Mantle Plumes And Their Record In Earth History

A comprehensive 2001 review of mantle plumes for advanced students and researchers in Earth science.

This book presents a brief synopsis of the current academic understanding of the plume hypothesis, its surface manifestations and its shortcomings. It also describes methods for estimating the uplift history of a region due to plume activity. It discusses different models for the elastic properties of the lithosphere and their estimation as a background for plume emplacement, and introduces the plume hypothesis, describing the major plume types and their effect on the lithosphere. Two chapters are dedicated to the dynamic and permanent topography produced by an impinging plume head below the lithosphere and its estimation. It also presents the historical background of the plume hypothesis, its criticisms and alternatives.

The concept of mantle plumes is a key to understanding intraplate volcanism in the framework of modern plate tectonics. Recent progress in instrumental, analytical and satellite technology enables scientists to verify the plume hypothesis with seismic tomography, isotope geochemistry and other sophisticated techniques. In this book, a group of experts review these advances in plume research and present a general overview on recent plume studies.

Earth as an Evolving Planetary System is based on Kent Condie’s classic text, Plate Tectonics and Crustal Evolution, which has been revamped and renamed in order to reflect a new emphasis on the evolving interactions of the Earth’s systems. This revised volume synthesizes data from the fields of geophysics, oceanography, planetology, and geochemistry. It features new chapters on the Earth’s core, biotic systems, and the supercontinent cycle and mantle plume events. It contains expanded treatment of the evolution of the Earth’s crust and mantle, carbon cycle, oxygenation of the atmosphere, and the significance of sulfur isotope fractionation. It also includes new information on mass extinctions and catastrophic events over the last four billion years that have transformed the atmosphere, oceans, and life on Earth. By integrating results from many different disciplines, this important text gives students a broader perspective of the Earth Sciences and shows how specialized data contribute to Earth and planetary history. This text is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and scientists in other disciplines who want to look at the Earth with a broader perspective. * New insight on interaction and evolution of Earth system * Examines the role of castrophic events in Earth's history * New section on the evolution of the mantle

The past few decades have witnessed the growth of the Earth Sciences in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the planet that we live on. This development addresses the challenging endeavor to enrich human lives with the bounties of Nature as well as to preserve the planet for the generations to come. Solid Earth Geophysics aspires to define and quantify the internal structure and processes of the Earth in terms of the principles of physics and forms the intrinsic framework, which other allied disciplines utilize for more specific investigations. The first edition of the Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics was published in 1989 by Van Nostrand Reinhold publishing company. More than two decades later, this new volume, edited by Prof. Harsh K. Gupta, represents a thoroughly revised and expanded reference work. It brings together more than 200 articles covering established and new concepts of Geophysics across the various sub-disciplines such as Gravity, Geodesy, Geomagnetism, Seismology, Seismics, Deep Earth Processes, Plate Tectonics, Thermal Domains, Computational Methods, etc. in a systematic and consistent format and standard. It is an authoritative and current reference source with extraordinary width of scope. It draws its unique strength from the expert contributions of editors and authors across the globe. It is designed to serve as a valuable and cherished source of information for current and future generations of professionals.

Chronology is the backbone of history, and there is a wise saying stating there is no history without a chronology. Earths evolutionary history is built up by geochronology, i.e. time benchmarks upon which the geological history is built up step by step over its total time period of about 4.5 billion years. The first marker in this history is the Jack Hills zircon from Australia dated at about 4.4 GA. The most detailed records come from seasonal changes within annual varves. Stratigraphy provides the basic chronological ordering of layers by layers, units by units, fossil assemblage by assemblage, varves by varves, growth zone by growth zone, etc. The radiometric techniques implied the introduction of absolute age determinations. This book includes a combination of methodological presentations and related case studies, from where we learn about practical problems and achievements. Therefore, the book should be of basic interest both for scientists in their practical in field and laboratory, as well as for general educational purpose.

This book on multiscale seismic tomography, written by one of the leaders in the field, is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and professionals in Earth and planetary sciences who need to broaden their horizons about seismotectonics, volcanism, and interior structure and dynamics of the Earth and Moon. It describes the state-of-the-art in seismic tomography, with emphasis on the new findings obtained by applying tomographic methods in local, regional, and global scales for understanding the generating mechanism of large and great earthquakes such as the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake (Mw 9.0), crustal and upper mantle structure, origin of active arc volcanoes and intraplate volcanoes including hotspots, heterogeneous structure of subduction zones, fate of subducting slabs, origin of mantle plumes, mantle convection, and deep Earth dynamics. The first lunar tomography and its implications for the mechanism of deep moonquakes and lunar evolution are also introduced.