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Books in Earth and planetary sciences

Elsevier's Earth and Planetary Sciences collection brings together pioneering research on the complexities of our planet and beyond. Covering topics from Earth's structural dynamics and ecosystems to planetary exploration, these titles support advancements in geoscience, environmental science, and space studies, offering essential insights for researchers, professionals, and students.

  • Landscape Evolution in the United States

    An Introduction to the Geography, Geology, and Natural History
    • 1st Edition
    • Joseph A. DiPietro
    • English
    Landscape Evolution in the United States is an accessible text that balances interdisciplinary theory and application within the physical geography, geology, geomorphology, and climatology of the United States. Landscape evolution refers to the changing terrain of any given area of the Earth's crust over time. Common causes of evolution (or geomorphology—land morphing into a different size or shape over time) are glacial erosion and deposition, volcanism, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, sediment transport into rivers, landslides, climate change, and other surface processes. The book is divided into three main parts covering landscape components and how they are affected by climactic, tectonic and ocean systems; varying structural provinces including the Cascadia Volcanic Arc and California Transpressional System; and the formation and collapse of mountain systems. The vast diversity of terrain and landscapes across the United States makes this an ideal tool for geoscientists worldwide who are researching the country’s geological evolution over the past several billion years.
  • Ostracoda as Proxies for Quaternary Climate Change

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 17
    • English
    Ostracod crustaceans, common microfossils in marine and freshwater sedimentary records, supply evidence of past climatic conditions via indicator species, transfer function and mutual climatic range approaches as well as the trace element and stable isotope geochemistry of their shells. As methods of using ostracods as Quaternary palaeoclimate proxies have developed, so too has a critical awareness of their complexities, potential and limitations. This book combines up-to-date reviews (covering previous work and summarising the state of the art) with presentations of new, cutting-edge science (data and interpretations as well as methodological developments) to form a major reference work that will constitute a durable bench-mark in the science of Ostracoda and Quaternary climate change.
  • Unconventional Petroleum Geology

    • 1st Edition
    • Caineng Zou
    • English
    Unconventional Petroleum Geology is the first book of its kind to collectively identify, catalog, and assess the exploration and recovery potential of the Earth's unconventional hydrocarbons. Advances in hydrocarbon technology and petroleum development systems have recently made the exploration of unconventional hydrocarbons—such as shale gas, tight sandstone oil and gas, heavy oil, tar sand, and coalbed methane—the hottest trend in the petroleum industry. Detailed case studies act as real-world application templates, making the book's concepts immediately practical and useful by exploration geologists. The logical and intuitive three-part approach of systematically identifying an unconventional hydrocarbon, cataloguing its accumulation features, and assessing its exploration and recovery potential can be immediately implemented in the field—anywhere in the world.
  • Basin Evolution and Petroleum Prospectivity of the Continental Margins of India

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 59
    • Rabi Bastia + 1 more
    • English
    During the past 10 years, the Oil industry in India has seen a tremendous rise in exploration activity with several major E&P companies generating vast amount of new geological and geophysical data. The availability of such integrated data sets (gravity, magnetic, seismic, drilled wells), especially in the deep offshore basins, has led the authors to revisit earlier concepts and models in order to redefine the tectonic framework of major offshore basins along the Indian continental margins. The book covers the stratigraphic evolution, play types and the classification of major offshore basins both in shallow and deepwater environments.
  • Trace Fossils as Indicators of Sedimentary Environments

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 64
    • Dirk Knaust + 1 more
    • English
    Integration of ichnological information into sedimentological models, and vice versa, is one of the main means by which we can improve our understanding of ancient depositional environments. Mainly intended for sedimentologists, this book aims to make ichnological methods as part of facies interpretation more popular, providing an analytical review of the ichnology of all major depositional environments and the use of ichnology in biostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic analysis. It starts with an introduction to the historical aspect of ichnology, introducing common concepts and methods, and then continues with parts treating the main depositional systems from continental, shallow-marine and deep-marine siliciclastics, and marine carbonates. The last part is dedicated to the ichnology in hydrocarbon reservoir and aquifer characterization.
  • Electrotechnology in Mining

    • 1st Edition
    • N. Marinovic
    • English
    Both mining and electrical engineers need to bear in mind the following specific requirements of electrical applications in mining. 1) Economy of electrical plant and equipment in relation to the cost price of the extracted mineral ores, governed by the specific exploitation conditions, 2) Reliability of electrical plant and equipment for extractive operations, operational efficiency, and plant and personnel safety. 3) Special safeguards to counteract the additional hazards posed by the use of electric power, and by electrical phenomena in general. The book has been written along these lines, dealing with those topics which highlight the aspects of electrical engineering of relevance for mining engineers and aspects of mining operations that electrical engineers need, to meet the above-mentioned basic requirements governing the introduction and use of electrical plants and systems in mines.This book is intended as a text book and will be of use to students, and colleges as well as to mining and electrical engineers.
  • Mining Modelling

    • 1st Edition
    • V. Ehrenberger + 1 more
    • English
    The main aim of this book is to offer an exposition of the principles and applications of an original method which was introduced by the authors, developed gradually in the course of time, and applied extensively in the most diverse fields of management in the mining industry and power engineering. It is a relatively universal method of mathematical model construction and application intended to aid managerial personnel at various management levels in decision-making situations, which are frequently characterized by complicated relations of a quantitative as well as logical character.The method, called by the authors simply the ``method of mathematical-logical modelling'' (MLM for short), is based upon an interesting and effective combination of tools from mathematical logic, Boolean algebra and computer programming. From the mathematical point of view it is based primarily on the construction and solution of systems of pseudo-Boolean equations and inequalities with a generalized logical structure. The principal features of the method are its universality, iterativity, interactivity, and advanced and broadly applicable software, coded in FORTRAN 77. Due in particular to these properties, MLM is a powerful tool for modelling real-life situations in the mining industry (and, naturally, in other fields of human activity as well).The exposition is illustrated by a considerable number of examples. Some of these are rather simple and aimed at helping the reader verify his correct understanding of the text. Other examples, especially in the second part of the book (Chapters 6, 7 and 8), are more complicated and extensive. In some instances they have the character of case studies and demonstrate typical approaches applied when modelling mining situations.The book will be of interest to a broad range of specialists working in the mining industry - research workers, designers, computer personnel, system analysts, management personnel at all managerial levels, and also undergraduate as well as graduate students.
  • Anatomy of Seismograms

    For the IASPEI/Unesco Working Group on Manual of Seismogram Interpretation
    • 1st Edition
    • O. Kulhánek
    • English
    Frequent updating of existing interpretation codes and routines is a prerequisite for modern seismogram interpretation and research. The primary goal of this book is to present in a rather tutorial form all the necessary information and techniques pertinent to essential seismogram interpretation. The treatment is descriptive rather then mathematical, and emphasis is placed on practical aspects, especially for the benefit of students and junior seismogram interpreters affiliated to seismographic stations and observatories. Those workers more knowledgeable in seismology, and curious enough in the detailed deciphering of seismogram peculiarities, will also find the presentation useful.The book is divided into two parts: a verbal description (Chapters 1-6) and a collection of 55 plates (Chapter 7) with interpretations. The verbal description explains in a rather elementary form the most fundamental physical phenomena relevant to seismogram appearance. The collection of plates exhibits a large variety of seismogram examples, and the corresponding interpretations cover different seismic sources (tectonic and volcanic earthquakes, underground explosions, cavity collapse, sonic booms), wave types, epicentral distances, focal depths and recording instruments (analog, digital, short- and long-period, broad band).The book compliments older manuals in that both analog and digital records are considered. Seismograms from more traditional narrow-band as well as from modern, broad-band instruments are displayed. Tectonic and volcanic earthquakes are represented, and the exhibited seismograms form a worldwide collection of records acquired from seismographic stations located in North and Central America, Asia, Europe and New Zealand, i.e. in various geological and tectonic environments. Terminology and usage of definition does vary among agencies in different parts of the world; that used in this book is common to Europe.
  • The Physical Principles of Rock Magnetism

    • 1st Edition
    • Frank Stacey
    • English
    Developments in Solid Earth Geophysics 5: The Physical Principles of Rock Magnetism explores the physical principles of rock magnetism, with emphasis on the properties of finely divided magnetic materials. It discusses the origin and stability of rock magnetizations, the role of remanent magnetism in interpreting magnetic surveys, magnetic anisotropy as an indicator of rock fabric, and the relationship between piezomagnetic changes and seismic activity. Organized into 13 chapters, this volume discusses the properties of solids, magnetite and hematite grains, and rocks with magnetite grains. It also explains various theories and equations in studying rock magnetism. Different types of magnetization are discussed, including their occurrence, significance, and effects. Some of the types include depositional and chemical remanent and thermoremanent magnetization. In addition, this book explains the thermal activation and Piezomagnetic effects, as well as the reversals of remanent magnetism. This reference contains appendices with tables of relevant functions, such as Langevin Function. This book is a valuable source of information for physicists and geologists.
  • Classifications and Historical Studies

    • 1st Edition
    • Bozzano G Luisa
    • English
    Classifications and Historical Studies is a collection of papers dealing with theoretical and applied ore petrology. One paper discusses the use of conceptual models in geology such as the diagrammatic/pictori... the flow-chart, and the tabular types of conceptualizations. Another paper describes some transitional types of mineral deposits in volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Concentrations of copper minerals and commonly associated metals form deposits associated with orogenic belts and cratonic regions. The paper points out that many major groups of mineral deposits grade into other groups through occurrences with intermediate or transitional characteristics. It suggests a classification method of mineral deposits based on the observable features of the mineral deposits rather than their inferred genesis. One paper reviews the theory of magmatic—hydrotherma... replacement origin of stratiform sulfide ore bodies. The review covers concepts of certain major ore deposits as being independent and isolated phenomena to regarding a wide range of deposits as contemporaneous, indigenous, and related to their environments. Another paper points out that according to North American geologists, certain types of ore deposits are formed syngenetically and are subjected to the same metamorphic events that affect the ores in which they are enclosed. The collection can be valuable to researchers, technical designers, or engineers whose works are related with oil refinery and fossil fuels, as well as to students majoring in geology.