The Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth System Science, Study Guide, 2nd Edition

by Brian J. Skinner (Yale Univ.); Stephen C. Porter (Univ. of Washington); Daniel B. Botkin (The Center for the Study of the Environment, George Mason Univ.)

• ISBN13: 9780471326137
• ISBN10: 0471326135
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

The image of the Earth on the front cover was acquired from the GOES-8 Imager by the Laboratory for Atmosphere at NASA\'S Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. It was taken on September 2, 1994, using two channels for the Imager to produce a "natural color" effect. The photos shown here on the back cover illustrate the four spheres of the Earth system - the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere - together with changes being produced by human activities.

Table of Contents

How to Use This Study Guide	v
Earth Sciences on the Internet	vii
Part I
The Earth System	1	(6)
Fellow Travelers in Space: Earth's Nearest Neighbors	7	(7)
The Sun, Giver of Life	14	(6)
Part II
Plate Tectonics	20	(8)
Earthquakes and the Earth's Interior	28	(8)
Minerals and Rocks	36	(8)
The Heat Within: Magma and Volcanoes	44	(7)
The Earth's Evolving Crust	51	(9)
Part III
Water on the Land	60	(7)
The World of Snow and Ice	67	(7)
The World Ocean	74	(8)
Part IV
Composition and Structure of the Atmosphere	82	(7)
Winds, the Weather, and Deserts	89	(7)
The Earth's Changing Climate	96	(7)
Part V
A Planetary Perspective on Life	103	(6)
Geochemistry and Life	109	(6)
Biological Evolution and the History of the Biosphere	115	(7)
Part VI
Resources from the Earth	122	(7)
The Changing Face of the Land	129	(6)
Global Change: A Planet Under Stress	135	(7)
Answers to Study Questions
Chapter 1	142	(2)
Chapter 2	144	(2)
Chapter 3	146	(3)
Chapter 4	149	(3)
Chapter 5	152	(3)
Chapter 6	155	(2)
Chapter 7	157	(3)
Chapter 8	160	(3)
Chapter 9	163	(3)
Chapter 10	166	(2)
Chapter 11	168	(3)
Chapter 12	171	(3)
Chapter 13	174	(3)
Chapter 14	177	(2)
Chapter 15	179	(3)
Chapter 16	182	(2)
Chapter 17	184	(2)
Chapter 18	186	(3)
Chapter 19	189	(2)
Chapter 20	191