The book describes the structure, composition and evolution of the Earth, the main geological processes occurring on it, and how some crucial environmental matters that are amply debated in the media (e.g. pollution, greenhouse effect) can be fully understood by placing them in the holistic context of the system Earth as a whole. It provides basic information on a series of key geological issues, from the structure and composition of the Earth to the large-scale processes that characterize...

This is an updated edition of the book by the same author: "Plio-Quaternary volcanism in Italy - Petrology, geochemistry, geodynamics," published in 2005 by Springer. This edition has the same structure as the previous publication, with a general introduction; various chapters dedicated to different volcanic provinces in Italy; and a final chapter on the relationships between magmatism and geodynamics. It includes information that has become available in the last ten years, and new chapter...

"Michael Benton's splendid book brings back to Earth Science a sense of adventure. . . . It is both a wonderfully good read and a valued reference." —James Lovelock, author of Gaia and Homage to GaiaToday it is common knowledge that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteorite impact 65 million years ago that killed half of all species then living. Far less well-known is a much greater catastrophe that took place at the end of the Permian period 251 million years a...

Why do volcanoes and earthquakes happen? Is Earth throwing a tantrum? Let your child decode the answers for these on his/her own through this interactive educational book. Composed of pictures that allow for the understanding of geology and vulcanology, this is a great resource that would complement the heavy school textbooks. Grab a copy now!

As children see things in our movie theaters and television sets, they are probably often left wondering why they are not able to see some of the scenery in their very own hometowns. This is when they begin to learn how large the world is, and what all is contained within it. A Mother Nature Is Awesome (From Volcanoes to Earthquakes) Picture Book will greatly help them to understand that there is much to see in the precious life of theirs. They will begin to learn about our Earth's geologi...

The classic account of how volcanism has shaped human culture and science, from the Bronze Age eruption that destroyed Minoan Crete to Mount St. HelensWhen the volcano Tambora erupted in Indonesia in 1815, as many as one hundred thousand people perished from the blast and ensuing famine. Gases and dust particles ejected into the atmosphere changed weather patterns around the world, resulting in the infamous “year without a summer” in North America, food riots in Eu...

The Bled workshops have traditionally produced reference documents providing visions for the future development of earthquake engineering as foreseen by leading researchers in the field. The participants of the 2011 workshop built on the tradition of these events initiated by Professors Fajfar and Krawinkler to honor their important research contributions and have now produced a book providing answers to crucial questions in today’s earthquake engineering: “What visible changes in the desi...

This book tells the story of the catastrophic impact of the giant 10 Km asteroid Chicxulub into the ancient Gulf of Mexico 65.5 million years ago. The book begins with a discussion of the nature of asteroids and the likelihood of future Earth-impacts. The story then turns to the discovery of a global sediment layer attributed to the fallout from the impact and a piecing together of the evidence that revealed a monster crater, buried under the Gulf. Reviewed is the myriad of geological and ...

This book reflects the latest research results in computer modelling of landslide-induced debris flows. The book establishes an understanding of the initiation and propagation mechanisms of landslides by means of numerical simulations, so that mitigation strategies to reduce the long-term losses from landslide hazards can be devised.In this context, the book employs the Discrete Element Method (DEM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to investigate the mechanical and hydraulic ...

This book provides a timely review and summary of the recent advances in state-of-the-art earthquake geotechnics. The earthquake disasters in Japan and New Zealand in 2011 prompted the urgent need for the state-of-the-art earthquake geotechnics to be put into practice for disaster mitigation. By reviewing the developments in earthquake geotechnics over more than half a century, this unique book enables readers to obtain solid grasp of this discipline.It is based on contributions fr...

This book is one out of 8 IAEG XII Congress volumes, and deals with Landslide processes, including: field data and monitoring techniques, prediction and forecasting of landslide occurrence, regional landslide inventories and dating studies, modeling of slope instabilities and secondary hazards (e.g. impulse waves and landslide-induced tsunamis, landslide dam failures and breaching), hazard and risk assessment, earthquake and rainfall induced landslides, instabilities of volcanic edifices, ...

This book gathers the main research findings on monotonic, cyclic and postcyclic shear behavior of low-plasticity. Drawing on the low-plasticity silt from the Mississippi River Valley, it determines that the silt’s critical state line can be changed due to liquefaction, and thus offers valuable insights and reference data for further investigations on soil mechanics and engineering applications to verify the above research findings.Low-plasticity silt with a plasticity index of les...