Understanding Earth

by Grotzinger, John; Jordan, Thomas H.; Press, Frank; Siever, Raymond

• ISBN13: 9780716766827
• ISBN10: 0716766825
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-24
• Publisher: W. H. Freeman

Summary

The guide helps students prepare for lectures and exams, with a heavy emphasis on utlizing the book's Web resources.

Table of Contents

Meet the Authors	vi
Preface	xiii
PART I The Modern Theory and Practice of Geology
The Earth System	1	(17)
The Scientific Method	2	(1)
Earth's Shape and Surface	3	(1)
The Geologic Record	4	(2)
Peeling the Onion: Discovery of a Layered Earth	6	(4)
Earth as a System of Interacting Components	10	(4)
An Overview of Geologic Time	14	(4)
Plate Tectonics: The Unifying Theory	18	(26)
The Discovery of Plate Tectonics	19	(3)
The Mosaic of Plates	22	(8)
Rates and History of Plate Motions	30	(5)
The Grand Reconstruction	35	(2)
Mantle Convection: The Engine of Plate Tectonics	37	(5)
The Theory of Plate Tectonics and the Scientific Method	42	(2)
PART II Basic Geologic Processes
Earth Materials: Minerals and Rocks	44	(32)
What Are Minerals?	45	(1)
The Atomic Structure of Matter	46	(1)
Chemical Reactions	47	(2)
Chemical Bonds	49	(1)
The Atomic Structure of Minerals	49	(3)
Rock-Forming Minerals	52	(4)
Physical Properties of Minerals	56	(6)
What Are Rocks?	62	(1)
lgneous Rocks	63	(1)
Sedimentary Rocks	64	(2)
Metamorphic Rocks	66	(1)
The Rock Cycle: Interactions Between the Plate Tectonic and Climate Systems	66	(2)
Minerals Occur in Rocks as Valuable Resources	68	(8)
3.1 Earth Issues Sulfide Minerals React to Form Acid Waters on Earth and Mars	57	(19)
Igneous Rocks: Solids from Melts	76	(24)
How Do lgneous Rocks Differ from One Another?	78	(5)
How Do Magmas Form?	83	(2)
Where Do Magmas Form?	85	(1)
Magmatic Differentiation	85	(3)
Forms of Magmatic Intrusions	88	(3)
Igneous Activity and Plate Tectonics	91	(9)
Sedimentation: Rocks Formed by Surface Processes	100	(30)
Sedimentary Rocks Are Produced by Surface Processes in the Rock Cycle	102	(4)
Sedimentary Basins: The Sinks for Sediments	106	(2)
Sedimentary Environments	108	(3)
Sedimentary Structures	111	(3)
Burial and Diagenesis: From Sediment to Rock	114	(2)
Classification of Siliciclastic Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks	116	(3)
Classification of Chemical and Biological Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks	119	(11)
5.1 Earth Policy Darwin's Coral Reefs and Atolls	124	(6)
Metamorphism: Modification of Rocks by Temperature and Pressure	130	(20)
Metamorphism and the Earth System	132	(1)
Causes of Metamorphism	133	(1)
Types of Metamorphism	134	(2)
Metamorphic Textures	136	(5)
Regional Metamorphism and Metamorphic Grade	141	(3)
Plate Tectonics and Metamorphism	144	(6)
Deformation: Modification of Rocks by Folding and Fracturing	150	(18)
Mapping Geologic Structure	152	(2)
How Rocks Deform	154	(2)
Basic Deformation Structures	156	(7)
Styles of Continental Deformation	163	(2)
Unraveling Geologic History	165	(3)
PART III Earth and Planets Through Geologic Time
Clocks in Rocks: Timing the Geologic Record	168	(20)
Reconstructing Geologic History from the Stratigraphic Record	170	(8)
Geologic Time Scale: Relative Ages	178	(2)
Measuring Absolute Time with Radioactive Clocks	180	(3)
Geologic Time Scale: Absolute Ages	183	(1)
Timing the Earth System	184	(4)
8.1 Earth Issues The Grand Canyon Sequence and Regional Correlation of Strata	176	(12)
Early History of the Terrestrial Planets	188	(26)
Origin of the Solar System	190	(2)
Early Earth: Formation of a Layered Planet	192	(3)
Diversity of the Planets	195	(2)
What's in a Face? The Age and Complexion of Planetary Surfaces	197	(7)
Mars Rocks!	204	(6)
Exploring the Solar System and Beyond	210	(4)
Evolution of the Continents	214	(26)
The Tectonics of North America	216	(5)
Tectonic Provinces Around the World	221	(3)
How Continents Grow	224	(2)
How Continents Are Modified	226	(9)
The Formation of Cratons	235	(1)
The Deep Structure of Continents	236	(4)
Geobiology: Life Interacts with the Earth	240	(30)
The Biosphere as a System	242	(4)
Microbes: Nature's Tiny Chemists	246	(8)
Geobiological Events in Earth's History	254	(11)
Astrobiology: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life	265	(5)
11.1 Earth Issues The Mother of all Mass Extinctions: Whodunit?	264	(6)
PART IV Internal Geosystems
Volcanoes	270	(26)
Volcanoes as Geosystems	272	(1)
Lavas and Other Volcanic Deposits	273	(4)
Eruptive Styles and Landforms	277	(5)
Geosystem Interactions	282	(2)
The Global Pattern of Volcanism	284	(4)
Volcanism and Human Affairs	288	(8)
12.1 Earth Policy Mount St. Helens: Dangerous but Predictable	292	(4)
Earthquakes	296	(28)
What Is an Earthquake?	298	(3)
Studying Earthquakes	301	(8)
Earthquakes and Patterns of Faulting	309	(4)
Earthquake Destructiveness	313	(7)
Can Earthquakes Be Predicted?	320	(4)
13.1 Earth Issues The Great Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004	312	(7)
13.2 Earth Issues Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety	319	(5)
Exploring Earth's Interior	324	(22)
Exploring the Interior with Seismic Waves	325	(3)
Layering and Composition of the Interior	328	(4)
Earth's Internal Heat and Temperature	332	(6)
The Three-Dimensional Structure of the Mantle	338
Earth's Magnetic Field and the Geodynamo	337	(9)
14.1 Earth Issues The Uplift of Scandinavia: Nature's Experiment with Isostasy	331	(7)
14.2 Earth Issues The Geoid: Shape of Planet Earth	338	(8)
PART V Surficial Geosystems
The Climate System	346	(24)
Components of the Climate System	348	(4)
The Greenhouse Effect	352	(3)
Climate Variability	355	(7)
The Carbon Cycle	362	(4)
Twentieth-Century Warming: Human Fingerprints of Global Change	366	(4)
15.1 Earth Issues Vostok and GRIP: Ice-Core Drilling in Antarctica and Greenland	358	(2)
15.2 Earth Issues EI Nino: The Wayward Child	360	(10)
Weathering, Erosion, and Mass Wasting: Interface Between Climate and Tectonics	370	(30)
Weathering, Erosion, Mass Wasting, and the Rock Cycle	372	(1)
Controls on Weathering	372	(1)
Chemical Weathering	373	(5)
Physical Weathering	378	(3)
Soil: The Residue of Weathering	381	(3)
Mass Wasting	384	(4)
Classification of Mass Movements	388	(7)
Understanding the Origins of Mass Movements	395	(5)
The Hydrologic Cycle and Groundwater	400	(26)
Flows and Reservoirs	402	(2)
Hydrology and Climate	404	(2)
The Hydrology of Runoff	406	(2)
Groundwater	408	(7)
Water Resources from Major Aquifers	415	(2)
Erosion by Groundwater	417	(1)
Water Quality	418	(3)
Water Deep in the Crust	421	(5)
17.1 Earth Issues Water Is a Precious Resource: Who Should Get It?	404	(12)
17.2 Earth Issues When Do Groundwaters Become Nonrenewable Resources?	416	(10)
Stream Transport: From Mountains to Oceans	426	(26)
Stream Valleys, Channels, and Floodplains	428	(4)
Drainage Networks	432	(3)
Where Do Channels Begin? How Running Water Erodes Solid Rock	435	(2)
How Stream Waters Flow and Transport Sediment	437	(3)
Deltas: The Mouths of Rivers	440	(3)
Streams as Geosystems	443	(9)
18.1 Earth Issues The Development of Cities on Floodplains	432	(20)
Winds and Deserts	452	(20)
Wind as a Flow of Air	454	(1)
Wind as a Transport Agent	455	(3)
Wind as an Agent of Erosion	458	(2)
Wind as a Depositional Agent	460	(4)
The Desert Environment	464	(8)
19.1 Earth Issues Martian Dust Storms and Dust Devils	457	(15)
Coastlines and Ocean Basins	472	(32)
Basic Differences Between Ocean Basins and Continents	474	(1)
Coastal Processes	474	(11)
Shorelines	485	(3)
Sea Level Change as a Measure of Global Warming	488	(3)
Continental Margins	491	(3)
The Deep Oceans	494	(6)
Ocean Sedimentation	500	(4)
20.1 Earth Policy The Great New Orleans Flood	480	(10)
20.2 Earth Issues Preserving Our Beaches	490	(14)
Glaciers: The Work of Ice	504	(26)
Ice as a Rock	506	(2)
How Glaciers Form	508	(3)
How Glaciers Move	511	(4)
Glacial Landscapes	515	(7)
Glaciations and the Climate System	522	(8)
21.1 Earth Issues Isostasy and Sea-Level Change	524	(6)
Landscapes: Tectonic and Climate Interaction	530	(20)
Topography, Elevation, and Relief	532	(3)
Landforms: Features Sculpted by Erosion and Sedimentation	535	(6)
Interacting Geosystems Control Landscape	541	(4)
Models of Landscape Evolution	545	(5)
22.1 Earth Issues Uplift and Climate Change: A Chicken-and-Egg Dilemma	544	(6)
PART VI Earth Science and Society
The Human Impact on Earth's Environment	550	(2)
Civilization as a Global Geosystem	552	(4)
Fossil-Fuel Resources	556	(8)
Alternative Energy Resources	564	(5)
Global Change	569	(5)
Welcome to the Anthropocene: A New Geologic Epoch	574	(1)
Earth System Engineering and Management	575
23.1 Earth Policy Subsurface Toxic and Nuclear Waste Contamination	566	(11)
23.2 Earth Policy The Kyoto Accords and the Politics of Climate Change	577
Appendix 1 Conversion Factors	1	(1)
Appendix 2 Numerical Data Pertaining to Earth	2	(1)
Appendix 3 Chemical Reactions	3	(1)
Appendix 4 Properties of the Most Common Minerals of Earth's Crust	4
Glossary	1	(1)
Suggested Readings	1	(1)
Index	1