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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.

    • Polar Oceanography

      Chemistry, Biology, and Geology
      • 1st Edition
      • Walker O. Smith Jr.
      • English
      Polar Oceanography is an integrated synthesis of the biological, physical, geological, and chemical processes that occur in the polar oceans. The book represents the first modern interdisciplinary synthesis of this field.
    • Theory of Planetary Atmospheres

      An Introduction to Their Physics and Chemistry
      • 2nd Edition
      • Volume 36
      • English
      Our subject is, of course, nothing more than applied physics and chemistry. But in addition to those basic sciences the student of planetary atmospheres needs an overview of atmospheric structure and physical processes as presently understood. This book is intended to help fill that need for both graduate students and research scientists. Although the approach is mainly theoretical, very little basic physics is developed here. Material that is standard fare in third- and fourth-year physics courses is simply absorbed where needed.
    • Well Cementing

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 28
      • E.B. Nelson
      • English
      Cementing is arguably the most important operation performed on a well. Well cementing technology is an amalgam of many interdependent scientific and engineering disciplines which are essential to achieve the primary goal of well cementing - zonal isolation. This textbook is a comprehensive and up-to-date reference concerning the application of these disciplines to cementing a well.``Well Cementing'' is envisioned as an upper-level university book, as well as a reference for practicing engineers and scientists. The first section of the book illustrates how the quality of the hydraulic seal provided by the cement sheath can affect well performance. The second section concentrates on the design phase of a cementing treatment, and various aspects of cement job execution are covered in the third section. The fourth section addresses cement job evaluation. The text is supported by many tables and figures, an extensive bibliography and an index. There are also chapters devoted to subjects which are currently of particular interest to the industry, including the prevention of annular gas migration, foamed cements, and cementing horizontal wellbores. The chemistry associated with well cementing is presented in detail.Most of the contributors to this volume are employees of Dowell Schlumberger, one of the leading companies in this field.
    • Global Ecological Consequences of the 1982-83 El Niño-Southern Oscillation

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 52
      • P.W. Glynn
      • English
      El Niño is a meteorologic/oceanog... phenomenon that occurs sporadically (every few years) at low latitudes. It is felt particularly strongly in the eastern Pacific region, notably from the equator southwards along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru. The El Niño is a component of the ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) which accentuates the intimate and causal connection between atmospheric and marine processes. Obvious manifestations of El Niño in the eastern Pacific are anomalous warming of the sea; reduced upwelling; a marked decline in fisheries, and high rainfall with frequent flooding.The 1982/83 El Niño was exceptionally severe, and was probably the strongest warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean to occur during this century. The warming was intense and spread over large parts of the Pacific Ocean and penetrated to greater depths than usual. Many eastern Pacific coral reefs that had exhibited uninterrupted growth for several hundred years until 1983 were devasted by the disturbance and are now in an erosional mode. Marine species were adversely affected. The consequent depletion of the plant food base resulted in significant reductions in stocks of fish, squid etc. This led to a mass migration and near-total reproductive failure of marine birds at Christmas Island.Emphasis in this volume is placed on disturbances to benthic communities; littoral populations; terrestrial communities and extratropical regions.
    • Precambrian Continental Crust and its Economic Resources

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 8
      • S.M. Naqvi
      • English
      Since 1964, the time when the Upper Mantle Project was started, the Precambrian continental crust has been studied in considerable detail in many areas. Multidisciplinary studies, using modern tools and techniques have resulted in increasing levels of accuracy. The Precambrian continental crust has been subjected to several thermal events and multiple episodes of deformation. These events have obliterated the scenario produced by early events and present-day efforts are directed towards evaluating the cause-effect processes of each event. How far back the known geological processes of the Phanerozoic can be extended into the Precambrian is one of the main questions. The present volume provides data and interpretations which will help in formulating the answer to some of these questions.The book contains 30 contributions resulting from researches on almost all the important Precambrian terranes.
    • Geochemistry of Sedimentary Carbonates

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 48
      • J.W. Morse + 1 more
      • English
      This book covers the more basic aspects of carbonate minerals and their interaction with aqueous solutions; modern marine carbonate formation and sediments; carbonate diagenesis (early marine, meteoric and burial); the global cycle of carbon and human intervention; and the role of sedimentary carbonates as indicators of stability and changes in the Earth's surface environment. The selected subjects are presented with sufficient background information to enable the non-specialist to understand the basic chemistry involved. Tested on classes taught by the authors, and approved by the students, this comprehensive volume will prove itself to be a valuable reference source to students, researchers and professionals in the fields of oceanography, geochemistry, petrology, environmental science and petroleum geology.
    • Soils on a Warmer Earth

      Effects of Expected Climate Change on Soil Processes, with Emphasis on the Tropics and Sub-Tropics
      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 20
      • H.W. Scharpenseel + 2 more
      • English
      The theme of this book is a far reaching one and should attract great interest, both in industrialized as well as in less developed countries. Although the question of climate change and its effects on soil productivity is overshadowed by so many current events, it is almost certain that this subject will remain on the international agenda for the years to come; not only as science and research are concerned but also in relation to development policies, agricultural policies and others, especially since poor, rich, developed and developing countries are equally threatened by these problems.
    • Automated Stratigraphic Correlation

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 13
      • F.P. Agterberg
      • English
      This book provides an introduction to recent developments in automated stratigraphic correlation of fossil data, using computer programs for ranking and scaling of stratigraphic events. Mainframes or microcomputers can be used to aid the stratigrapher during data inventory for a region or time period, for construction of a biozonation based on stratigraphic events, (such as the latest appearance datum of a fossil species), and for automated correlation. The book is intended for advanced geology students, research workers and teachers with a background in stratigraphy and an interest in using computer-based techniques for problem-solving.
    • Global Palaeoclimate of the Late Cenozoic

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 12
      • V.A. Zubakov + 1 more
      • English
      This is a detailed description of the history and chronology of global climate based on event-signal stratigraphy. The history of global climate is described for the last fifty million years with the description for the last one million years in detail. Climatostratigraphic sequences of twelve key regions are taken as a basis, eight of them situated in the USSR territories. Chronology of climatic events of the Pleistocene, Pliocene and Miocene is developed based on palaeomagnetic and radiometric data. The authors' version of its correlation with oxygene-isotope scales of deep-sea sediments is given. Theoretical problems of climatic stratigraphy and palaeoclimatology are discussed, in particular, the causes of climatic change. The Northern Hemisphere palaeoclimatic reconstructions are made for the Holocene, Eemian and Pliocene temperature optima, considered as possible palaeoanalogues of climate of the 21st Century. The book is intended primarily for a wide circle of scientific workers, palaeoclimatologists and palaeogeographers, but will also interest geologists, biologists, palaeomagnetologists and archaeologists.