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Elsevier

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.

  • Compressibility of Sandstones

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 29
    • R.W. Zimmerman
    • English
    This book is a comprehensive treatment of the elastic volumetric response of sandstones to variations in stress. The theory and data presented apply to the deformations that occur, for example, due to withdrawal of fluid from a reservoir, or due to the redistribution of stresses caused by the drilling of a borehole. Although the emphasis is on reservoir-type sandstones, results and methods discussed are also applicable to other porous rocks.Part One concerns the effect of stress on deformation and discusses porous rock compressibility coefficients. Elasticity theory is used to derive relationships between the porous rock compressibility coefficients, the porosity, and the mineral grain compressibility. Theoretical bounds on the compressibility coefficients are derived. The concept of effective stress coefficients is examined, as is the integrated form of the stress-strain relationships. Undrained compression and induced pore pressures are treated within the same general framework. Part One is concluded with a brief, elementary introduction to Biot's theory of poroelasticity. All the results in Part One are illustrated and verified with extensive references to published compressibility data.Part Two deals with the relationship between pore structure and compressibility, and presents methods that permit quantitative prediction of the compressibility coefficients. Two- and three-dimensional models of tubular pores, spheroidal pores, and crack-like "grain boundary" voids are analyzed. A critical review is made of various methods that have been proposed to relate the effective elastic moduli (bulk and shear) of a porous material to its pore structure. Methods for extracting pore aspect ratio distributions from stress-strain data or from acoustic measurements are presented, along with applications to actual sandstone data.Part Three is a brief summary of experimental techniques that are used to measure porous rock compressibilities in the laboratory.The information contained in this volume is of interest to petroleum engineers, specifically those involved with reservoir modeling, petroleum geologists, geotechnical engineers, hydrologists and geophysicists.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

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