Earths Oldest Rocks

Earth’s Oldest Rocks provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of early Earth, from planetary accretion through to development of protocratons with depleted lithospheric keels by c. 3.2 Ga, in a series of papers written by over 50 of the world's leading experts. The book is divided into two chapters on early Earth history, ten chapters on the geology of specific cratons, and two chapters on early Earth analogues and the tectonic framework of early Earth. Individual contributions address topics that range from planetary accretion, a review of Earth meteorites, significance and composition of Hadean protocrust, composition of Archaean mantle and deep crust, all aspects of the geology of Paleoarchean cratons, composition of Archean oceans and hydrothermal environments, evidence and geological settings of early life, early Earth analogues from Venus and New Zealand, and a tectonic framework for early Earth. * Contains comprehensive reviews of areas of ancient lithosphere on Earth, of planetary accretion processes, and of meteorites * Focuses on specific aspects of early Earth, including oldest putative life forms, evidence of the composition of the ancient atmosphere-hydrosphere, and the oldest evidence for subduction-accretion * Presents an overview of geological processes and model of the tectonic framework on early Earth

Earth’s Oldest Rocks, Second Edition, is the only single reference source for geological research of early Earth. This new edition is an up-to-date collection of scientific articles on all aspects of the early history of the Earth, from planetary accretion at 4.567 billion years ago (Ga), to the onset of modern-style plate tectonics at 3.2 Ga. Since the first edition was published, significant new advances have been made in our understanding of events and processes on early Earth that correspond with new advances in technology. The book includes contributions from over 100 authors, all of whom are experts in their respective fields. The research in this reference concentrates on what is directly gleaned from the existing rock record to understand how our planet formed and evolved during the planetary accretion phase, formation of the first crust, the changing dynamics of the mantle and style of tectonics, life’s foothold and early development, and mineral deposits. It is an ideal resource for academics, students and the general public alike. Advances in early Earth research since 2007 based primarily on evidence gleaned directly from the rock record More than 50% of the chapters in this edition are new and the rest of the chapters are revised from the first edition, with more than 700 pages of new material Comprehensive reviews of areas of ancient lithosphere from all over the world, and of crust-forming processes New chapters on early solar system materials, composition of the ancient atmosphere-hydrosphere, and overviews of the oldest evidence of life on Earth, and modeling of early Earth tectonics

A synthesis of all that has been postulated and is known about the age of the Earth

The incredible story of the creation of a continent—our continent— from the acclaimed author of The Last Volcano and Mask of the Sun. The immense scale of geologic time is difficult to comprehend. Our lives—and the entirety of human history—are mere nanoseconds on this timescale. Yet we hugely influenced by the land we live on. From shales and fossil fuels, from lake beds to soil composition, from elevation to fault lines, what could be more relevant that the history of the ground beneath our feet? For most of modern history, geologists could say little more about why mountains grew than the obvious: there were forces acting inside the Earth that caused mountains to rise. But what were those forces? And why did they act in some places of the planet and not at others? When the theory of plate tectonics was proposed, our concept of how the Earth worked experienced a momentous shift. As the Andes continue to rise, the Atlantic Ocean steadily widens, and Honolulu creeps ever closer to Tokyo, this seemingly imperceptible creep of the Earth is revealed in the landscape all around us. But tectonics cannot—and do not—explain everything about the wonders of the North American landscape. What about the Black Hills? Or the walls of chalk that stand amongst the rolling hills of west Kansas? Or the fact that the states of Washington and Oregon are slowly rotating clockwise, and there a diamond mine in Arizona? It all points to the geologic secrets hidden inside the 2-billion-year-old-continental masses. A whopping ten times older than the rocky floors of the ocean, continents hold the clues to the long history of our planet. With a sprightly narrative that vividly brings this science to life, John Dvorak's How the Mountains Grew will fill readers with a newfound appreciation for the wonders of the land we live on.

This is a discount Black and white version. Some images may be unclear, please see BCCampus website for the digital version.This book was born out of a 2014 meeting of earth science educators representing most of the universities and colleges in British Columbia, and nurtured by a widely shared frustration that many students are not thriving in courses because textbooks have become too expensive for them to buy. But the real inspiration comes from a fascination for the spectacular geology of western Canada and the many decades that the author spent exploring this region along with colleagues, students, family, and friends. My goal has been to provide an accessible and comprehensive guide to the important topics of geology, richly illustrated with examples from western Canada. Although this text is intended to complement a typical first-year course in physical geology, its contents could be applied to numerous other related courses.

"You have heard of Pangea, the single landmass that broke apart some 175 million years ago to give us our current continents. What about its previous iterations, Rodinia or Columbia? These "supercontinents" from Earth's past provide evidence that continents repeatedly join and divorce. Scientists debate exactly what that next supercontinent will look like (and what to name it), but they agree that one is coming. In this book, Ross Mitchell, a geophysicist who researches the supercontinent cycle, offers a tour of past supercontinents; introduces readers to the phenomena that will lead to the next one; and presents the case for a particular future supercontinent, called Amasia, that will form over the North Pole. Mitchell uses compelling stories of fieldwork and accessible descriptions of current science to introduce readers to the nuances of plate tectonic theory. He considers convection deep in Earth's mantle to explain the future formation Amasia (defined by the joining of North America and Asia) and to show how this developing theory can explain other planetary mysteries. He ends the book by asking if humans will live to see Amasia. He recognizes the chances of our species surviving the necessary 50 to 200 million years are vanishingly small, but the exercise gives readers a chance to imagine this landscape and to understand mimics for the geological processes required, for example in the form of geoengineering. An internationally recognized authority on the supercontinent cycle, Mitchell offers a compelling and updated introduction that offers readers a front-row seat to an ongoing scientific debate"--