From Crust To Core

Explores how scientists study the inner workings of the earth using such tools as global positioning, seismology, and computer modeling.

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.

As Earth’s inhabitants, we are pretty familiar with what the planet’s surface looks like, but we seldom get a chance to look beneath Earth’s crust. This captivating book takes a closer look at Earth’s layers from crust to core. The volume discusses how Earth’s layers contribute to the formation of its magnetic field and help fuel volcanic activity. Readers will learn the story of Earth’s formation and come away knowing whether the planet’s core is now growing warmer or cooling off. Fun photographs, useful diagrams, and age-appropriate language make these complex topics comprehensible to the book’s lower-elementary audience.

"Variations in seismic Q are sensitive to a much greater extent than are seismic velocity variations on factors such as temperature, fluid content, and the movement of solid state defects in the earth. For that reason an understanding of Q and its variation with position in the earth and with time should provide information on earth's tectonic evolution, as well as on aspects of its internal structure. Papers of this volume present new information on Q in the earth from several perspectives: methodology, results from global and regional observations of both body and surface waves, laboratory measurements, and theoretical understanding. The editors believe that the present volume reaches a new threshold in Q studies and that advances in data quality and methodology will spur increased interest in this difficult, but interesting field."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Kent C. Condie

Explore Earth's layers from the crust down to the inner core. Learn about tectonic plates, convection currents, Earth's magnetic field, and more. Additional features include a diagram labeling each of the layers, Fast Facts, a phonetic glossary, an index, an introduction to the author, and further sources for learning.

Constitution of the Earth's Interior discusses the physical and evolutionary principles connecting various elements of the knowledge about structure and dynamics of the Earth's interior. This work is divided into eight chapters that primarily focus on the physical, chemical, and petrological state. This text contains general data on a general stationary model, which is described by equations of state combining the basic parameters, including pressure, temperature, density, gravity acceleration, and mineral composition within the Earth's interior. Considerable chapters concern the chemical and petrological composition of the matter in the Earth's interior. The remaining chapters describe models containing inhomogeneities used to illustrate processes connected with phase transitions. This book will be of great value to geologists, physicists, and researchers.