Mechanics In The Earth And Environmental Sciences

The study of the Earth and the environment requires an understanding of the physical processes within and at the surface of the Earth. This book will allow the student to develop a broad working knowledge of mechanics and its application to the earth and environmental sciences. The mathematics are introduced at a level that assumes only an understanding of first-year calculus. The concepts are then developed to allow an understanding of the basic physics for a wide range of natural processes. These are illustrated by examples from many real situations, such as the application of the theory of flow through porous media to the study of groundwater, the viscosity of fluids to the flow of lava, and the theory of stress to the study of faults. The breadth of topics will allow students and professionals to gain an insight into the workings of many aspects of the Earth's systems.

Modern continuum mechanics is the topic of this book. After its introduction it will be applied to a few typical systems arising in the environmental sciences and in geophysics. In large lake/ocean dynamics peculiar effects of the rotation of the Earth will be analyzed in linear/nonlinear processes of a homogenous and inhomogenous water body. Strong thermomechanical coupling paired with nonlinear rheology affects the flow of large ice sheets (such as Antarctica and Greenland) and ice shelves. Its response to the climatic forcing in an environmental of greenhouse warming may significantly affect the life of future generations. The mechanical behavior of granular materials under quasistatic loadings requires non-classical mixture concepts and encounters generally complicated elastic-plastic-type constitutive behavior. Creeping flow of soils, consolidation processes and ground water flow are described by such theories. Rapid shearing flow of granular materials lead to constitutive relations for the stresses which incorporate rate independent behavior of Mohr-Coulomb type together with dispersive stress contributions due to particle collisions. Rockfalls, sturzstroms, snow and ice avalanches, but also debris flow and sea ice drifting can be described with such formulations.

This book is the result of collaboration within the framework of the Third International Scientific School for Young Scientists held at the Ishlinskii Institute for Problems in Mechanics of Russian Academy of Sciences, 2017, November. The papers included describe studies on the dynamics of natural system – geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere—and their interactions, the human contribution to naturally occurring processes, laboratory modeling of earth and environment processes, and testing of new developed physical and mathematical models. The book particularly focuses on modeling in the field of oil and gas production as well as new alternative energy sources.

An environmental interface is defined as a surface between two abiotic or biotic systems, in relative motion and exchanging mass, heat and momentum through biophysical and/or chemical processes. These processes fluctuate temporally and spatially. The book first treats exchange processes occurring at the interfaces between atmosphere and the surface of the sea, and atmosphere and land surface. These exchanges include the effect of vegetation, transport of dust and dispersion of passive substances within the atmosphere. Processes at the environmental interfaces of freshwater, such as gas-transfer at free-surfaces of rivers, advective diffusion of air bubbles in turbulent water flows and boundary-layers phenomena in vegetated open channels are also described. Finally, the book deals with the phenomena that affect transport of material to and from the surface of an organism, including molecular and turbulent diffusion. The relevant issues related to mass transfer to and from benthic plants and animals are further considered in detail. The book will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in environmental sciences, civil engineering and environmental engineering, (geo)physics and applied mathematics.

This book entitled "Physical and Mathematical Modeling of Earth and Environment Processes" is the result of a collaborative work after the 4th international scientific youth forum held at the IPMech RAS on November 1–3, 2018. The book includes theoretical and experimental studies of processes in the atmosphere, oceans, the lithosphere and their interaction; environmental issues; problems of human impact on the environment; methods of geophysical research. A special focus is given to the extraction of hydrocarbon resources, including unconventional sources. This book also focuses on new approaches to the development of hydrocarbon fields, very important in today's geopolitical conditions. The book presents new results of the experimental and theoretical modeling of deformation, fracture and filtration processes in the rocks in connection with issues of creating scientific fundamentals for new hydrocarbon production technologies.

Introduces the fundamental principles of applied Earth science needed for engineering practice, with case studies, exercises, and online solutions.

Continuum mechanics underlies many geological and geophysical phenomena, from earthquakes and faults to the fluid dynamics of the Earth. This interdisciplinary book provides geoscientists, physicists and applied mathematicians with a class-tested, accessible overview of continuum mechanics. Starting from thermodynamic principles and geometrical insights, the book surveys solid, fluid and gas dynamics. In later review chapters, it explores new aspects of the field emerging from nonlinearity and dynamical complexity and provides a brief introduction to computational modeling. Simple, yet rigorous, derivations are used to review the essential mathematics. The author emphasizes the full three-dimensional geometries of real-world examples, enabling students to apply this in deconstructing solid earth and planet-related problems. Problem sets and worked examples are provided, making this a practical resource for graduate students in geophysics, planetary physics and geology and a beneficial tool for professional scientists seeking a better understanding of the mathematics and physics within Earth sciences.