ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: Translator's foreword. - Preface. - Acknowledgements. - 1 Division of the Arctic into geobotanical areas. - 2 The geobotanical regions of the Arctic: the tundra region. - 3 The geobotanical regions of the Arctic: the region of the arctic polar deserts. - 4 Division of the Antarctic into geobotanical areas. - 5 Conclusions. - References. - List of Latin plant names. - Index

Description / Table of Contents: Antarctic Geoscience is the proceedings volume of the Third Symposium on Antarctic Geology and Geophysics, held in Madison, Wisconsin. The 151 chapters in the book, which include both review papers and original contributions, range over all major fields of geoscience. At a time when interest in Antarctica, its geologic history, and its mineral resource potential is increasing, this book provides the most current and comprehensive overview of the subject. These papers, representing the recent work of many scientists from fifteen nations, offer a balanced assessment of current thought and knowledge concerning the geology and geoscience of Antarctica and the surrounding oceanic regions. Together, they constitute the most up-to-date reference work on Antarctic earth sciences. The book is divided into twelce sections: Gondwanaland (11 chapters), Scotia Arc Region (39, East Antarctica Shield (14), Upper Precambrian-Paleozoic Rocks (11), Paleontology (8), Igneous Rocks (14), Structural Geology and Tectonics (9), Mineral Deposits (4), Crustal Structure (13), Subglacial Morphology (4), Marine Geology (8), and Cenozoic History (16). The volume is generously illustrated with photographs and line drawings and includes a large color geologic map of the continent.

Description / Table of Contents: In one lifetime, GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, has ballooned from a narrow economic tool into a global article of faith. It is our universal yardstick of progress. As The Little Big Number demonstrates, this spells trouble. While economies and cultures measure their performance by it, GDP ignores central facts such as quality, costs, or purpose. It only measures output: more cars, more accidents; more lawyers, more trials; more extraction, more pollution-all count as success. Sustainability and quality of life are overlooked. Losses don't count. GDP promotes a form of stupid growth and igno

Description / Table of Contents: Georg Forster (1754-1794) war eine der faszinierendsten Gestalten seiner Zeit: glänzender Schriftsteller, Naturforscher, Entdecker, Zeichner, Übersetzer und entschiedener Revolutionär. Auf seiner Weltumsegelung mit James Cook berührte er Eisberge mit den eigenen Händen, lief den Strand von Tahiti entlang, besuchte fremde Völker, lebte unter »Menschenfressern« und überquerte Ozeane und den Äquator. Und er stand im Zentrum des politischen Geschehens, als er - inspiriert von der Französischen Revolution - 1793 die »Mainzer Republik« ausrief, die erste Republik auf deutschem Boden. Anschaulich und fesselnd portraitiert Jürgen Goldstein dieses Ausnahmeleben, in dem sich »Freiheit« und »Naturgewalt« berührten. Niemand ist auf vergleichbare Weise das erfahrungsgetriebene Experiment eingegangen, die Natur mit dem Politischen kurzzuschließen. Die Funken, die Forster aus seinen Leitvorstellungen schlug, erhellten für einen Weltaugenblick die Aussicht, es könne so etwas wie natürliche Revolutionen geben. Jürgen Goldstein, geboren 1962, lehrt als Professor für Philosophie an der Universität Koblenz-Landau. Maßgeblich von Hans Blumenberg inspiriert, widmen sich seine Studien der Genese und dem Profil der Moderne. Seine Bücher befassen sich mit der Herausbildung der neuzeitlichen Subjektivität und Rationalität, der politischen Philosophie des 20. Jahrhunderts und der Geschichte der Naturwahrnehmung.

Description / Table of Contents: Wagemutiger Entdeckungsreisender, empfindsamer Naturbetrachter, glühender Revolutionär: Georg Forster befuhr mit James Cook die Weltmeere, verfasste glänzende Reiseerzählungen und stürzte sich mit provokanten Ansichten in die politischen Debatten seiner Zeit. Er war in Mainz Mitbegründer der ersten Republik auf deutschem Boden und starb - gescheitert und vereinsamt - im Pariser Exil. In seiner ebenso fesselnden wie kenntnisreichen Biographie entwirft Jürgen Goldstein mit Eleganz und Tiefenschärfe ein anschauliches Panorama von Forsters rastlosem Leben zwischen Euphorie und Elend - das Leben eines Weltbürgers, der davon überzeugt war, dass sich die Freiheit eines Tages mit Naturgewalt ihren Wag bahnen müsse.

Description / Table of Contents: This book offers new perspectives of transdisciplinary research, in methodological as well as theoretical respects. It provides insights in the two-fold bio-physical and the socio-cultural global embeddedness of local living conditions on the basis of selected empirical studies from Latin America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe. The theoretical foundations of ecological research and sustainability policies were developed at the end of the nineteenth century. They are largely based on investigations of living spaces, and the evolution and differentiation of varied life forms. This perspective is embedded in the practical and theoretical European problem situations of the past and lacks social and cultural differentiation. The transformation of spatial and natural relations as a result of the globalization process is so radical that new theories are needed to solve 21st century ecological problems. Moreover, in view of the lack of an ontologically sound and promising strategy for transdisciplinary problem solving, as well as an acceptable consideration of the power of cultural schemas relating to natural living’s interpretations, there is a strong need to focus on sustainable social practices, habits, and routines, rather than on predominantly living spaces or eco-topes. This book elaborates on the transdisciplinary approach by reflecting on the theoretical heritage and a global perspective of sustainability, by focusing on the primary role of a social approach in sustainability research, and by putting emphasis on cultural dimension of sustainability. It postulates that global sustainability is grounded in a global understanding of our everyday activities

Description / Table of Contents: An account of the results of the 2 March 1987 earthquake in the eastern Bay of Plenty and the aftermath's effects on the people and places on the Rangitaiki Plains

Description / Table of Contents: The book outlines principal milestones in the evolution of the atmosphere, oceans and biosphere during the last 4 million years in relation with the evolution from primates to the genus Homo - which uniquely mastered the ignition and transfer of fire. The advent of land plants since about 420 million years ago ensued in flammable carbon-rich biosphere interfaced with an oxygen-rich atmosphere. Born on a flammable Earth surface, under increasingly unstable climates descending from the warmer Pliocene into the deepest ice ages of the Pleistocene, human survival depended on both-biological adaptations and cultural evolution, mastering fire as a necessity. This allowed the genus to increase entropy in nature by orders of magnitude. Gathered around camp fires during long nights for hundreds of thousandth of years, captivated by the flickering life-like dance of the flames, humans developed imagination, insights, cravings, fears, premonitions of death and thereby aspiration for immortality, omniscience, omnipotence and the concept of god. Inherent in pantheism was the reverence of the Earth, its rocks and its living creatures, contrasted by the subsequent rise of monotheistic sky-god creeds which regard Earth as but a corridor to heaven. Once the climate stabilized in the early Holocene, since about -7000 years-ago production of excess food by Neolithic civilization along the Great River Valleys has allowed human imagination and dreams to express themselves through the construction of monuments to immortality. Further to burning large part of the forests, the discovery of combustion and exhumation of carbon from the Earth's hundreds of millions of years-old fossil biospheres set the stage for an anthropogenic oxidation event, affecting an abrupt shift in state of the atmosphere-ocean-cryosphere system. The consequent ongoing extinction equals the past five great mass extinctions of species-constituting a geological event horizon in the history of planet Earth. Dr Andrew Glikson is an Earth and Paleo-climate Scientist, Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University, Research School of Earth Science, the School of Archaeology and Anthropology, and the Planetary Science Institute, and a member of the ANU Climate Change Institute.

Description / Table of Contents: This book offers a broad perspective on important topics in earthquake geotechnical engineering and gives specialists and those that are involved with research and application a more comprehensive understanding about the various topics. Consisting of eighteen chapters written by authors from the most seismic active regions of the world, such as USA, Japan, Canada, Chile, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Taiwan, and Turkey, the book reflects different views concerning how to assess and minimize earthquake damage. The authors, a prominent group of specialists in the field of earthquake geotechnical engineering, are the invited lecturers of the International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering from Case History to Practice in the honour of Professor Kenji Ishihara held in Istanbul, Turkey during 17-19 June 2013

Description / Table of Contents: This volume of Reviews in Mineralogy attempts to synthesize our present understanding of certain aspects of the mineralogy and chemistry of the rock-forming carbonates. Hopefully, it reflects the presently more active areas of research. This review follows, by ten years, a major assessment of (sedimentary) carbonate minerals by Lippmann (1973). There is only minor overlap of subject material, and I hope that this difference reflects fairly how this field has developed. In some respects carbonates are unique, for they are one of the few mineral groups providing an abundant record of biological, physical, and chemical processes throughout much of geologic time. Because of their relative importance in sedimentary rocks, lowtemperature examples are given more emphasis here. Moreover, the obvious correlation with energy resources has been a significant factor contributing to the current resurgence of interest in this area. However, the broader interest in carbonates is also a reflection of their widespread occurrence in vastly different geologic environments, including metamorphic and igneous settings, as well as an appreciation of their role in both atmospheric and oceanic chemistry, both past and present. In this volume, some of the papers are general (i.e., those addressing crystal chemistry and phase relations), and they provide overviews of a fundamental nature and are of interest to many. Others are more specialized in coverage and generally reflect the different approaches used in carbonate geochemistry. The final chapter introduces transmission electron microscopy, a relatively new and powerful technique for mineralogical research that has great potential in carbonate research. Owing to the short time interval between the completion of manuscripts and publication, much of the newer material in this volume is still "fresh." The various reviewers, all gratefully acknowledged, were expeditious in their efforts. A hurried schedule, however, allows for unnoticed errors to persist; these should be brought to my attention.

Description / Table of Contents: Geochemistry is a science that is based on an understanding of chemical processes in the earth. One of the principal tools available to the chemist for understanding systems at equilibrium is thermodynamics. The awareness and application of thermodynamic techniques has increased at a very fast pace in geosciences; in fact, one may be so bold as to say that thermodynamics in geology has reached the "mature" stage, although much future thermodynamic research is certainly needed. However, the natural processes in the earth are often sluggish enough that a particular system may not reach equilibrium. This observation is being supported constantly by new experimental and field data available to the geochemist e.g. the non-applicability of the phase rule in some assemblages, the compositional inhomogeneities of mineral grains, the partial reaction rims surrounding original minerals, the lack of isotopic equilibration or the absence of minerals (e.g. dolomite), which should be present according to thermodynamics. The need to apply kinetics has produced a large number of papers dealing with kinetics in geochemistry. As an initial response to this growing field, a conference on geochemical transport and kinetics was conducted at Airlie House, VA, in 1973, sponsored by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The papers there dealt with several kinetic topics including diffusion, exsolution, metasomatism and metamorphic layering. Since 1973 the number of kinetic papers has continued to increase greatly. Therefore, the time is ripe for a Short Course in Kinetics, which brings together the fundamentals needed to explain field observations using kinetic data. It is hoped that this book may serve, not only as a reference for researchers dealing with the rates of geochemical processes, but also as a text in courses on geochemical kinetics. One of us has found this need of a text in teaching a graduate course on geochemical kinetics at Harvard and at Penn State during the past several years. Finally, it is our hope that the book may itself further even more research into the rates of geochemical processes and into the quantification of geochemical observations. The book is organized with a rough temperature gradient in mind, i.e. low temperature kinetics at the beginning and igneous kinetics at the end (no prejudices are intended with this scheme!). However, the topics in each chapter are general enough that they can be applied often to any geochemical domain: sedimentary, metamorphic or igneous. The theory of kinetics operates at two complementary levels: the phenomenological and the atomistic. The former relies on macroscopic variables (e.g. temperature or concentrations) to describe the rates of reactions or the rates of transport; the latter relates the rates to the basic forces operating between the particular atomic or molecular species of any system. This book deals with both descriptions of the kinetics of geochemical processes. Chapter one sets the framework for the phenomenological theory of reaction rates. If any geochemical reaction is to be described quantitatively, the rate law must be experimentally obtained in a kinetically sound manner and the reaction mechanism must be understood. This applies to heterogeneous fluid-rock reactions such as those occurring during metamorphism, hydrothermal alteration or weathering as well as to homogeneous reactions. Chapter 2 extends the theory to the global kinetics of geochemical cycles. This enables the kinetic concepts of stability and feedback to be applied to the cycling of elements in the many reservoirs of the earth. Chapter 3 applies the phenomenological treatment of chapter 1 to diagenesis and weathering. The rate of dissolution of minerals as well as the chemical evolution of pore waters are discussed. The atomistic basis of rates of reaction, transition state theory, is introduced in Chapter 4. Transition state theory can be applied to relate the rate constants of geochemical reactions to the atomic processes taking place. This includes not only homogeneous reactions but also reactions that occur at the surface of minerals. Chapter 5 discusses the theory of irreversible thermodynamics and its application to petrology. The use of the second law of thermodynamics along with the expressions for the rate of entropy production in a system have been used successfully since 1935 to describe kinetic phenomena. The chapter applies the concepts to the growth of minerals during metamorphism as well as to the formation of differentiated layers (banding) in petrology. Chapter 6 describes the phenomenological theory of diffusion both in aqueous solutions and in minerals. In particular, the multicomponent nature of diffusion and its consequence in natural systems is elaborated. Chapter 7 provides the atomistic basis for the rates of reactions in minerals. Understanding of the rates of diffusion, conduction, order-disorder reactions or exsolution in minerals depends on proper description of the defects in the various mineral structures. Chapter 8 provides the kinetic theory of crystal nucleation and growth. While many of the concepts in the chapter can be applied to aqueous systems, the emphasis is on igneous processes occurring during crystallization of a melt. To fully understand both the mineral composition as well as the texture of igneous rocks, the processes whereby new crystals form and grow must be quantified by using kinetic theory. Due to space and time limitations (kinetics!) some topics have not been covered in detail. In particular, the mathematical solution of diffusion or conduction equations is discussed very well by Crank in his book, Mathematics of Diffusion, and so is not covered to a great extent here. The treatment of fluid flow (e.g. convection) is also not covered in the text.

Description / Table of Contents: Although phyllosilicates are common in almost all types of rocks, their detailed study has not advanced in proportion to their importance. Books and reviews on this subject have been restricted primarily to the areas of clay mineralogy and soils. Such treatments understandably restrict coverage of the occurrences of the macroscopic-size species as well as much of their mineralogical and petrological nature. It was decided at the outset that not all phyllosilicates could be covered in a single book, and the size of this volume addressed only to the micas justifies the original decision. Kaolins, serpentines, chlorites, etc. will have to wait until some later date. This volume attempts to gather together much of our knowledge of micas, the most abundant phyllosilicate, and to indicate promising areas of future research. Chapters 1-3 lay the foundations of the classification, structures, and crystal chemistry of micas. Chapter 4 treats bonding and electrostatic modeling of micas. Chapters 5 and 6 cover spectroscopic and optical properties. Chapters 7-13, the bulk of the volume, are devoted to geochemistry and petrology. These include phase equilibria and the occurrences, chemistry, and petrology of micas in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, pegmatites, and certain ore deposits. Some treatments are exhaustive. All are at the forefront of our present knowledge, and indicate clearly the practical applications'of the study of micas to ascertaining various parameters of origin and crystallization history, as well as the many problems that still exist. The aim of this type of treatment is twofold -- to provide a handy reference volume for teachers and students and to enable researchers to pick more easily those directions and problems for which future research is most needed or is apt to be most productive or most challenging. X-ray powder patterns of micas in the literature are of surprisingly poor quality. The best are collated and supplemented with additional new patterns in the Appendix as an aid to identification.