- General AAS
- James, Samantha
- French Canadian
- Study & Teaching
- Hardcover
- Elgin, Suzette Haden
- Finnish
- Cut & Assemble
- Biochemistry
- Dickinson, Emily
- Mensuration
- Carpentry
- Cooper, James Fenimore
- Fashion & Image
- Japanese & Haiku
- Polacco, Patricia
- General
- Paperback
- Hiaasen, Carl
- Misty
- Stone, Robert
- Himes, Chester
- Lasers
- Welding
- Marc, Franz
- Watches
- Home and Garden
- UK Electronics
- UK Books
- Health and Personal Care
- UK Sporting Goods
- Clothing, Shoes and Accessories
- Electronics, Gadgets and Computers
- CDs and Music Downloads
- UK Software and Video Games
- UK Toys and Games
- UK Home and Garden
- UK Video Games
- UK Baby Clothes and Accessories
- Books On
- German Electronics
Books : Science : Earth Sciences : Geology : Historical
-
-
This top-selling historical geology text provides an excellent balance of basic geology and paleontology. THE EARTH THROUGH TIME provides rich, authoritative coverage of the history of the Earth, offering the most comprehensive history of the earth on the market today. It maintains its strong approach to stratigraphy and paleontology that others have lost, while updating new finds in areas of radiometric dating, stratigraphic nomenclature, and renewed ideas in paleontology (e.g., new discoveries of dinosaurs, mass extinctions, and current information found in the literature). The paleogeographic maps are excellent in detail and are a vital component in understanding the earth's history.
-
Using the earth system approach, Steven M. Stanley shows how Earth's ecosystem has developed over time, and how events in the past can help us deal with present and future changes.
-
In Earth, the acclaimed author of Trilobite! and Life takes us on a grand tour of the earth’s physical past, showing how the history of plate tectonics is etched in the landscape around us.
Beginning with Mt. Vesuvius, whose eruption in Roman times helped spark the science of geology, and ending in a lab in the West of England where mathematical models and lab experiments replace direct observation, Richard Fortey tells us what the present says about ancient geologic processes. He shows how plate tectonics came to rule the geophysical landscape and how the evidence is written in the hills and in the stones. And in the process, he takes us on a wonderful journey around the globe to visit some of the most fascinating and intriguing spots on the planet.
-
HISTORICAL GEOLOGY teaches students basic geologic principles as well as how scientists apply these principles to unravel Earth's history. Wicander and Monroe present a balanced overview of both the geological and biological history of Earth as a continuum of inter-related events. These events reflect the underlying principles and processes that have shaped our planet. The authors also explain the historical development of these basic principles and processes, and their importance in deciphering Earth history. Three major themes Â- time, evolutionary theory, and plate tectonics Â- are woven together throughout the book. These themes help students link essential material to enhance their understanding of historical geology.
-
Changes in climate and sea level are nothing new - over the last 700 million years, the Earth has been slowly but constantly changing from within. We now know that our planet's surface, far from being fixed or stable, is composed of tectonic plates in continual movement, drifting in oceans which themselves appear and disappear over millennia. Such insecurity lies at the heart of both the physical and the living world, providing the creative impetus for all life forms to confront change, adapt and evolve.This exceptional book celebrates the inevitability of global change and highlights our need as human beings to recognize and adjust to it. Its entertaining and accessible text displays a remarkable breadth and diversity of knowledge, drawing upon discoveries in natural history, geology, geography and paleontology to unravel secrets of millions of years. Its unique structure offers the opportunity to pursue two distinct but parallel narratives in one volume - the first characterized by discrete photo-essay spreads, and the second by authoritative running text illustrated with clearly numbered icons. Designed either to be browsed through like a website or read in chronological sequence, each chapter provides a fascinating glimpse into the formation and development of our world.
Glorious panoramic photography by the author, a specialist in interpretive landscape, reveals the physical le
-
Geology is an extremely visual subject, and In Search of Ancient Oregon is a beautifully photographed, expertly written account of Oregon's fascinating geological story. Written by a passionate and professional geologist who has spent countless hours in the field exploring and photographing the state, In Search of Ancient Oregon is a book for all those interested in Oregon's landscapes and environments. It presents fine-art-quality color photographs of well-known features such as Mount Hood, Crater Lake, Smith Rock, Steens Mountain, the Columbia River Gorge, and Cannon Beach, and scenic, not so well known places such as Jordan Craters, Leslie Gulch, Abert Rim, Hells Canyon, Elkhorn Mountains, and Three Fingered Jack. Each of the more than 220 stunning photographs is accompanied by readable text, presenting the story of how Oregon's diverse landscapes evolved — and what we may expect in the future. Until now, no book has presented this dynamic story in a way that everyone interested in Oregon's natural history can easily understand. The combination of extraordinary photographs and the author's lucid explanations make this book both unique and essential for those curious about our own contemporary landscape.
-
Rarely has a scholar attained such popular acclaim merely by doing what he does best and enjoys most. But such is Stephen Jay Gould's command of paleontology and evolutionary theory, and his gift for brilliant explication, that he has brought dust and dead bones to life, and developed an immense following for the seeming arcana of this field.
In Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle his subject is nothing less than geology's signal contribution to human thought--the discovery of "deep time," the vastness of earth's history, a history so ancient that we can comprehend it only as metaphor. He follows a single thread through three documents that mark the transition in our thinking from thousands to billions of years: Thomas Burnet's four-volume Sacred Theory of the Earth (1680-1690), James Hutton's Theory of the Earth (1795), and Charles Lyell's three-volume Principles of Geology (1830-1833).
Gould's major theme is the role of metaphor in the formulation and testing of scientific theories--in this case the insight provided by the oldest traditional dichotomy of Judeo-Christian thought: the directionality of time's arrow or the immanence of time's cycle. Gould follows these metaphors through these three great documents and shows how their influence, more than the empirical observation of rocks in the field, provoked the supposed discovery of deep tim
-
This concise treatment of the fundamental principles of sedimentology and stratigraphy highlights the important physical, chemical, biological, and stratigraphic characteristics of sedimentary rocks. It emphasizes the ways in which the study of sedimentary rocks is used to interpret depositional environments, changes in ancient sea level, and other intriguing aspects of Earth’s history.
-
In 1980, the radical theory was proposed that a comet or meteor struck the Earth 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs and 70 percent of all other species. "Night Comes to the Cretaceous" is the first comprehensive and objective account of how this incredible theory has changed the course of science. 35 illustrations.
-
Presenting a new vision in the field, this compelling book explores Earth's history as a series of interrelated processes that continue to have significant outcomes for humans and other living things. It captures the excitement of historical geology by utilizing active, visually rich learning methods. Readers will gain a strong understanding of the fundamental concepts used in the interpretation of Earth's physical, chemical, and biological evolution over the last 4.5 billion years. They'll also discover how to interpret the interaction of living creatures with their environments through time by following the book's innovative framework.
-
Beginning at the moment of creation with the Big Bang, Here on Earth explores the evolution of Earth from a galactic cloud of dust and gas to a planet with a metallic core and early signs of life within a billion years of being created. In a compelling narrative, Flannery describes the formation of the Earth’s crust and atmosphere, as well as the transformation of the planet’s oceans from toxic brews of metals (such as iron, copper, and lead) to life-sustaining bodies covering 70 percent of the planet’s surface. Life, Flannery shows, first appeared in these oceans in the form of microscopic plants and bacteria, and these metals served as catalysts for the earliest biological processes known to exist. From this starting point, Flannery tells the fascinating story of the evolution of our own species, exploring several early human speciesfrom the diminutive creatures (the famed hobbits) who lived in Africa around two million years ago to Homo erectusbefore turning his attention to Homo sapiens. Drawing on Charles Darwin’s and Alfred Russell Wallace’s theories of evolution and Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis, Here on Earth is a dazzling account of life on our planet.
-
Evolution of the Earth reveals the logical framework of geology, shows relations of the science to the totality of human knowledge, and gives some idea of what it is to be a participant in the discipline. In keeping with the preference for a "How do we know?" rather than "What do we know?" approach, the authors stress what assumptions are made by earth historians, what kinds of evidence (and tools for gathering that evidence), and what processes of reasoning and limitations of hypotheses are involved in reconstructing and interpreting the past.Each chapter begins with a list of highlights entitled "Major Concepts". Many chapters have a summary timeline that puts the entire sequence of events into a quick visual reference frame. The use of dioramas and reconstructions of extinct animals and plants has been greatly expanded, so that students can get a more vivid concept of typical life in any part of the geologic past. In many places, the authors have supplied a full page of color photos of classic fossils from each period to improve the visual recognition of the organisms that give life its distinctive history. The areas of hottest controversy, such as mass extinctions, dinosaur endothermy, the origin of life, and controversies over late Proterozoic tectonics and glaciation, have been given separate sections so that students can appreciate the different sides of the debates.
-
Utilizing actual case studies and field photographs, this successful lab manual covers the full spectrum of historical geology sediments, plate tectonics, paleontology, and petrology in flexible, self-contained units. This manual has been developed for use in both nonmajors and combined courses in historical geology. The exercises emphasize the principles and methods by which geologists discover the origins and changing nature of our planet.These exercises or "studies" will help students understand how ancient conditions can be read from rocks and fossils, how geologic forces at the surface and within the planet can alter the environment, and how events of the past can be placed within an integrated chronological sequence. The exercises are designed for students who may not intend to specialize in geology. This does not mean, however, that the treatment is superficial, nor that it cannot give adequate preparation for students pursuing an academic major in the earth sciences..
-
The formation of the Grand Coulee remained a mystery for many years, until J Harlen Bretz proved that the Columbia River basin was the site of huge floods 15,000 years ago that created the landscape we see today.
-
-
‘It is inordinately difficult for most people to relate past events described by earth scientists to the world we see around us today. Reason and logic are strained when they describe mountains that were once seas, or seas where there were once mountains. It is hoped that this book will go some way to alleviating this kind of difficulty.’-- from the Introduction
Southern Africa is without equal in terms of geology, a treasure trove of valuable minerals with a geological history dating back some 3 600 million years. In addition, the evolution of plants and animals, especially mammals and dinosaurs, is well preserved in the region, which also has among the best records of the origin of modern man. The Story of Earth and Life provides a fascinating insight into this remarkable history – how southern Africa’s mineral deposits were formed, how its life evolved and how its landscape was shaped. Along the way readers will be enthralled by accounts of the Big Bang that marked the beginning of time and matter, by drifting and colliding continents, folding and fracturing rocks, meteors colliding with the Earth, volcanic eruptions, and the start of life. Other topics include why South Africa is so rich in minerals, how glacial deposits came to be found in the Karoo, why dinosaurs became extinct, how mammals developed from reptiles, and how closely humans are related to the apes. The answers to many such questions can be found here. The book is comprehensively illustrated with explanatory diagrams and full color photographs.
-
Geoarchaeological studies can significantly enhance interpretations of human prehistory by allowing archaeologists to decipher from sediments and soils the effects of earth processes on the evidence of human activity. While a number of previous books have provided broad geographic and temporal treatments of geoarchaeology, this new volume presents a single author's view intended for North American archaeologists. Waters deals with those aspects of geoarchaeology—stratigraphy, site formation processes, and landscape reconstruction—most fundamental to archaeology, and he focuses on the late Quaternary of North America, permitting in-depth discussions of the concepts directly applicable to that research. Assuming no prior geologic knowledge on the part of the reader, Waters provides a background in fundamental geological processes and the basic tools of geoarchaeology. He then proceeds to relate specific physical processes, microenvironments, deposits, and landforms associated with riverine, desert, lake, glacial, cave, coastal, and other environments to archaeological site formation, location, and context. This practical volume illustrates the contributions of geoarchaeological investigations and demonstrates the need to make such studies an integral part of archaeological research. The text is enhanced by more than a hundred line drawings and photographs. CONTENTS
1. Research Objectives of Geoarchaeology
2. Geoarchaeological Foundations: The Archaeological Site Matrix: Sediments and Soils / Stratigraphy / The Geoarchaeological Interpretation of Sediments, Soils, and Stratigraphy
3. Alluvial Environments: Streamflow / Sediment Erosion, Transport, and Deposition / Alluvial Environments: Rivers, Arroyos, Terraces, and Fans / Alluvial Landscapes Evolution and the Archaeological Record / Alluvial Landscape Reconstruction
4. Eolian Environments: Sediment Erosion, Transport, and Deposition / Sand Dunes / Loess and Dust / Stone Pavements / Eolian Erosion / Volcanic Ash (Tephra)
5. Springs, Lakes, Rockshelters, and Other Terrestrial Environments: Springs / Lakes / Slopes / Glaciers / Rockshelters and Caves
6. Coastal Environments: Coastal Processes / Late Quaternary Sea Level Changes / Coastal Environments / Coastal Landscape Evolution and the Archaeological Record / Coastal Landscape Reconstruction
7. The Postburial Disturbance af Archaeological Site Contexts: Cryoturbation / Argilliturbation / Graviturbation / Deformation / Other Physical Disturbances / Floralturbation / Faunalturbation
8. Geoarchaeological Research
Appendix A: Geoarchaeological Studies Illustrating the Effects of Fluvial Landscape Evolution on the Archaeological Record
Appendix B: Geoarchaeological Studies Illustrating Site-Specific Synchronic and Diachronic Alluvial Landscape Reconstructions
Appendix C: Geoarchaeological Studies Illustrating Regional Synchronic and Diachronic Alluvial Landscape Reconstructions
-
The innovation and refinement of the techniques and concepts of sequence stratigraphy has been one of the most exciting and profound developments in geology over the past thirty years. Seismic stratigraphy has now become one of the standard tools of the geoscientist, and there is a pressing need for an introductory text on sequence stratigraphy. This new book sets out to define and explain the concepts, principles and applications of this remarkably influential approach to the study of sedimentary strata. The authors take a rigorous objective stance in evaluating the techniques and interpretation of sequence stratigraphy - basing the text on an internal training course developed by British Petroleum (BP).- A new text on this increasingly important field
- A practical guide based on the experience of practising sequence stratigraphers
- Based on a highly successful BP training course
-
Physics professor Chet Raymo and his daughter, paleoclimatologist Maureen E. Raymo, trace the Northeast across geological history to reveal the dynamic forces that have shaped the landscape. In vivid prose, the book presents colliding continents, disappearing oceans, movements of glaciers and other significant events. 28 maps and cross-sections; 15 line illustrations.