Magnetic Methods And The Timing Of Geological Processes

Magnetostratigraphy is best known as a technique that employs correlation among different stratigraphic sections using the magnetic directions defining geomagnetic polarity reversals as marker horizons. The ages of the polarity reversals provide common tie points among the sections, allowing accurate time correlation. Recently, studies of magnetic methods and the timing of geological processes have acquired a broader meaning, now referring to many types of magnetic measurements within a stratigraphic sequence. Many of these measurements provide correlation and age control not only for the older and younger boundaries of a polarity interval, but also within intervals. Thus, magnetostratigraphy no longer represents a dating tool based only on geomagnetic polarity reversals, but comprises a set of techniques that includes measurements of geomagnetic field parameters, environmental magnetism, rock-magnetic properties, radiometric dating and astronomically forced palaeoclimatic change recorded in sedimentary rocks, and key corrections to magnetic directions related to geodynamics, palaeocurrents, tectonics and diagenetic processes --

Rock magnetic cyclostratigraphy merges environmental magnetism,in which rock magnetic measurements are used to detect pastenvironmental change, and cyclostratigraphy, in which cyclicvariations of lithology or a sedimentary rock’s physicalproperties are related to astronomically-forced paleoclimatechange. In addition to providing paleoclimate data,cyclostratigraphy can establish high-resolution chronostratigraphyfor a sequence of sedimentary rocks, even at distant times inEarth’s history. This book provides an overview of conceptsunderlying these two techniques, recipes for the time seriesanalysis of cyclostratigraphy, and case studies to illustrate thevariety and breadth of problems addressed by rock magneticcyclostratigraphy. New Analytical Methods in Earth and EnvironmentalScience Because of the plethora of analytical techniques now available, andthe acceleration of technological advance, many earth scientistsfind it difficult to know where to turn for reliable information onthe latest tools at their disposal, and may lack the expertise toassess the relative strengths or limitations of a particulartechnique. This new series will address these difficulties byproviding accessible introductions to important new techniques, laband field protocols, suggestions for data handling andinterpretation, and useful case studies. The series represents aninvaluable and trusted source of information for researchers,advanced students and applied earth scientists wishing tofamiliarise themselves with emerging techniques in theirfield. All titles in this series are available in a variety offull-colour, searchable e-book formats.

Exploring the Earth under the Sea brings to life the world’s largest and longest-lived geological research program, which has been drilling over many decades at many locations deep below the ocean floor to recover continuous cores of sediment and rock. Study of these materials has helped us understand how the Earth works now, how it has worked in the past and how it may work in the future. The cores are a wonderful source of information on the dynamic processes that form and reform the Earth, both beneath the ocean and on land. The results have revealed climate and oceanographic change on different time frames, the history of life in the sea and on land including global mass extinctions, the extraordinary story of the great masses of ‘extremophile’ microbes that live beneath the sea bed, the nature of the giant earthquakes and tsunami generated at the trenches where tectonic plates collide, and the nature of submarine volcanoes and metalliferous deposits. This book outlines the technology and enduring international partnerships that underlie the scientific ocean drilling accomplished by the first phase of IODP, currently involving 23 countries. It highlights the important role of Australian and New Zealand scientists in the program, and the great scientific benefits we have derived from our partnership since joining IODP in 2008. As well as the scientific summaries, there are personal accounts by shipboard scientists of how they found life at sea on two-month expeditions, working 12-hour shifts on a noisy drill ship.

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.

This book takes a non-technical approach in covering the evolution of South American mammalian fauna throughout geological history, and discusses how South America has changed due to mammalian invasions. Unlike other works on the subject, this book attempts to answer several crucial questions that often go unmentioned together in one cohesive monograph. What was the fauna like before the American interchange? What were the origins of the now-extinct groups when northern species arrived and out-competed them? How did the modern mammalian fauna come into being with such disparate animal groups? This information is given from a historical perspective throughout the book's 15 chapters, and is presented in an easily graspable fashion by mostly avoiding technical language. The book is written for academics, scientists and scholars engaged in paleontology, zoology and evolutionary biology, but may also appeal to a larger audience of general readers interested in mammalian evolution. The book begins with an introduction, describing the tools necessary to interpret the evolutionary history of South American mammals in geological terms and some of the early people who helped found South American mammalian paleontology. Chapter 2 describes the Mesozoic first mammals of Gondwana and what we are learning about them, dominant before the K/T extinction event. Then chapters 3 through 8 cover the Cenozoic, or "Age of Mammals", highlighting the major mammalian groups of South America that replaced the earlier mammals of Gondwana. These groups include the marsupials, native ungulates, the xenarthrans (armadillos, anteaters, sloths), the caviomorphs (rodents), and the platyrrhine monkeys. Chapters 9 and 10 address the Antarctic La Meseta fossils and the Colombian La Venta fossil faunal assemblages. Chapter 11 discusses the neotropical mammals that invaded the Caribbean Islands, and illustrates the influence South America has had on adjacent faunas. Chapter 12 describes the origin of the Amazon River and the role it has played in the evolution of the mammals and other flora and fauna. Chapter 13 tells the story of the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI), and chapter 14 follows this up with a discussion of the Pleistocene mammal communities and their eventual extinction. Chapter 15 concludes the text by discussing the modern mammals of South America, and how despite the extensive Pleistocene extinctions there is still a lot of mammalian diversity in South America.

The web of geological sciences, Special papers 500 and 523, written in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Geological Society of America.