ALBERT

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