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Table of Contents

CH 1 THE EARTH SYSTEM
The Scientific Method
Geology as a Science
Earth’s Shape and Surface
Peeling the Onion: Discovery of a Layered Earth
Earth as a System of Interacting Components
An Overview of Geologic Time

CH 2  PLATE TECTONICS: THE UNIFYING THEORY
The Discovery of Plate Tectonics   
The Plates and Their Boundaries   
Rates and History of Plate Movements   
The Grand Reconstruction 
Mantle Convection: The Engine of Plate Tectonics   
The Theory of Plate Tectonics and the Scientific Method

CH 3  EARTH MATERIALS: MINERALS AND ROCKS
What Are Minerals?
The Structure of Matter
The Formation of Minerals
Classes of Rock- Forming Minerals
Physical Properties of Minerals
What Are Rocks?
The Rock Cycle: Interactions Between the Plate Tectonic and Climate Systems 
Concentrations of Valuable Mineral Resources 

CH 4 IGNEOUS ROCKS: SOLIDS FROM MELTS
How Do Igneous Rocks Differ from One Another?
How Do Magmas Form?
Magmatic Differentiation
Forms of Igneous Intrusions
Igneous Processes and Plate Tectonics

CH 5 VOLCANOES
Volcanoes as Geosystems
Lavas and Other Volcanic Deposits
Eruptive Styles and Landforms
Interactions of Volcanoes with Other Geosystems
The Global Pattern of Volcanism
Volcanism and Human Affairs

CH 6 SEDIMENTATION: ROCKS FORMED BY SURFACE PROCESSES
Surface Processes of the Rock Cycle
Sedimentary Basins: The Sinks for Sediments
Sedimentary Environments
Sedimentary Structures
Burial and Diagenesis: From Sediment to Rock
Classification of Siliciclastic Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks
Classification of Chemical and Biological Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks

CH 7  METAMORPHISM: ALTERATION OF ROCKS BY TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE
Causes of Metamorphism
Types of Metamorphism
Metamorphic Textures
Regional Metamorphism and Metamorphic Grade
Plate Tectonics and Metamorphism

CH 8  DEFORMATION: MODIFICATION OF ROCKS BY FOLDING AND FRACTURING
Plate Tectonic Forces
Mapping Geologic Structure
How Rocks Deform
Basic Deformation Structures
Styles of Continental Deformation
Unraveling Geologic History

CH 9 CLOCKS IN ROCKS; TIMING THE GEOLOGIC RECORD
Reconstructing Geologic History from the Stratigraphic Record
The Geologic Time Scale: Relative Ages
Measuring Absolute Time with Isotopic Clocks
The Geologic Time Scale: Absolute Ages
Recent Advances in Timing the Earth System

CH 10 EARTHQUAKES
What Is an Earthquake?   
How Do We Study Earthquakes?
Earthquakes and Patterns of Faulting
Earthquake Hazards and Risks
Can Earthquakes Be Predicted?

CH 11 EXPLORING EARTH’S INTERIOR
Exploring Earth’s Interior with Seismic Waves
Layering and Composition of Earth’s Interior
Earth’s Internal Temperature
Visualizing Earth’s Three-Dimensional Structure
Earth’s Magnetic Field and the Geodynamo

CH 12  THE CLIMATE SYSTEM
What Is Climate?
Components of the Climate System
The Greenhouse Effect
Climate Variation
The Carbon Cycle

CH 13 CIVILIZATION AS A GLOBAL GEOSYSTEM
Growth and Impact of Civilization
Fossil-Fuel Resources
Alternative Energy Resources
Our Energy Future

CH 14 ANTHROPOGENIC GLOBAL CHANGE
Rise of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere: The Keeling Curve
Types of Anthropogenic Global Change: Chemical, Physical, and Biological
Climate Change
Ocean Acidification
Loss of Biodiversity
Managing the Carbon Crisis

CH 15  GLACIERS: THE WORK OF ICE
Types of Glaciers
How Glaciers Form
How Glaciers Move
Isostasy and Sea Level Change
Glacial Landscapes
Glacial Cycles and Climate Change

CH 16  EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT
Controls on Weathering
Chemical Weathering
Physical Weathering
Soils: The Residue of Weathering
Erosion and Formation of Stream Valleys
Mass Wasting
Classification of Mass Movements
Geomorphology and Landscape Development

CH 17 THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE AND GROUNDWATER
The Geologic Cycling of Water
Hydrology and Climate
The Hydrology of Groundwater
Erosion by Groundwater
Water Quality
Water Deep in the Crust

CH 18 STREAM TRANSPORT: FROM MOUNTAINS TO OCEANS
The Form of Streams
Where Do Channels Begin? How Running Water Erodes Soil and Rock
How Currents Flow and Transport Sediment
Deltas: The Mouths of Rivers
Streams as Geosystems

CH 19  COASTLINES AND DESERTS
Coastal Processes
The Shaping of Shorelines
Hurricanes and Coastal Storm Surges
Desert Processes
Windblown Sand and Dust
The Desert Environment
Tectonic, Climatic, and Human Controls on Deserts

CH 20  EARLY HISTORY OF THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS
Origin of the Solar System
Early Earth: Formation of a Layered Planet
Diversity of the Planets
What’s in a Face? The Age and Complexion of Planetary Surfaces
Mars Rocks!
Exploring the Solar System and Beyond

CH 21  HISTORY OF THE CONTINENTS
The Structure of North America
Tectonic Provinces Around the World
How Continents Grow
How Continents are Modified
The Origins of Cratons
The Deep Structure of Continents

CH 22  GEOBIOLOGY: LIFE INTERACTS WITH EARTH
The Biosphere as a System   
Microorganisms: Nature’s Tiny Chemists   
Geobiological Events in Earth’s History   
Evolutionary Radiations and Mass Extinctions   
Astrobiology: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Authors

John Grotzinger

John Grotzinger is a field geologist interested in the evolution of the Earths surface environments and biosphere.  His research addresses the chemical development of the early oceans and atmosphere, the environmental context of early animal evolution, and the geologic factors that regulate sedimentary basins.  He has contributed to developing the basic geologic framework of a number of sedimentary basins and orogenic belts in northwestern Canada, northen Siberia, southern Africa, and the western United States.  He received his B.S. in geoscience from Hobart College in 1979, an M.S. in geology from the University of Montana in 1981, and a Ph.D. in geology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1985.  He spent three years as a research scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory before joinning the MIT faculty in 1988.  From 1979 to 1990, he was engaged in regional mapping for the Geological Survey of Canada.  He currently works as a geologist on the Mars Exploration Rover team, the first mission to conduct ground-based exploration of the bedrock geology of another planet, which has resulted in the discovery sedimentary rocks formed in aqueous depositional environments.  In 1998, Dr. Grotzinger was named the Waldemar Lindgren Distinguished Scholar at MIT, and in 2000 he became the Robert R. Schrock Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences.  In 2005, he moved from MIT to Caltech, where he is the Fletcher Jones Professor of Geology.  He received the Presidential Young Investigator Award of the National Science Foundation in 1990, the Donath Medal of the Geological Society of America in 1992, and the Henno Martin Medal of the Geological Society of Namibia in 2001.  He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

Thomas H. Jordan

Thomas H. Jordan is director of the Southern California Earthquake Center,
University Professor, and W. M. Keck Foundation Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Southern California. As SCEC’s principal investigator since 2002, he has overseen all aspects of its program in earthquake system science, which currently involves over 600 scientists at more than 60 universities and research institutions worldwide (http://www.scec.org). The center’s mission is to develop comprehensive understanding of earthquakes and use this scientific knowledge to reduce earthquake risk. Jordan established SCEC’s Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability and has been the lead SCEC investigator on projects to create and improve a timedependent, uniform California earthquake rupture forecast. He currently chairs the International Commission on Earthquake Forecasting for Civil Protection (appointed by the Italian government), is a member of the California Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council, and has served on the Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee of the U. S. Geological Survey. He was elected to the Council of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences in 2006 and has served on its executive committee. He was appointed to the Governing Board of the National Research Council in 2008. Jordan’s research is focused on system-level models of earthquake processes, earthquake forecasting and forecast-evaluation, and full-3D waveform tomography. His other interests include continental formation and tectonic evolution, mantle dynamics,
and statistical descriptions of geologic phenomena. He is an author on approximately 190 scientific publications, including two popular textbooks. He chaired the NRC panels that produced two decadal reports, Living on an Active Earth: Perspectives on Earthquake Science (2003) and Basic Research Opportunities in Earth Sciences (2002). Jordan received his B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. (1972) from the California Institute of Technology. He taught at Princeton University and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography before joining the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as the Robert R. Shrock Professor in 1984. He served as the head of MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences for the decade 1988-1998. In 2000, he moved from MIT to USC, and in 2004, he was appointed as a USC University Professor. He has
been awarded the Macelwane and Lehmann Medals of the American Geophysical Union and the Woollard Award of the Geological Society of America. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.

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