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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.

    • Regional Geology and Tectonics: Phanerozoic Rift Systems and Sedimentary Basins

      • 1st Edition
      • April 23, 2012
      • David G. Roberts
      • English
      • Hardback
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      • eBook
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      Expert petroleum geologists David Roberts and Albert Bally bring you Regional Geology and Tectonics: Phanerozoic Rift Systems and Sedimentary Basins, volume two in a three-volume series covering Phanerozoic regional geology and tectonics. Experience in analyzing and assessing rifts—locations where the Earth’s outer shell and crust have been stretched over time by seismic activity—is critical for you as an exploration geologist in identifying Earth’s most lucrative hydrocarbon locations in which extraction is both efficient and safe. Vast compilations of related industry data present regional seismic lines and cross sections, and summaries of analogue and theoretical models are provided as an essential backdrop to the structure and stratigraphy of various geological settings.
    • The Climate of the Mediterranean Region

      • 1st Edition
      • April 18, 2012
      • P. Lionello
      • English
      • Paperback
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      • Hardback
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      • Hardback
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      • eBook
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      The Mediterranean region contains a diverse and interesting climate ranging from areas with permanent glaciers to areas of subtropical, semiarid regions. The region is potentially sensitive to climate change and its progress has environmental, social, and economic implications within and beyond the region. Produced by the Mediterranean Climate Variability and Predictability Research Networking Project, this book reviews the evolution of the Mediterranean climate over the past two millennia with projections further into the twenty-first century as well as examining in detail various aspects of the Mediterranean region’s climate including evolution, atmospheric variables, and oceanic and land elements. Integrated with this, the book also considers the social and economic problems or vulnerabilities associated with the region. Written and reviewed by multiple researchers to ensure a high level of information presented clearly, Mediterranean Climate Variables will be an invaluable source of information for geologists, oceanographers, and anyone interested in learning more about the Mediterranean climate.
    • Formation and Properties of Clay-Polymer Complexes

      • 2nd Edition
      • Volume 4
      • April 2, 2012
      • B.K.G. Theng
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 3 3 5 4 8
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 8 8 5 2 7 8
      Formation and Properties of Clay-Polymer Complexes provides a comprehensive account of the reactions between clay minerals and organic polymers. The book opens with a discussion of the structures of common clay minerals, clays colloid chemistry, and the behaviour of organic polymers at clay surfaces. This is followed by a systematic treatment of complex formation between clay minerals and various classes of synthetic and naturally occurring polymers, a description of the properties of the resulting complexes and, wherever appropriate, their practical applications. The book will have a new separate chapter on clay-polymer nanocomposites. Each chapter is written as a self-contained review paper, giving a list of reference to the original literature.
    • Regional Geology and Tectonics: Principles of Geologic Analysis

      • 1st Edition
      • March 16, 2012
      • David G. Roberts
      • English
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 9 5 1 8 6 7
      Expert petroleum geologists David Roberts and Albert Bally bring you Regional Geology and Tectonics: Principles of Geologic Analysis, volume one in a three-volume series covering Phanerozoic regional geology and tectonics. It has been written to provide you with a detailed overview of geologic rift systems, passive margins, and cratonic basins, it features the basic principles necessary to grasping the conceptual approaches to hydrocarbon exploration in a broad range of geological settings globally.
    • New Perspectives on Deep-water Sandstones

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 9
      • January 25, 2012
      • G. Shanmugam
      • English
      • Hardback
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      • eBook
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      This handbook is vital for understanding the origin of deep-water sandstones, emphasizing sandy-mass transport deposits (SMTDs) and bottom-current reworked sands (BCRSs) in petroleum reservoirs. This cutting-edge perspective, a pragmatic alternative to the conventional turbidite concepts, is crucial because the turbidite paradigm is built on a dubious foundation without empirical data on sandy turbidity currents in modern oceans. In the absence of evidence for sandy turbidity currents in natural environments, elegant theoretical models and experimental observations of turbidity currents are irrelevant substitutes for explaining the origin of sandy deposits as "turbidites." In documenting modern and ancient SMTDs (sandy slides, sandy slumps, and sandy debrites) and BCRSs (deposits of thermohaline [contour] currents, wind-driven currents, and tidal currents), the author describes and interprets core and outcrop (1:20 to 1:50 scale) from 35 case studies worldwide (which include 32 petroleum reservoirs), totaling more than 10,000 m in cumulative thickness, carried out during the past 36 years (1974-2010). The book dispels myths about the importance of sea level lowstand and provides much-needed clarity on the triggering of sediment failures by earthquakes, meteorite impacts, tsunamis, and cyclones with implications for the distribution of deep-water sandstone petroleum reservoirs.
    • Dissolved Gas Concentration in Water

      • 2nd Edition
      • January 17, 2012
      • John Colt
      • English
      • Hardback
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      • Paperback
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      • eBook
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      Aquacultural, oceanographic, and fisheries engineering, as well as other disciplines, require gas solubility data to compute the equilibrium concentration. These calculations, for example, can affect the output of aquacultural production or assist in environmental consulting. Until now, published solubility information has not been available in a consistent and uniform manner in one location. This book presents solubility concentrations of major atmospheric gases (oxygen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide), noble gases (helium, neon, krypton, xenon), and trace gases (hydrogen, methane, nitrous oxide) as a function of temperature, salinity, pressure, and gas composition in a variety of formats. Data, equations, and theory are explained so that the user is able to understand the calculations and problems. Furthermore, data and solubility information are presented in a range of units to make them accessible across disciplines. This book will help the reader to look at a problem from a quantitative viewpoint and better understand carbonate chemistry. Revised from the earlier edition to include more accurate carbon dioxide tables and separate sections on the solubility of noble gases, trace gases, and oxygen in brines to provide a single resource for gas solubility data. This book is essential for all students and practitioners working in aquatic fields.
    • Encyclopedia of Caves

      • 2nd Edition
      • December 9, 2011
      • William B. White + 1 more
      • English
      • eBook
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      Encyclopedia of Caves is a self-contained, beautifully illustrated work dedicated to caves and their unique environments. It includes more than 100 comprehensive articles from leading scholars and explorers in 15 different countries. Each entry is detailed and scientifically sound, yet accessible for students and non-scientists. This large-format reference is enchanced with hundreds of full-color photographs, maps, and drawings from the authors' own work, which provide unique images of the underground environment.
    • Introduction to Volcanic Seismology

      • 2nd Edition
      • December 8, 2011
      • Vyacheslav M Zobin
      • English
      • Paperback
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      • Paperback
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      • eBook
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      Volcanic seismology represents the main, and often the only, tool to forecast volcanic eruptions and to monitor the eruption process. This book describes the main types of seismic signals at volcanoes, their nature and spatial and temporal distributions at different stages of eruptive activity. Following from the success of the first edition, published in 2003, the second edition consists of 19 chapters including significant revision and five new chapters. Organized into four sections, the book begins with an introduction to the history and topic of volcanic seismology, discussing the theoretical and experimental models that were developed for the study of the origin of volcanic earthquakes. The second section is devoted to the study of volcano-tectonic earthquakes, giving the theoretical basis for their occurrence and swarms as well as case stories of volcano-tectonic activity associated with the eruptions at basaltic, andesitic, and dacitic volcanoes. There were 40 cases of volcanic eruptions at 20 volcanoes that occurred all over the world from 1910 to 2005, which are discussed. General regularities of volcano-tectonic earthquake swarms, their participation in the eruptive process, their source properties, and the hazard of strong volcano-tectonic earthquakes are also described. The third section describes the theoretical basis for the occurrence of eruption earthquakes together with the description of volcanic tremor, the seismic signals associated with pyroclastic flows, rockfalls and lahars, and volcanic explosions, long-period and very-long-period seismic signals at volcanoes, micro-earthquake swarms, and acoustic events. The final section discuss the mitigation of volcanic hazard and include the methodology of seismic monitoring of volcanic activity, the examples of forecasting of volcanic eruptions by seismic methods, and the description of seismic activity in the regions of dormant volcanoes. This book will be essential for students and practitioners of volcanic seismology to understand the essential elements of volcanic eruptions.
    • Seafloor Geomorphology as Benthic Habitat

      • 1st Edition
      • November 21, 2011
      • Peter Harris + 1 more
      • English
      • Hardback
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      • eBook
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      The conservation of marine benthic biodiversity is a recognised goal of a number of national and international programs such as the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). In order to attain this goal, information is needed about the distribution of life in the ocean so that spatial conservation measures such as marine protected areas (MPAs) can be designed to maximise protection within boundaries of acceptable dimensions. Ideally, a map would be produced that showed the distribution of benthic biodiversity to enable the efficient design of MPAs. The dilemma is that such maps do not exist for most areas and it is not possible at present to predict the spatial distribution of all marine life using the sparse biological information currently available. Knowledge of the geomorphology and biogeography of the seafloor has improved markedly over the past 10 years. Using multibeam sonar, the benthic ecology of submarine features such as fjords, sand banks, coral reefs, seamounts, canyons, mud volcanoes and spreading ridges has been revealed in unprecedented detail. This book provides a synthesis of seabed geomorphology and benthic habitats based on the most recent, up-to-date information. Introductory chapters explain the drivers that underpin the need for benthic habitat maps, including threats to ocean health, the habitat mapping approach based on principles of biogeography and benthic ecology and seabed (geomorphic) classification schemes. Case studies from around the world are then presented. They represent a range of seabed features where detailed bathymetric maps have been combined with seabed video and sampling to yield an integrated picture of the benthic communities that are associated with different types of benthic habitat. The final chapter examines critical knowledge gaps and future directions for benthic habitat mapping research.
    • The Future of the World's Climate

      • 2nd Edition
      • November 3, 2011
      • Ann Henderson-Sellers + 1 more
      • English
      • Hardback
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      • eBook
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      At a time of so much politicized debate over the phenomenon of global warming, the second edition of The Future of the World's Climate places the discussion in a broader geological, paleo-climatic, and astronomical context. This book is a resource based on reviews of current climate science and supported by sound, accurate data and projections made possible by technological advances in climate modeling. Crucially, this title examines in detail a wide variety of aspects, including human factors like land use, expanding urban climates, and governmental efforts at mitigation, such as the Kyoto Protocol. It also examines large-scale, long-term changes in oceans, glaciers, and atmospheric composition, including tropospheric ozone and aerosols. Weather extremes are addressed, as well as the impact of catastrophic events such as massive volcanism and meteorite impacts. Readers will find a complete picture of the Earth's future climate, delivered by authors drawn from all over the world and from the highest regarded peer-reviewed groups; most are also contributors to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Assessment Reports.