Skip to main content

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.

  • Understanding Geology Through Maps

    • 1st Edition
    • Graham Borradaile
    • English
    Understanding Geology through Maps guides young professional geologists and students alike in understanding and interpreting the world’s dynamic and varying geological landscapes through the liberal use of visual aids including figures, maps, and diagrams. This highly visual reference introduces the skills of interpreting a geological map and relating it to the morphology of the most important types of geological structure. Thoroughly revised, and with more international examples, it is ideal for use by students with a minimum of tutorial supervision. Maps of geological structures provide all of the realism of a survey map without the huge amount of data often present, so readers can develop or hone their skills without becoming overwhelmed or confused. In particular, emphasis is placed throughout on developing the skill of three-dimensional visualization so important to geologists.
  • Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography

    • 3rd Edition
    • Richard E. Thomson + 1 more
    • English
    Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography, Third Edition is a practical reference to established and modern data analysis techniques in earth and ocean sciences. Its five major sections address data acquisition and recording, data processing and presentation, statistical methods and error handling, analysis of spatial data fields, and time series analysis methods. The revised Third Edition updates the instrumentation used to collect and analyze physical oceanic data and adds new techniques including Kalman Filtering. Additionally, the sections covering spectral, wavelet, and harmonic analysis techniques are completely revised since these techniques have attracted significant attention over the past decade as more accurate and efficient data gathering and analysis methods.
  • Cloud Dynamics

    • 2nd Edition
    • Volume 104
    • Robert A. Houze Jr.
    • English
    As models of the Earth/atmosphere system and observations become ever more sophisticated, and concerns about climate change and societal impacts of extreme weather and its forecasting grow, understanding the role of clouds in the atmosphere is increasingly vital. Cloud Dynamics, Second Edition provides the essential information needed to understand how clouds affect climate and weather. This comprehensive book examines the underlying physics and dynamics of every specific type of cloud that occurs in the Earth's atmosphere, showing how clouds differ dynamically depending on whether they occur over oceans or mountains, or as parts of atmospheric storms, such as thunderstorms, tropical cyclones, or warm and cold fronts. Covering both the microphysical and macrophysical aspects of clouds, the book treats all of the physical scales involved in cloud processes, from the microscale of the individual drops and ice particles up to scales of storms in which the clouds occur. As observational technology advances with increasingly sophisticated remote sensing capabilities, detailed understanding of how the dynamics and physics of clouds affect the quantities being measured is of paramount importance. This book underpins the work necessary for proper interpretation of these observations, now and in the future.
  • Ocean Acoustic Propagation by Finite Difference Methods

    • 1st Edition
    • D. Lee + 1 more
    • English
    A concise guide to the theory and application of numerical methods for predicting ocean acoustic propagation, also providing an introduction to numerical methods, with an overview of those methods presently in use. An in-depth development of the implicit-finite-diff... technique is presented together with bench-mark test examples included to demonstrate its application to realistic ocean environments. Other applications include atmospheric acoustics, plasma physics, quantum mechanics, optics and seismology.
  • Statistics for Geoscientists

    • 1st Edition
    • D. Marsal + 1 more
    • English
    Presents nearly all the important elementary and analytical methods of statistics, designed for the needs of the geoscientist and completely free from higher mathematics. Translated from the second German edition.
  • Plankton & Productivity in the Oceans

    Volume 1: Phytoplankton
    • 2nd Edition
    • J. E. G. Raymont
    • English
    Although Volume 1 deals mainly with phytoplankton, it ends with a comparison of the primary productivity of different major regions and of the factors responsible for varying production.
  • Phytolyth Analysis

    An Archaeological and Geological Perspective
    • 1st Edition
    • Dolores R. Piperno
    • English
    This is a methodological guide to the use of plant opal phytolith analysis in paleoenvironmental and paleoecological reconstruction. It is the first book-length treatment of this promising technique, which has undergone rapid development within the past few years and is now beginning to be used with considerable success by paleobotanists who serve the archaeological and paleontological research communities. It will be mandatory reading for all paleobotanists, paleoecologists, and archaeological scientists.
  • Principles of Electromagnetic Methods in Surface Geophysics

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 45
    • Alex Kaufman + 2 more
    • English
    Principles of Electromagnetic Methods in Surface Geophysics contains information about the theory of electromagnetic fields in a conducting media. It describes the theoretical and physical principles of the main geophysical methods using electromagnetic fields, including frequency and transient soundings, electromagnetic profiling, and magnetotelluric soundings. Special attention is paid to models and signal processing methods used in modern exploration geophysics for groundwater, mineral and hydrocarbon exploration.
  • Natural Gas Hydrates

    A Guide for Engineers
    • 3rd Edition
    • John Carroll
    • English
    Rarely covered in formal engineering courses, natural gas hydrates are a common problem and real-life danger for engineers worldwide. Updated and more practical than ever, Natural Gas Hydrates, Third Edition helps managers and engineers get up to speed on all the most common hydrate types, how to forecast when they will appear, and safely mitigate their removal. Known for being highly flammable, gas hydrates are a preventable threat that can costs millions of dollars in damage, as well as take the lives of workers and engineers on the rig. The third edition of Natural Gas Hydrates is enhanced with today’s more complex yet practical utilization needs including: New hydrate types and formers, including mercaptans and other sulfur compounds Vital information on how to handle hydrate formation in the wellbore, useful information in light of the Macondo explosion and resulting oil spill More detailed phase diagrams, such as ternary systems, as well as more relevant multicomponent mixtures
  • Earthquakes and Coseismic Surface Faulting on the Iranian Plateau

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 17
    • Manuel Berberian
    • English
    Earthquakes and Coseismic Surface Faulting on the Iranian Plateau is a comprehensive and well-illustrated multi-disciplinary research work that analyzes the human and physical aspects of the active faults and large-magnitude earthquakes since ancient times on the Iranian Plateau. The long-term historical, archaeological, and sociological record of earthquakes discussed here gives insight into earthquake magnitudes, recurrences, fault segmentation, clustering, and patterns of coseismic ruptures from prehistoric times to the present. The first part of the book examines oral traditions and literature of the region concerned with earthquakes, particularly in folklore, epic literature, and theology. The second part assesses dynamic phenomena associated with earthquakes, including active tectonics, archaeoseismicity, and coseismic surface faulting throughout the twentieth century. This work is a valuable technical survey and an essential reference for understanding seismic hazard analysis and earthquake risk minimization in earthquake-prone developing and developed countries throughout the world.