical References

Useful References.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691232720

0691232725

OCLC:

1266200617