Part I Introduction
1. Dynamic Earth Systems
Earth System Science
The Concept of Systems
Earths Environmental Systems
Earths Energy Systems
Population, Resources, Pollution, Hazards, and Planetary Boundaries


Part II: Solid Earth Systems and Geologic Time
2. Plate Tectonics: Solid Earth in Motion
An Early Conundrum and the Scientific Method
Plate Properties and Motions
Piecing the Theory Together
The Driver of Plate Tectonics

3. Earthquakes: Their Causes, Hazards, and Risks
The Build-up and Release of Seismic Energy
Assessing Earthquake Hazards
Minimizing the Risks from Earthquakes

4. Earth Materials: Elements, Minerals, and Rocks
Minerals: Building blocks of the lithosphere
Rocks and the Rock Cycle
Rock and Mineral Resources

5. Volcanoes
Volcanic Eruptions
Volcanic Hazards
Minimizing the Risks from Volcanic Eruptions

6. Geologic Time
Scales of Time and Earth System Cycles
Measuring Time: Relative and Absolute Age Dating
Fossils, Evolution, and Relative Geologic Time
Global Change over Different Scales of Time

Part III Earths Surface Systems
7. The Biosphere
Biosphere Structure and Functioning
Ecosystem Services
Water Purification
Human Impacts on the Biosphere

8. Soil and Weathering Systems
The Pedosphere: A Geomembrane to Other Earth Systems
Biological Processes and their Role in Weathering
Pedosphere Resources: Soils, Clays, and Mineral Ores
Soil Erosion Hazards, Land Degradation, and Soil Conservation
Soil Erosion: A Quiet Crisis
Mass Movement Hazards and Their Mitigation


Part IV Fluid Earth Systems
9. Earth
The Hydrologic Cycle
Drainage Basins and Streams
Floods
Altered Streams
Wetlands
Managing and Restoring Streams and Wetlands
Water Resources and Protection
Droughts

10. The Groundwater System
Water in the Ground
Groundwater As a Resource
Groundwater Hazards
Groundwater Pollution and Its Cleanup

11. The Atmospheric System
The Atmosphere: An Envelope of Gases
Atmospheric Circulation and Climate
Storms
Severe Weather
Tropical Storms and Hurricanes
Human Influence on Atmospheric Chemistry
Air Pollution and Environmental Management

12. The Ocean and Coastal System
The Ocean Basins
Coastlines
Sea Level Changes
Seawater Chemistry
Ocean Structure and Circulation
Circulation in the Surface Mixed Layer
Circulation in the Deep Ocean
Coastal Processes and Hazards of Living by the Sea
Coastal Erosion and Attempts to Control It
Controlling Cliff Erosion
Human Impacts on the Seas
Waste Disposal and Polluted Runoff Along Continental Shelves


Part V Energy, Changing Earth, and Human-Earth Interactions
13. Energy
Energy and Humans
Earths Energy System
Petroleum: Crude Oil and Natural Gas
Renewable Energy: Solar, Wind, And Hydroelectric
The "New Energy Era": Green Buildings and the Road Taken

14. Understanding Climatic and Environmental Change
Climate on Terrestrial Planets
Causes of Climatic Change
Influence of Plate Tectonics on Climate
Indicators of Environmental Change
Global Climate Models

15. Humans and the Whole Earth System: Living in the Anthropocene
Planetary Boundaries
Anthropogenic Climate Change
Impacts of Rising Greenhouse Gas Concentrations
Sea Level Rise
Coming to Grips with the Anthropocene