Understanding Earth / John Grotzinger, Thomas H. Jordan.

Incluye referencias bibliográficas e índice.

The earth system -- Plate tectonics : the unifying theory -- Earth materials : minerals and rocks -- Igneous rocks : solids from melts -- Sedimentation : rocks formed by surface processes -- Metamorphism : alteration of rocks by temperature and pressure -- Deformation : modification of rocks by folding and fracturing -- Clocks in rocks : timing the geologic record -- Early history of the terrestrial planets -- History of the continents -- Geobiology : life interacts with Earth -- Volcanoes -- Earthquakes -- Exploring earth's interior -- The climate system -- Weathering, erosion, and mass wasting : interactions between, the climate and plate tectonic systems -- The hydrologic cycle and groundwater -- Stream transport : from mountains to oceans -- Winds and deserts -- Coastlines and the ocean basins -- Glaciers : the work of ice -- Landscape development -- The human impact on Earth's environment.

This textbook integrates concepts of chemistry, physics, and geology in the context of the Earth as a system. It introduces the processes driven by the interior of Earth, including plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanism, and introduction to study of Earth materials. The physical and chemical processes occurring at the surface of Earth with an emphasis on energy in the Earth system are investigated as are the human impacts to the Earth system, including chemical and physical aspects of water pollution, oceanography, air pollution, meteorology, and global climate change. The authors also present topics such as minerals, igneous rocks and processes, metamorphism and metamorphic rocks, rock deformation and geologic structures, in addition to topics that include sedimentary rocks, sedimentary processes, rock weathering, mass wasting, river systems, groundwater, glaciers, deserts, and coastal processes.

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