Earth as an Evolving Planetary System
- 4th Edition - September 18, 2021
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Author: Kent C. Condie
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 1 9 9 1 4 - 5
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 1 9 9 1 5 - 2
Earth as an Evolving Planetary System, Fourth Edition discusses key topics dealing with the evolution and interaction through time of Earth’s crust, mantle, core, atmosp… Read more
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Request a sales quoteEarth as an Evolving Planetary System, Fourth Edition discusses key topics dealing with the evolution and interaction through time of Earth’s crust, mantle, core, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. It addresses the questions of why Earth is unique among planets of the solar system, and how the various subsystems in the planet have interacted over 4.6 billion years in the habitable planet that we live on. This new edition includes over 100 new pages of material, data, and images and is a key reference for students and researchers in Earth and planetary sciences. Earth as an Evolving Planetary System, Fourth Edition includes new material that has become available since the third edition, including new sections on the Mid-lithosphere discontinuity, geoneutrinos, mantle oxidation, continental emergence, Earth cycles (new chapter) and recycling processes, the evolution of Earth from a stagnant lid to a plate tectonic regime, the controversy over how the continents have grown, when plate tectonics began, and exoplanets.
- Presents comprehensive coverage of the Earth’s interacting systems through time
- Compares and contrasts Earth to other terrestrial planets with very different histories
- Includes a new and exciting chapter on Earth’s cycles and their possible origins
It targets upper division undergraduates and graduate students in all specialties in Earth and planetary sciences.
- Cover image
- Title page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- Preface
- Chapter 1: Earth as a planetary system
- Abstract
- Structure of Earth
- Plate tectonics
- Is the Earth unique?
- Interacting Earth subsystems
- Great events in Earth history
- Chapter 2: The crust
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Seismic crustal structure
- Crustal types
- Continent size
- Heat flow and heat production
- Exhumation and cratonization
- Processes in the continental crust
- Crustal composition
- Crustal provinces and terranes
- Crustal province and terrane boundaries
- The United Plates of America
- Chapter 3: Tectonic settings
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Ocean ridges
- Tectonic settings related to mantle plumes
- Continental rifts
- Cratons and passive margins
- Convergent margins
- Orogens
- Uncertain tectonic settings
- Mineral and energy deposits
- Chapter 4: The mantle
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Seismic structure of the mantle
- Mantle tomography
- Geoid and density anomalies
- Temperature distribution in the mantle
- The lithosphere
- The asthenosphere
- The Transition Zone
- The lower mantle
- Water in the mantle
- Plate driving forces
- Mantle plumes
- Large low S-wave velocity provinces
- Mantle composition
- Convection in the mantle
- Chapter 5: The core
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Core temperature
- The inner core
- Composition of the core
- Age of the core
- Generation of Earth's magnetic field
- Origin of the core
- What the future holds
- Chapter 6: Crustal and mantle evolution
- Abstract
- Introduction
- The Hadean
- Crustal origin
- Earth's oldest rocks
- Origin and growth of continents
- Continental growth rates
- Freeboard
- Global changes at the end of the Archean
- Evolution of the subcontinental lithosphere
- The onset of plate tectonics
- Earth's thermal history
- Chapter 7: Earth cycles
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Supercontinents
- The supercontinent cycle
- The carbon cycle
- Epilogue
- Chapter 8: The atmosphere and hydrosphere
- Abstract
- The modern atmosphere
- The primitive atmosphere
- The postcollision atmosphere
- The carbon cycle
- Oxygen makes its entrance
- The carbon isotope record
- The sulfur isotope record
- Phanerozoic atmospheric history
- The hydrosphere
- Paleoclimates
- Epilogue
- Chapter 9: The biosphere
- Abstract
- Introduction
- The role of impacts
- The RNA world
- Hydrothermal vents and terrestrial hot springs
- The first life
- Evidence of early life
- Anoxygenic photosynthesis
- Oxygenic photosynthesis
- The tree of life
- The first fossils
- Possibility of extraterrestrial life
- Appearance of eukaryotes
- Origin of metazoans
- Stromatolites
- Neoproterozoic multicellular organisms
- The Cambrian Explosion
- Evolution of phanerozoic life forms
- Biological benchmarks
- Mass extinctions
- The end Triassic extinction
- Impact and a 580-Ma extinction
- Chapter 10: Comparative planetary evolution
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Condensation and accretion of the planets
- Members of the solar system
- Volcanism in the solar system
- Planetary crusts
- Plate tectonics
- Mineral evolution
- Evolution of the atmospheres of Earth, Venus, and Mars
- The habitable zone in the solar system
- Comparative planetary evolution
- Extrasolar planets
- References
- Index
- Edition: 4
- Published: September 18, 2021
- Imprint: Academic Press
- No. of pages: 406
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN: 9780128199145
- eBook ISBN: 9780128199152
KC
Kent C. Condie
Kent Condie is emeritus professor of geochemistry at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM where he taught from 1970 to 2015. His textbook, Plate Tectonics and Crustal Evolution, was first published in 1976 and has gone through four editions. In addition, Condie has written seven other professional books the most recent of which, Earth as an Evolving Planetary System is now in the fourth edition. He is author or co-author of over 750 articles published scientific journals. He was awarded NMT’s Distinguished Research Award in 1987. In addition, he was elected the Vice President of the International Association for Gondwana Research in 2002 and in 2007 was bestowed an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. He was awarded the Penrose Medal of the Geological Society of America in 2018.
Affiliations and expertise
Professor of Geochemistry, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM, USARead Earth as an Evolving Planetary System on ScienceDirect