Skip to main content
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.

  • Ice Age Southern Andes

    A Chronicle of Palaeoecological Events
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 3
    • C.J. Heusser
    • English
    The Southern Andes, stretching from the subtropics to the subantarctic, are ideally located for palaeoenvironmental research. Over the broad and continuous latitudinal extent of the cordillera (-24˚), vegetation is adjusted to climatic gradients and atmospheric circulation patterns.Opposed to the prevailing Southern Westerlies, the Southern Andes are positioned to receive the brunt of the winds, while biota are set to record the shifting of incoming storm systems over time. Sequential, latitudinally-placed... sedimentary deposits containing microfossils and macroremains, as archives of past vegetation and climate, make possible the detection of equatorward and poleward displacement of plant communities and, as a consequence, changes in climatic controls. No terrestrial setting in the Southern Hemisphere is so unique for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction during and since the last ice age. Twenty radiocarbon-dated fossil pollen and spore records chosen to place emphasis on the last ice age include high-resolution, submillennial data sets that also cover the Holocene, thus providing contrast between present interglacial and past glacial ages. From a refined data base, the records constitute the foundation for interpreting factors responsible for vegetation change over >50,000 14C years, glacial-interglacial migration and refugial patterns for a diversity of taxa, and the extent of intrahemispheric and polar hemispheric synchroneity versus asynchroneity.

  • Maps and the Internet

    • 1st Edition
    • M.P. Peterson
    • English
    This book examines a new trend affecting cartography and geographic information science. Presenting the work of over 30 authors from 16 different countries, the book provides an overview of current research in the new area of Internet Cartography. Chapters deal with the growth of this form of map distribution, uses in education, privacy issues, and technical aspects from the point of view of the map provider - including Internet protocols such as XML and SVG. Many see the Internet as a revolution for cartography. Previously tied to the medium of paper and expensive large-format color print technology, maps had a limited distribution and use. The Internet made it possible to not only distribute maps to a much larger audience but also to incorporate interaction and animation in the display. Maps have also become timelier with some maps of traffic and weather being updated every few minutes. In addition, it is now possible to access maps from servers throughout the world. Finally, the Internet has made historic maps available for viewing to the public that were previously only available in map libraries with limited access.

  • Advances in Coastal Modeling

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 67
    • V.C. Lakhan
    • English
    This book unifies and enhances the accessibility of contemporary scholarly research on advances in coastal modeling. A comprehensive spectrum of innovative models addresses the wide diversity and multifaceted aspects of coastal research on the complex natural processes, dynamics, interactions and responses of the coastal supersystem and its associated subsystems. The twenty-one chapters, contributed by internationally recognized coastal experts from fourteen countries, provide invaluable insights on the recent advances and present state-of-the-art knowledge on coastal models which are essential for not only illuminating the governing coastal process and various characteristics, but also for understanding and predicting the dynamics at work in the coastal system. One of the unique strengths of the book is the impressive and encompassing presentation of current functional and operational coastal models for all those concerned with and interested in the modeling of seas, oceans and coasts. In addition to chapters modeling the dynamic natural processes of waves, currents, circulatory flows and sediment transport there are also chapters that focus on the modeling of beaches, shorelines, tidal basins and shore platforms. The substantial scope of the book is further strengthened with chapters concentrating on the effects of coastal structures on nearshore flows, coastal water quality, coastal pollution, coastal ecological modeling, statistical data modeling, and coupling of coastal models with geographical information systems.

  • Introduction to Environmental Soil Physics

    • 1st Edition
    • Daniel Hillel
    • English
    An abridged, student-oriented edition of Hillel's earlier published Environmental Soil Physics, Introduction to Environmental Soil Physics is a more succinct elucidation of the physical principles and processes governing the behavior of soil and the vital role it plays in both natural and managed ecosystems. The textbook is self-contained and self-explanatory, with numerous illustrations and sample problems. Based on sound fundamental theory, the textbook leads to a practical consideration of soil as a living system in nature and illustrates the influences of human activity upon soil structure and function. Students, as well as other readers, will better understand the importance of soils and the pivotal possition they occupy with respect to careful and knowledgeable conservation.

  • Gas Well Deliquification

    Solutions to Gas Well Liquid Loading Problems
    • 1st Edition
    • James F. Lea Jr. + 2 more
    • English
    No other book on the market offers such a turnkey solution to the problem of liquid interference in gas wells. Gas Well Deliquification contains not only descriptions of the various methods of de-watering gas wells, but also compares the various methods with a view toward explaining the suitability of each under particular circumstances. The material is presented as practical information that can be immediately applied, rather than a theoretical treatment. And, includes useful historical methods, but focuses on the latest techniques for de-watering gas wells.

  • Integration of Computer Modeling and Field Observations in Geomorphology

    Binghamton Geomorphology Symposium 2000
    • 1st Edition
    • J.F. Shroder + 1 more
    • English
    The integration of classic field-gathered data with new computer models has allowed many new advances in geomorphology, which the 31st Binghamton Millennium Symposium 2000 presents in this latest of the well-known Binghamton book series, the Integration of Computer Modeling and Field Observations in Geomorphology.Concep... models have been most commonly inferred from analyses of topography and investigator perspectives derived from fieldwork. The main stumbling blocks to understanding surfaceprocesses, their interactions, temporal changes, and resulting landforms are the difficulty of observation, geological timescales involved, spatial-scale dependencies, and the inability to attribute differences to either process or age. Physically based computer models have thus become essential tools, primarily because of their ability to explore spatial and temporal trends and to determine the sensitivity of physical inputs to change without the difficulties of identification and generalization associated with the complexity of field studies. Thus, the combination of both methods, or the integration of field methods with computer modeling become a very powerful mechanism for robust understanding.This new book presents topics on fluvial processes of overland and channelized flow in arid, humid, and periglacial areas of high and low relief, as well as work on interlinked biogeographic and geomorphic fluctuations in alpine terrain, and ground penetrating radar of coastal geomorphology. Issues of long-termevolution of drainage networks are addressed in natural systems, as well as stream-table environments, and terrain analyses characterize surficial and subsurface geomorphic features by using GIS and remote sensing. Botanical and biogeomorphologic controls of landforms are assessed, along with issuesof scientific visualization, cartographic representation, DEMs, spatial analyses, and scale dependencies.

  • Sedimentary Processes: Quantification Using Radionuclides

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 5
    • J. Carroll + 1 more
    • English
    The advent of radionuclide methods in geochronology has revolutionized our understanding of modern sedimentary processes in aquatic systems. This book examines the principles of the method and its use as a quantitative tool in marine geology, with emphasis on the Pb-210 method. The assumptions and consequences of models and their behaviour are described providing the necessary background to assess the advantages and trade-offs involved when choosing a particular model for application. One of the purposes of this volume is to disentangle the influences of complicating factors, such as sediment flux variations, post-depositional diffusion of radionuclides, and bio-irrigation of sediments, to arrive at sediment ages and to properly assess the attendant data uncertainty. Environmental impacts of chemical, nuclear, or other waste material are of concern in a variety of areas around the world today. A number of relevant examples are included, demonstrating how dating models are useful for determining sources of contaminants and interpreting their influence on the environment.The book is set at a level so that an able student or professional should have no difficulty in following the procedures and methods developed. Each chapter includes case histories showing the strengths and weaknesses of a given procedure with respect to a data example. Included with this volume is the computer source code of a new generation of modelling tools based on inverse numerical analysis techniques. This first generation of the modelling tool is included, along with detailed instructions and examples for its use, in an appendix.

  • Gasification

    • 1st Edition
    • Christopher Higman + 1 more
    • English
    This book provides an excellent overview of current technologies for the gasification of coal, oil, gas, biomass and waste feedstocks. Starting from the basic theory, it reviews the potential feedstocks and their suitability for different types of gasification process. Commercial and near-commercial processes are described individually and various features discussed in detail. There is a comprehensive review of contaminants in synthesis gas as well as of gas treating processes. One chapter is devoted to discussions of various chemical, fuel and power applications for gasification. Economic, environmental and safety issues of gasification are also covered. Both authors have been involved with gasification for over 30 years, gaining in the process a fund of practical insight and experience, which is evident throughout the book.

  • Siberian river run-off in the Kara Sea

    Characterisation, quantification, variability, and environmental significance
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 6
    • R. Stein + 4 more
    • English
    Within the joint German-Russian research project "Siberian River Run-off (SIRRO)" multidisciplinary studies were carried out in the Ob and Yenisei estuaries and adjacent southern Kara Sea (Arctic Ocean). The overall goal of the project was to extend knowledge on understanding the freshwater and sediment input by the major Siberian rivers and its impact on the environments of the inner Kara Sea. The main results of oceanographical, biological, geochemical, geological and modelling studies are presented in four main chapters:(A) Modern Discharge: Data and modelling; (B) Discharge and biological processes, (C) Discharge and organic carbon cycle, and (D) Discharge and sediment records.

  • Refining Processes Handbook

    • 1st Edition
    • Surinder Parkash Ph. D
    • English
    Besides covering topics like catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, and alkylation, this volume has chapters on waste water treatment and the economics of managing or commissioning the design of a petroleum refinery. Found only in this volume is material on operating a jointly owned and operated refinery. (Over the last decade, the ownership of many refineries has shifted to small companies, from the large, integrated companies. Because of this shift, many refineries are now jointly owned and operated.) Filled with handy process flow diagrams, this volume is the only reference that a chemical engineer or process manager in a petroleum refinery needs for answers to everyday process and operations questions.

Related subjects