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Elsevier

Books in Earth and planetary sciences

Elsevier's Earth and Planetary Sciences collection brings together pioneering research on the complexities of our planet and beyond. Covering topics from Earth's structural dynamics and ecosystems to planetary exploration, these titles support advancements in geoscience, environmental science, and space studies, offering essential insights for researchers, professionals, and students.

  • Fluids In The Earth's Crust

    Their Significance In Metamorphic, Tectonic And Chemical Transport Process
    • 1st Edition
    • W.S. Fyfe
    • English
    Fluids in the Earth’s Crust explores the generation and migration of fluids in the crust and their influence on the structure. This book also deals with the collection and concentration of these fluids into commercially possible reservoirs or their fossil trace formed as ore bodies. Chapter one of this book discusses fluid motion and geochemical and tectonic processes. It then defines fluid, discusses the rocks in the surface environment, and provides evidence of the changes of a rock’s position and the motion of fluids. This book also explores the chemistry of natural fluids, including the composition of ocean water; pore water and deep-drill fluids; metamorphic fluids; fluid inclusions; and magmatic fluids. Volatile species in minerals, such as water, carbon and carbon dioxide, chlorine, fluorine, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen and other inert gases, are presented in this book. Other chapters in this book cover the solubility of minerals and physical chemistry of their solutions; the metamorphic reactions and processes; buffer systems; rock deformation; crustal conditions; dewatering of crust; and diapirism. The last part of the book discusses fluids, tectonics, and chemical transport. This book will be of great value to mining and oil geologists, as well as to pure geologists.

  • Foundations on Expansive Soils

    • 1st Edition
    • Fu Hua Chen
    • English
    Foundations on Expansive Soils provides the practicing engineer with a summary of the state-of-the-art of expansive soils and practical solutions based on the author's experience. The book is organized into two parts. Part I deals with theory and practice, and summarizes some of the theoretical physical properties of expansive soils. It also discusses various techniques employed to found structures on expansive soils such as drilled pier foundation, mat foundation, moisture control, soil replacement, and chemical stabilization. Topics covered include the origin, mineralogical composition, and the basic structure of expansive soils; the migration of water, swelling potential, and swelling pressure; site investigations and laboratory testing; moisture control; and soil stabilization. Part II presents case studies on the following: distress caused by pier uplift; distress caused by the improper design and construction of a drilled pier foundation system; distress caused by heaving of footing pad and floor slab; distress caused by heaving of continuous footings; and distress caused by a rise of ground water.

  • Techniques for Image Processing and Classifications in Remote Sensing

    • 1st Edition
    • Robert A. Schowengerdt
    • English
    Techniques for Image Processing and Classifications in Remote Sensing provides an introduction to the fundamentals of computer image processing and classification (commonly called ""pattern recognition"" in other applications). The book begins with a discussion of digital scanners and imagery, and two key mathematical concepts for image processing and classification—spati... filtering and statistical pattern recognition. This is followed by separate chapters on image processing and classification techniques that are widely used in the remote sensing community. The emphasis throughout is on techniques that assist in the analysis of images, not particular applications of these techniques. The book also has four appendixes, featuring a bibliography; an introduction to computer binary data representation and image data formats; a discussion of interactive image processing; and a selection of exam questions from the Image Processing Laboratory course at the University of Arizona. This book is intended for use as either a primary source in an introductory image processing course or as a supplementary text in an intermediate-level remote sensing course. The academic level addressed is upper-division undergraduate or beginning graduate, and familiarity with calculus and basic vector and matrix concepts is assumed.

  • Bibliography and Ore Occurrence Data

    Indexes Volumes 8-10
    • 1st Edition
    • Bozzano G Luisa
    • English
    Handbook of Strata-Bound and Stratiform Ore Deposits, Volume 10: Bibliography and Ore Occurrence Data Indexes, Volumes 8-10 focuses on bibliography and ore occurrence data indexes. The selection first elaborates on the supplementary bibliography of strata-bound and stratiform ore deposits from 1974-1978, including information on antimony, bismuth, chromium, climatology, copper, diffusion, fluid inclusions, fluorite, isotopes, lead-zinc, lithium, magnesite, and manganese. Also mentioned are metallogeny, metamorphism, placers, red beads, sulfides, uranium, and vanadium. The book also presents data on the worldwide distribution of stratiform and strata-bound ore deposits, as well as data sources and reliability, maps of North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and western Pacific, and Africa. The text offers information on references index part III and subject index part III. The selection is a valuable source of data for researchers wanting to explore ore deposits.

  • Regional Studies and Specific Deposits

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 13
    • Bozzano G Luisa
    • English
    Regional Studies and Specific Deposits deals with regional studies of strata-bound and stratiform ore deposits. Topics covered include the geological association between coal and metallic ores; the genesis of iron ores in banded iron-formation (BIF) by supergene and supergene-metamorphi... processes; mineral zoning in sediment-hosted copper deposits; and the formation of gossans. The role of hydrothermal karst phenomena in the formation of Mississippi Valley-type deposits is also discussed. Comprised of five chapters, this volume begins with a review of the geological association of coal and metallic ores, focusing in particular on which metallic accumulations could be expected to be possibly present, within or close to the coal. The next chapter examines the origin of strata-bound enrichment deposits derived from BIF and presents the basic conceptual model for BIF-derived iron ores. The evolution of sulfide mineral zonation in low-temperature, sediment-hosted copper deposits is then evaluated. The book also describes the processes underlying the formation of gossans before concluding with an analysis of the hydrothermal karst phenomena as a factor in the development of Mississippi Valley-type deposits. This handbook will be useful to students, practitioners, and researchers in the fields of energy and earth sciences, mineralogy, mining, and metallurgy.

  • Reservoir Characterization II

    • 1st Edition
    • Lake
    • English
    Reservoir Characterization II contains the proceedings of the Second International Reservoir Characterization Conference held in Dallas, Texas in June 1989. Contributors focus on the characterization of reservoir processes and cover topics ranging from surface roughness in porous media and reservoir characterization at the mesoscopic scale to shale clast heterogeneities and their effect on fluid flow, permeability patterns in fluvial sandstones, and reservoir management using 3-D seismic data. This book is organized into six sections encompassing 43 chapters. The first 20 chapters deal with reservoir characterization at the microscopic, mesoscopic, and macroscopic scales. Topics include low-contrast resistivity sandstone formations; the use of centrifuge and computer tomography to quantify saturation distribution and capillary pressures; and cross-well seismology as a tool for reservoir geophysics. The chapters that follow deal with reservoir characterization at the megascopic scale; fractal heterogeneity of clastic reservoirs; heterogeneity and effective permeability of porous rocks; and drilling fluid design based on reservoir characterization. A chapter that outlines a procedure for estimating permeability anisotropy with a minipermeameter concludes the book. This book is a valuable resource for students and practitioners of petroleum engineering, geology and geological engineering, petroleum exploration, and geophysics.

  • Biogeochemistry

    An Analysis of Global Change
    • 1st Edition
    • William H. Schlesinger
    • English
    Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change deals with changes in the biogeochemistry of the Earth's surface. The book covers the basics about the effect of life on the chemistry of the Earth, with emphasis on the microbial and chemical reactions that occur on land, in the sea, and in the atmosphere. Computer models are used to help understand elemental cycling and ecosystem function. This book is divided into two sections and comprised of 14 chapters. The discussion begins with an overview of the chemical processes controlling the environment in which we live. A simple model for the biogeochemistry of the Earth's surface is described. The chapters that follow examine models that astrophysicists suggest for the origin of chemical elements, as well as models for the formation of the solar system and the planets. The biogeochemical reactions in the atmosphere, lithosphere, and terrestrial biosphere are also described, along with rock weathering on land and the processes that drive the weathering reactions. The reader is introduced to biogeochemical cycling on land; biogeochemistry in freshwater wetlands and lakes, rivers and estuaries, and the sea; and the global water, carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles. The book concludes with the argument that human population growth is the basis of every major environmental issue facing the world today. This book is intended as a textbook for college-level and graduate students who are interested in global change.

  • Modelling of Soil-Structure Interaction

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 58
    • V. Kolár + 1 more
    • English
    Distributed in the East European countries, China, Northern Korea, Cuba, Vietnam and Mongolia by Academia, Prague, CzechoslovakiaThis book is based on the efficient subsoil model introduced by the authors in 1977 and applied in the last ten years in the design of foundations. From the designer's point of view, the model considerably reduces the extent of the calculations connected with the numerical analysis of soil-structure interaction. The algorithms presented are geared for use on mini- and personal computers and can be used in any numerical method. A special chapter is devoted to the implementation of the model in the NE-XX finite element program package, illustrated with diagrams, tables and practical examples.Besides presenting the energy definition and general theory of both 2D and 3D model forms, the book also deals with practical problems such as Kirchhoff's and Mindlin's foundation plates, interaction between neighbouring structures, actual values of physical constants of subsoils and natural frequencies and shapes of foundation plates.Today, researchers and engineers can choose from a wide range of soil models, some fairly simple and others very elaborate. However, the gap which has long existed between geomechanical theory and everyday design practice still persists. The present book is intended to suit the practical needs of the designer by introducing an efficient subsoil model in which the surrounding soil is substituted by certain properties of the structure-soil interface. When a more precise solution is required, a more sophisticated model form can be used. Its additional degrees of deformation freedom can better express the behaviour of layered or generally unhomogeneous subsoil. As a result, designers will find that this book goes some way towards bridging the above-mentioned gap between structural design theory and day-to-day practice.

  • Rock and Soil Mechanics

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 48
    • W. Derski + 3 more
    • English
    Although theoretical in character, this book provides a useful source of information for those dealing with practical problems relating to rock and soil mechanics - a discipline which, in the view of the authors, attempts to apply the theory of continuum to the mechanical investigation of rock and soil media. The book is in two separate parts. The first part, embodying the first three chapters, is devoted to a description of the media of interest. Chapter 1 introduces the main argument and discusses the essence of the discipline and its links with other branches of science which are concerned, on the one hand, with technical mechanics and, on the other, with the properties, origins, and formation of rock and soil strata under natural field conditions. Chapter 2 describes mechanical models of bodies useful for the purpose of the discourse and defines the concept of the limit shear resistance of soils and rocks. Chapter 3 gives the actual properties of soils and rocks determined from experiments in laboratories and in situ. Several tests used in geotechnical engineering are described and interconnections between the physical state of rocks and soils and their rheological parameters are considered.The second part of the book considers the applications of various theories which were either first developed for descriptive purposes in continuum mechanics and then adopted in soil and rock mechanics, or were specially developed for the latter discipline. Chapter 4 discusses the application of the theory of linear viscoelasticity in solving problems of stable behaviour of rocks and soils. Chapter 5 covers the use of the groundwater flow theory as applied to several problems connected with water movement in an undeformable soil or rock skeleton. Chapter 6 is a natural expansion of the arguments put forward in the previous chapter. Here the movement of water is regarded as the cause of deformation of the rock or soil skeleton and the consolidation theory developed on this basis is presented in a novel formulation. Some new engineering solutions are also reported. The seventh chapter is devoted to the limit state theory as applied to the study of the mechanical behaviour of soils and rocks. It presents some new solutions and methods which include both static and kinematic aspects of the problem, and some original effective methods for investigating media of limited cohesion. The final chapter gives a systematic account of the mechanics of highly dispersed soils, commonly called clays.

  • Clay in Engineering Geology

    • 2nd Edition
    • Volume 41
    • J.E. Gillott
    • English
    Engineering geology is an interdisciplinary subject concerned with the application of geological science to engineering practice, and it is therefore important for the engineering geologist to recognize the boundary between engineering application and purely scientific enquiry. Much research in applied clay science results from imperfectly understood engineering behaviour. Engineering geology is most closely allied to the geotechnical and materials areas of civil engineering. The scope of the present book is limited to the influence of clay but because clay is almost ubiquitous in earth materials the subject still remains broad. In soil and rock, clay is the smallest size fraction, but it is that very fact which often determines its major influences on engineering behaviour.In this book the author reviews the importance of clay in engineering geology and summarizes present knowledge in this field. The plan of the book has remained unchanged since the first edition was published in 1968 but the text, diagrams and reference lists have all been extensively updated. The first 5 chapters review the classification, origin, composition, fabric and physical chemistry of clays. Behavioural aspects, covered in the following 4 chapters, include moisture interaction, strength and rheology, soil stabilization and the use of clays as materials. The final 3 chapters describe methods of analysis of clays and soils.Clay in Engineering Geology contains material drawn from a wide variety of sources and, together with its literature review and indexes, will provide much of value to geologists, mineralogists, civil and geotechnical engineers concerned with applied clay science.

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