Earth: Portrait of a Planet

About this book

The most dynamic, hands-on introduction to physical geology.

Marshak gives students the tools they need for an enriching hands-on geology experience, in and out of class. The Sixth Edition includes an expanded suite of interactive simulations, Narrative Art videos, Real-World videos, and animations built on the vibrant art from the text. New Smartwork5 online activities provide visual and interactive questions with answer-specific feedback. And the Geotours Google Earth exercises get students applying what they’ve learned to real-life site explorations. These easy-to-use tools combine with Marshak’s signature narrative approach to the text and art program to give students the most effective means for visualizing, interacting with, and mastering geology concepts.

Contents

Prelude:  And Just What Is Geology?

PART I:  OUR ISLAND IN SPACE
Chapter 1:  Cosmology and the Birth of Earth
Chapter 2:  Journey to the Center of the Earth
Chapter 3:  Drifting Continents and Spreading Seas
Chapter 4:  The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

PART II:  EARTH MATERIALS
Chapter 5:  Patterns in Nature: Minerals
Interlude A:  Introducing Rocks
Chapter 6:  Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
Interlude B:  A Surface Veneer: Sediments and Soils
Chapter 7:  Pages of Earth's Past: Sedimentary Rocks
Chapter 8:  Metamorphism: A Process of Change
Interlude C:  The Rock Cycle in the Earth System

PART III:  TECTONIC ACTIVITY OF A DYNAMIC PLANET
Chapter 9:  The Wrath of Vulcan: Volcanic Eruptions
Chapter 10:  A Violent Pulse: Earthquakes
Interlude D:  The Earth's Interior, Revisited: Seismic Layering, Gravity, and the Magnetic Field
Chapter 11:  Crags, Cracks, and Crumples: Crustal Deformation and Mountain Building

PART IV:  HISTORY BEFORE HISTORY
Interlude E:  Memories of Past Life: Fossils and Evolution
Chapter 12:  Deep Time: How Old Is Old?
Chapter 13:  A Biography of Earth

PART V:  EARTH RESOURCES
Chapter 14:  Squeezing Power from a Stone: Energy Resources
Chapter 15:  Riches in Rock: Mineral Resources

PART VI:  PROCESSES AND PROBLEMS AT THE EARTH'S SURFACE
Interlude F:  Ever-Changing Landscapes and the Hydrologic Cycle
Chapter 16:  Unsafe Ground: Landslides and Other Mass Movements
Chapter 17:  Streams and Floods: The Geology of Running Water
Chapter 18:  Restless Realm: Oceans and Coasts
Chapter 19:  A Hidden Reserve: Groundwater
Chapter 20:  An Envelope of Gas: Earth's Atmosphere and Climate
Chapter 21:  Dry Regions: The Geology of Deserts
Chapter 22:  Amazing Ice: Glaciers and Ice Ages
Chapter 23:  Global Change in the Earth System

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