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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.

  • Areography

    Geographical Strategies of Species
    • 1st Edition
    • Eduardo H Rapoport
    • English
    Areography: Geographical Strategies of Species discusses the hypotheses and results of areography, which is the study of geographical range of species. The book consists of six chapters, which help demonstrates that the geographical range of species can be studied and can help provide a methodology to analyze the spatio-geographic strategies of species. The first chapter provides an introductory discussion on areography; the chapter also covers several issues, concerns, and criticisms on areography. Chapter 2 discusses the anatomy and morphology of areas, while Chapter 3 covers the methodological approaches. The fourth chapter tackles the concept of barriers. Chapters 5 and 6 discuss geographical and ecological areography, respectively. The text will be of great use to researchers who are involved or have an interest in areography.
  • Progress in Surface and Membrane Science

    Volume 7
    • 1st Edition
    • J. F. Danielli + 2 more
    • English
    Progress in Surface and Membrane Science, Volume 7 covers the developments in the study of surface and membrane science. The book discusses the theoretical and experimental aspects of the van der Waals forces; the electric double layer on the semiconductor-electr... interface; and the long-range and short-range order in adsorbed films. The text also describes the hydrodynamical theory of surface shear viscosity; the structure and properties of monolayers of synthetic polypeptides at the air-water interface; and the structure and molecular dynamics of water. The role of glycoproteins in cell adhesion is also considered. Physicists, zoologists, molecular biologists, and scientists involved in the study of electrochemistry will find the book invaluable.
  • Principles of Meteoritics

    International Series of Monographs on Earth Sciences
    • 1st Edition
    • E.L. Krinov
    • Earl Ingerson
    • English
    Principles of Meteoritics examines the significance of meteorites in relation to cosmogony and to the origin of the planetary system. The book discusses the science of meteoritics and the sources of meteorites. Scientists study the morphology of meteorites to determine their motion in the atmosphere. The scope of such study includes all forms of meteorites, the circumstances of their fall to earth, their motion in the atmosphere, and their orbits in space. Meteoric bodies vary in sizes; in calculating their motion in interplanetary space, astronomers apply the laws of Kepler. In the region of retardation, the direction of motion of the meteoric body changes, and a break in the visible and real trajectories follows. The angle of fall of meteorites at a vertical line on the surface of the Earth measures between 20 degrees to 30 degrees. The text also discusses the Tunguska and Sikhote-alin meteorites, two gigantic meteorites that fell in the U.S.S.R. The text also discusses the chemistry, the mineralogy, the petrography, and the physical properties of meteorites. The book is suitable for astronomers, geologists, and general readers who have an interest in sky watching.
  • Hydrogen Power

    An Introduction to Hydrogen Energy and Its Applications
    • 1st Edition
    • L. O. Williams
    • English
    Hydrogen Power: An Introduction to Hydrogen Energy and its Applications explains how hydrogen is produced, used, and handled and shows that the use of chemical hydrogen power has enormous advantages as an energy storage, transport, and use medium. Organized into seven chapters, this book first describes the chemical and physical properties of hydrogen. Subsequent chapters elucidate the current industrial uses of hydrogen, methods of producing hydrogen, and hydrogen transportation and storage. Hydrogen safety and environmental considerations are also addressed.
  • Deconvolution and Inverse Theory

    Application to Geophysical Problems
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 29
    • V. Dimri
    • English
    This is the first study to present simultaneously both deconvolution and inversion, two powerful tools of data analysis. Featured within this volume are various geophysical convolution models and a treatment of deconvolution for a time-varying signal. The single channel time-varying deconvolution is shown equivalent to the multichannel time-invariant deconvolution, thus a formalism and associated algorithms can handle both. Inverse theory as well as various inversion schemes are presented on the basis of a relationship between a small perturbation to the model and its effects on the observation. The information theory inversion scheme is discussed, and several types of norm of minimization presented. Additionally, concepts and results of inverse theory are applied to design a new deconvolution operator for estimating magnetization and density distribution, and the constraint of the Backus-Gilbert formalism of inverse theory is used to design a new prediction error filter for maximum entropy spectral estimates. Maximum likelihood, another high resolution method is also presented. This volume can be utilised as a graduate-level text for courses in Geophysics. Some chapters will be of use for graduate courses in Applied Mathematics, Applied Statistics, and Oceanography.
  • Introduction to the Mathematics of Inversion in Remote Sensing and Indirect Measurements

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 3
    • S. Twomey
    • English
    Developments in Geomathematics, 3: Introduction to the Mathematics of Inversion in Remote Sensing and Indirect Measurements focuses on the application of the mathematics of inversion in remote sensing and indirect measurements, including vectors and matrices, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and integral equations. The publication first examines simple problems involving inversion, theory of large linear systems, and physical and geometric aspects of vectors and matrices. Discussions focus on geometrical view of matrix operations, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, matrix products, inverse of a matrix, transposition and rules for product inversion, and algebraic elimination. The manuscript then tackles the algebraic and geometric aspects of functions and function space and linear inversion methods, as well as the algebraic and geometric nature of constrained linear inversion, least squares solution, approximation by sums of functions, and integral equations. The text examines information content of indirect sensing measurements, further inversion techniques, and linear inversion methods. The publication is a valuable reference for researchers interested in the application of the mathematics of inversion in remote sensing and indirect measurements.
  • Arid Land Irrigation in Developing Countries

    Environmental Problems and Effects
    • 1st Edition
    • E. Barton Worthington
    • English
    Arid Land Irrigation in Developing Countries: Environmental Problems and Effects covers the proceedings of the International Symposium on Arid Land Irrigation, held in Alexandria, Egypt on February 16-21 1976. This book is organized into eight sections encompassing 46 chapters. The opening section deals first with the benefits of arid land irrigation and the effective use of water in irrigated agriculture. This section also tackles the public health and socio-economic impacts of irrigation, as well as the planning and managing of irrigation and drainage systems. The next section discusses the results of some case studies on arid land irrigation, such as in districts in Mexico, Iran, and Egypt. Other sections explore the influence of irrigation on changes in hydrological processes and cycle, soil fertility, water quality, and biological balances. The closing sections consider the human problems in irrigation areas, with an emphasis on the problem of schistosomiasis and malaria. These sections also look into the viewpoints of specialist agencies of the United Nations on arid land irrigation. This book will be of value to agriculturists, economists, and researchers.
  • Global Tectonics and Earthquake Risk

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 5
    • C. Lomnitz
    • English
    Global Tectonics and Earthquake Risk discusses the geostatistical treatment of earthquake probabilities. The book reviews global tectonics and geologic history, including evidence of change, Pangaea, geochronology, tectonic revolutions, and the breakup of Pangaea. The book discusses the formation of Pangaea which later broke down into the present continental cores of Asia, Europe, Africa, Australian, Antarctica, and the Americas. The book describes the separation of North and South America from Europe, how Africa became established during the Cretaceous time, and how India split off from Africa to became welded to Asia at the Himalayas. The text also explains earthquake risk in terms of stochastic processes, point processes, and illustrates modeling of the earthquake process. The "Large-Earthquake Model" is based on a list of the largest earthquakes in the region, while a more sophisticated model requires the incorporation of non-Markovian effects (aftershock sequences). The book cites an application of investigations done on California where an earthquake of magnitude 5 is expected to occur every three months. An earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater is predicted to happen every 100 years but the book notes that the return period exceeds the range of the period of recorded data (which is only 31 years). Presented in another way, the text concludes that the probability of occurrence of an event of magnitude 8 earthquake or over in any given year is about one percent. The book can prove helpful for geologists, seismologists, meteorologists, or practitioners in the field of civil and structural engineering.
  • Soil Mechanics of Earthworks, Foundations and Highway Engineering

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 3
    • Bozzano G Luisa
    • English
    This is the third volume of a handbook which covers the whole field of soil mechanics, discussing deterministic and stochastic theories and methods, and showing how they can be used in conjunction with one another. The first volume discusses soil physics, while the second deals with the determination of physical characteristics of the soil. Australian Mining wrote of the Handbook ``a valuable addition to the extensive literature on the topic and will be found to be more useful than most.''The main objective of the third volume is to present solutions to the problems of engineering practice. It deals with the most important theoretical and practical problems of soil mechanics, discussing the following in detail: stability of earthworks, load-bearing capacity and settlement of shallow foundations, design of pile foundations, soil mechanics in road construction, improving the physical properties of soils, the characteristics of soil dynamics, foundations for machines and soil behaviour as affected by earthquakes. The book not only presents up-to-date deterministic methods, but also discusses solutions of probability theory in the fields of design and safety.The book is divided into six chapters covering the stability of slopes, landslides, load-bearing capacity and settlement of shallow foundations and pile foundations, soil mechanics in road construction, and the improvement of the physical characteristics of soil with special emphasis on machine foundations and earthquakes, giving detailed treatment of each subject. For example, the first chapter deals not only with the stability of slopes, but also discusses the natural and artificial effects, slope protection, filter design, stresses in embankments, and the time factor. In this way, the book gives a clear and comprehensive picture of the special fields of soil mechanics and its subjects. It is therefore emminently suitable for postgraduate engineers, and engineers working in the fields of geotechnics, earthworks, foundations, road construction, engineering geology and statistics, and the design of structures.
  • Atmospheric Sulfur and Nitrogen Oxides

    Eastern North American Source-Receptor Relationships
    • 1st Edition
    • George M. Hidy
    • English
    Atmospheric Sulfur and Nitrogen Oxides provides a thorough synthesis of the research on atmospheric sulfur and nitrogen oxide chemistry on geographically large scales, with special emphasis on the methods and difficulties of establishing source-receptor relationships. The book addresses the importance of long-range air transport, the role of ozone and oxidant chemistry, and it examines analytical methods and pollutant transport models. This text specifically covers: