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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.

  • Glaciotectonism

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 6
    • James S. Aber + 1 more
    • English
    Glaciotectonism is an important component of modern glacial theory, gaining widespread recognition within the past 25 years. This book is outcome of compiling maps of glaciotectonic structures and landforms for North America and central Europe, which is the basis for better understanding the role of glaciotectonism as a key component of glacial theory.Glaciotectoni... is intented to provide a comprehensive review and description of glaciotectonic phenomena. The subject matter is arranged in three broad sections. First, definitions, principles, and methodologies of glaciotectonics in the field as well as in the laboratory are described. Next, case histories of glaciotectonic structures and landforms from the land and continental shelf regions of North America and Eurasia are then covered in detail. Practical applications for mining, highway construction, and other human activities are also described. The last part of the book covers regional and continental distribution of glaciotectonic phenomena, dynamics of glaciotectonic deformation, and analogous non-glacial deformation.
  • Applied Clay Mineralogy

    Occurrences, Processing and Applications of Kaolins, Bentonites, Palygorskitesepiolite, and Common Clays
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 2
    • Haydn H. Murray
    • English
    This book on Applied Clay Mineralogy is comprehensive. It covers the structure, composition, and physical and chemical properties of kaolinite, halloysite, ball clays; bentonites including sodium montmorillonite, calcium montmorillonite, and hectorite; and palygorskite and sepiolite. There is also a short chapter on common clays which are used for making structural clay products and lightweight aggregate. The location and geology of the major clay deposits that are marketed worldwide and regionally include kaolins from the United States, Southwest England, Brazil, and the Czech Republic along with halloysite from New Zealand and ball clays from the US, England, Germany, and Ukraine. Bentonites from the U.S. and Europe are included along with palygorskite and sepiolite from the U.S., China, Senegal, and Spain. The mining and processing of the various clays are described. Extensive discussions of the many applications of the clays are included. The appendices cover the important laboratory tests that are used to identify and evaluate the various types of clay. Many figures are included covering electron micrographs, processing flow sheets, stratigraphy, and location maps.
  • Creativity

    Theories and Themes: Research, Development, and Practice
    • 1st Edition
    • Mark A. Runco
    • English
    An integrative introduction to the theories and themes in research on creativity, this book is both a reference work and text for courses in this burgeoning area of research. The book begins with a discussion of the theories of creativity (Person, Product, Process, Place), the general question of whether creativity is influenced by nature or nurture, what research has indicated of the personality and style of creative individuals from a personality analysis standpoint, how social context affects creativity, and then coverage of issues like gender differences, whether creativity can be enhanced, if creativity is related to poor mental or physical health, etc. The book contains boxes covering special interest items including one page biographies of famous creative individuals and activities for a group or individual to test and/or encourage creativity, as well as references to internet sites relating to creativity.
  • Environmental Data Exchange Network for Inland Water

    • 1st Edition
    • Palle Haastrup + 1 more
    • English
    Understanding and protecting our environment is a key component of environmental development, yet access to a wide range of high-quality information is currently based on very limited data due to lack of the exchange of data between source and recipient. This three part book that first discusses the importance of data exchange and describes why it is essential for gathering data in the environmental sciences. Part Two takes the results of the Environmental Data Exchange Network for Inland Water project (EDEN-IW), and addresses its objectives for ensuring that the needs of citizens and enterprises of the environmental sciences community are met. Finally, Part Three takes a look at the wide variety of data policies and addresses how environment administrators in Europe can enhance their efficiency, openness and accountability.
  • Advances in Geophysics

    Advances in Wave Propagation in Heterogeneous Earth
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 48
    • Ru-Shan Wu + 1 more
    • English
    Significant progress in our understanding of the Earth's structure and functioning is dependent on new and original observations. However, these observations cannot be interpreted in a quantitative way without tools to model them, and developing adequate modelling methods is also a prerequisite for progress. Seismological raw data in the 21st century are mostly three-component broadband recordings, and require advanced numerical tools to be modelled, especially if lateral variations in the model are accounted for in addition to the radial stratification of the Earth. Considerable progress has been made concerning modelling of elastic waves in laterally heterogeneous structures in the last decades, taking advantage of the development of computer power. The number of articles related to new developments of diverse methods is enormous and it can be very difficult for newcomers to get an overview of the different methods available, and to be able to find which method is most appropriate for his or her applications. This book aims at giving introductions and basic reviews of the modelling methods for elastic waves in laterally heterogeneous structures which are most commonly used in contemporary seismology, or may have great potential for the future.
  • Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science

    • 1st Edition
    • Scott A. Elias
    • English
    The quaternary sciences constitute a dynamic, multidisciplinary field of research that has been growing in scientific and societal importance in recent years. This branch of the Earth sciences links ancient prehistory to modern environments. Quaternary terrestrial sediments contain the fossil remains of existing species of flora and fauna, and their immediate predecessors. Quaternary science plays an integral part in such important issues for modern society as groundwater resources and contamination, sea level change, geologic hazards (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis), and soil erosion. With over 360 articles and 2,600 pages, many in full-color, the Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science provides broad ranging, up-to-date articles on all of the major topics in the field. Written by a team of leading experts and under the guidance of an international editorial board, the articles are at a level that allows undergraduate students to understand the material, while providing active researchers with the latest information in the field. Also available online via ScienceDirect (2006) – featuring extensive browsing, searching, and internal cross-referencing between articles in the work, plus dynamic linking to journal articles and abstract databases, making navigation flexible and easy. For more information, pricing options and availability visit www.info.sciencedire...
  • Elsevier's Dictionary of Geography

    in English, Russian, French, Spanish and German
    • 1st Edition
    • Vladimir Kotlyakov + 1 more
    • English
    Geography is a system of highly developed sciences about the environment. Geographical science embracing the study of the Earth's physical phenomena, people and their economic activities has always been in need of an extensive terminology. Geographical terms are related to the terms of natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, geology, etc.) and humanities (history, economics, sociology, etc.) since geography is based on these fundamental subjects. Geography includes a number of disciplines and subdivisions which appeared along with the development of the science In spite of being very different geographical disciplines have some common tools of investigation which is maps, comparative method of exploration, remote sensing, geoinformation systems. Today very well developed terminologies of all the specialist fields of geography and related subjects exist in the main world languages. However, they are not always well-correlated. Nowadays geographical terminology requires unification and international correlation more than ever before. Hence the idea of compiling a multilingual polydisciplinary dictionary. The Dictionary consists of the basic table of terms arranged according to the order of the English alphabet with each term numbered. Each entry consists of the term in English and its equivalents in Russian, French, German, Spanish. Short definitions of terms are given in English and in Russian. The terms are supplied with the necessary grammar labels, such as gender of nouns, plural number, etc. The Dictionary combines two functions: that of a defining dictionary and that of a bilingual dictionary. These two functions are basically contradictory because usually the defining dictionary is aimed at giving one meaning of the word which is the main and essential one, while the bilingual dictionary tries to give different equivalents of a given word in the other language in order to supply the user with maximum possible translations, differing in the shades of meanings, thus giving him the possibility to choose the appropriate word. But in our Dictionary we intentionally decided to combine the two functions – defining and multilingual, because a short definition of the term and equivalents in other languages help to achieve our main aim which consists in showing the basic geographical terminology and harmonizing it in several languages. Having this into consideration we deliberately mixed two types of dictionaries in one.
  • Electromagnetic Sounding of the Earth's Interior

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 40
    • Viacheslav V. Spichak
    • Viacheslav V. Spichak
    • English
    Based on lectures given in the First Russian School-Seminar on electromagnetic soundings of the Earth held in Moscow on 15th November, 2003, this book acquaints scientists and technologists with the latest achievements in theory, techniques and practical applications of the methods of electromagnetic sounding. This three part text covers the methods considered for Earth electromagnetic sounding on a global, regional, and local scale; modern methods for solving forward and inverse problems of geoelectrics, particularily contemporary approaches to the EM data modeling and interpretation in the class of three-dimensional models; and the results of regional EM on-land and sea soundings
  • Seismic Stratigraphy, Basin Analysis and Reservoir Characterisation

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 37
    • P.C.H. Veeken
    • English
    The interest in seismic stratigraphic techniques to interpret reflection datasets is well established. The advent of sophisticated subsurface reservoir studies and 4D monitoring, for optimising the hydrocarbon production in existing fields, does demonstrate the importance of the 3D seismic methodology. The added value of reflection seismics to the petroleum industry has clearly been proven over the last decades. Seismic profiles and 3D cubes form a vast and robust data source to unravel the structure of the subsurface. It gets nowadays exploited in ever greater detail. Larger offsets and velocity anisotropy effects give for instance access to more details on reservoir flow properties like fracture density, porosity and permeability distribution, Elastic inversion and modelling may tell something about the change in petrophysical parameters. Seismic investigations provide a vital tool for the delineation of subtle hydrocarbon traps. They are the basis for understanding the regional basin framework and the stratigraphic subdivision. Seismic stratigraphy combines two very different scales of observation: the seismic and well-control. The systematic approach applied in seismic stratigraphy explains why many workers are using the principles to evaluate their seismic observations. The here presented modern geophysical techniques allow more accurate prediction of the changes in subsurface geology. Dynamics of sedimentary environments are discussed with its relation to global controling factors and a link is made to high-resolution sequence stratigraphy. ‘Seismic Stratigraphy Basin Analysis and Reservoir Characterisation’ summarizes basic seismic interpretation techniques and demonstrates the benefits of intergrated reservoir studies for hydrocarbon exploration. Topics are presented from a practical point of view and are supported by well-illustrated case histories. The reader (student as well as professional geophysicists, geologists and reservoir engineers) is taken from a basic level to more advanced study techniques.
  • Stratigraphic reservoir characterization for petroleum geologists, geophysicists, and engineers

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 61
    • Roger M. Slatt
    • English
    Reservoir characterization as a discipline grew out of the recognition that more oil and gas could be extracted from reservoirs if the geology of the reservoir was understood. Prior to that awakening, reservoir development and production were the realm of the petroleum engineer. In fact, geologists of that time would have felt slighted if asked by corporate management to move from an exciting exploration assignment to a more mundane assignment working with an engineer to improve a reservoir’s performance. Slowly, reservoir characterization came into its own as a quantitative, multidisciplinary endeavor requiring a vast array of skills and knowledge sets. Perhaps the biggest attractor to becoming a reservoir geologist was the advent of fast computing, followed by visualization programs and theaters, all of which allow young geoscientists to practice their computing skills in a highly technical work environment. Also, the discipline grew in parallel with the evolution of data integration and the advent of asset teams in the petroleum industry. Finally, reservoir characterization flourished with the quantum improvements that have occurred in geophysical acquisition and processing techniques and that allow geophysicists to image internal reservoir complexities.