Building Planet Earth: Five Billion Years of Earth History

Building Planet Earth: Five Billion Years of Earth History
ISBN-10
0521582784
ISBN-13
9780521582780
Category
Science
Pages
308
Language
English
Published
2000-02-24
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Author
Peter John Cattermole

Description

Building Plant Earth presents a description of Earth as a planet, commencing with its physical and chemical evolution out of the primordial solar nebula. The condensation of elements and their redistribution are described, leading into a section dealing with mapping, geophysical and geochemical studies. This establishes the gross structure of the Earth, following which basic principles and processes of plate tectonics are then described, leading to the elucidation of the working of geological cycles. The main thrust of the remainder of the book is a description of the geological evolution of the Earth. Volcanism and seismicity, ice ages and climate, isotopic techniques and age dating, are all treated. The impact of mass extinctions, global-warming and ozone holes are included. The book is illustrated profusely and closes with a number of useful appendices.

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