Earth as an Evolving Planetary System

Earth as an Evolving Planetary System PDF

Author: Kent C. Condie

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2015-12-01

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 0128037091

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Earth as an Evolving Planetary System, Third Edition, examines the various subsystems that play a role in the evolution of the Earth, including subsystems in the crust, mantle, core, atmosphere, oceans, and life. This third edition includes 30% new material and, for the first time, includes full color images in both the print and electronic versions. Topics in the great events chapters are now included in the beginning of the book, with the addition of a new feature of breakout boxes for each event. The second half of the book now focuses on a better understanding of Earth's history by looking at the interactions of the subsystems over time. The Earth’s atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, crustal and mantle evolution, the supercontinent cycle, great events in Earth history, and the Earth in comparison to other planets are also covered. Authored by a world leader in tectonics who also authored the two previous editions Presents comprehensive coverage of the Earth's history that is relevant for both students and teachers Includes important section on Comparative Planetary Evolution, not found in other textbooks All illustrations presented throughout both the print and electronic versions in full color

Origin and Evolution of Earth

Origin and Evolution of Earth PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2008-08-04

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 0309134307

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Questions about the origin and nature of Earth and the life on it have long preoccupied human thought and the scientific endeavor. Deciphering the planet's history and processes could improve the ability to predict catastrophes like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, to manage Earth's resources, and to anticipate changes in climate and geologic processes. At the request of the U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Geological Survey, the National Research Council assembled a committee to propose and explore grand questions in geological and planetary science. This book captures, in a series of questions, the essential scientific challenges that constitute the frontier of Earth science at the start of the 21st century.

Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets

Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets PDF

Author: Stephen J. Mackwell

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2014-01-30

Total Pages: 709

ISBN-13: 0816530599

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"Through the contributions of more than sixty leading experts in the field, Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets sets forth the foundations for this emerging new science and brings the reader to the forefront of our current understanding of atmospheric formation and climate evolution"--Provided by publisher.

From Dust to Life

From Dust to Life PDF

Author: John Chambers

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2017-05-02

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1400885566

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The birth and evolution of our solar system is a tantalizing mystery that may one day provide answers to the question of human origins. From Dust to Life tells the remarkable story of how the celestial objects that make up the solar system arose from common beginnings billions of years ago, and how scientists and philosophers have sought to unravel this mystery down through the centuries, piecing together the clues that enabled them to deduce the solar system's layout, its age, and the most likely way it formed. Drawing on the history of astronomy and the latest findings in astrophysics and the planetary sciences, John Chambers and Jacqueline Mitton offer the most up-to-date and authoritative treatment of the subject available. They examine how the evolving universe set the stage for the appearance of our Sun, and how the nebulous cloud of gas and dust that accompanied the young Sun eventually became the planets, comets, moons, and asteroids that exist today. They explore how each of the planets acquired its unique characteristics, why some are rocky and others gaseous, and why one planet in particular--our Earth--provided an almost perfect haven for the emergence of life. From Dust to Life is a must-read for anyone who desires to know more about how the solar system came to be. This enticing book takes readers to the very frontiers of modern research, engaging with the latest controversies and debates. It reveals how ongoing discoveries of far-distant extrasolar planets and planetary systems are transforming our understanding of our own solar system's astonishing history and its possible fate.

The Early Earth

The Early Earth PDF

Author: James Badro

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2015-10-05

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1118860578

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The Early Earth: Accretion and Differentiation provides a multidisciplinary overview of the state of the art in understanding the formation and primordial evolution of the Earth. The fundamental structure of the Earth as we know it today was inherited from the initial conditions 4.56 billion years ago as a consequence of planetesimal accretion, large impacts among planetary objects, and planetary-scale differentiation. The evolution of the Earth from a molten ball of metal and magma to the tectonically active, dynamic, habitable planet that we know today is unique among the terrestrial planets, and understanding the earliest processes that led to Earth’s current state is the essence of this volume. Important results have emerged from a wide range of disciplines including cosmochemistry, geochemistry, experimental petrology, experimental and theoretical mineral physics and geodynamics. The topics in this volume include: Condensation of primitive objects in the solar nebula, planetary building blocks Early and late accretion and planetary dynamic modeling Primordial differentiation, core formation, Magma Ocean evolution and crystallization This volume will be a valuable resource for graduate students, academics, and researchers in the fields of geophysics, geochemistry, cosmochemistry, and planetary science.

Rare Earth

Rare Earth PDF

Author: Peter D. Ward

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2007-05-08

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 0387218483

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What determines whether complex life will arise on a planet, or even any life at all? Questions such as these are investigated in this groundbreaking book. In doing so, the authors synthesize information from astronomy, biology, and paleontology, and apply it to what we know about the rise of life on Earth and to what could possibly happen elsewhere in the universe. Everyone who has been thrilled by the recent discoveries of extrasolar planets and the indications of life on Mars and the Jovian moon Europa will be fascinated by Rare Earth, and its implications for those who look to the heavens for companionship.

Plate Tectonics and Crustal Evolution

Plate Tectonics and Crustal Evolution PDF

Author: Kent C. Condie

Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 9780750633864

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This comprehensive text has established itself over the past 20 years as the definitive work in its fields, presenting a thorough coverage of this key area of structural geology in a way which is ideally suited to advanced undergraduate and masters courses. The thorough coverage means that it is also useful to a wider readership as an up to date survey of plate tectonics. The fourth edition brings the text fully up to date, with coverage of the latest research in crustal evolution, supercontinents, mass extinctions. A new chapter covers the feedbacks of various Earth systems. In addition, a new appendix provides a valuable survey of current methodology.

Lucky Planet

Lucky Planet PDF

Author: David Waltham

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2014-04-08

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 0465080820

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Why Earth’s life-friendly climate makes it exceptional—and what that means for the likelihood of finding intelligent extraterrestrial life We have long fantasized about finding life on planets other than our own. Yet even as we become aware of the vast expanses beyond our solar system, it remains clear that Earth is exceptional. The question is: why? In Lucky Planet, astrobiologist David Waltham argues that Earth’s climate stability is what makes it uniquely able to support life, and it is nothing short of luck that made such conditions possible. The four billion year-stretch of good weather that our planet has experienced is statistically so unlikely that chances are slim that we will ever encounter intelligent extraterrestrial others. Citing the factors that typically control a planet’s average temperature—including the size of its moon, as well as the rate of the Universe’s expansion—Waltham challenges the prevailing scientific consensus that Earth-like planets have natural stabilizing mechanisms that allow life to flourish. A lively exploration of the stars above and the ground beneath our feet, Lucky Planet seamlessly weaves the story of Earth and the worlds orbiting other stars to give us a new perspective of the surprising role chance plays in our place in the universe.

Formation Of The Solar System, The: Theories Old And New (2nd Edition)

Formation Of The Solar System, The: Theories Old And New (2nd Edition) PDF

Author: Woolfson Michael Mark

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2014-09-11

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 1783265248

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This fully-updated second edition remains the only truly detailed exploration of the origins of our Solar System, written by an authority in the field. Unlike other authors, Michael Woolfson focuses on the formation of the solar system, engaging the reader in an intelligent yet accessible discussion of the development of ideas about how the Solar System formed from ancient times to the present.Within the last five decades new observations and new theoretical advances have transformed the way scientists think about the problem of finding a plausible theory. Spacecraft and landers have explored the planets of the Solar System, observations have been made of Solar-System bodies outside the region of the planets and planets have been detected and observed around many solar-type stars. This new edition brings in the most recent discoveries, including the establishment of dwarf planets and challenges to the ‘standard model’ of planet formation — the Solar Nebula Theory.While presenting the most up-to-date material and the underlying science of the theories described, the book avoids technical jargon and terminology. It thus remains a digestible read for the non-expert interested reader, whilst being detailed and comprehensive enough to be used as an undergraduate physics and astronomy textbook, where the formation of the solar system is a key part of the course.Michael Woolfson is Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at University of York and is an award-winning crystallographer and astronomer.