A summary of the history of discovering the moon. The author has been involved in the Apollo program, working with its samples and this book covers these efforts. It describes the analysis methods of lunar samples and their interpretation to understand lunar paleomagnetism. The book has adopted an historical approach throughout, tracing the development of the ideas of the Earth-moon system, of the birth of the space age, of paleomagnetism and finally of lunar magnetism and its evidence for an early lunar dynamo.
A summary of the history of discovering the moon. The author has been involved in the Apollo program, working with its samples and this book covers th...
When in 1981 Louis and Walter Alvarez, the father and son team, unearthed a tell-tale Iridium-rich sedimentary horizon at the 65 million years-old Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary at Gubbio, Italy, their find heralded a paradigm shift in the study of terrestrial evolution. Since the 1980s the discovery and study of asteroid impact ejecta in the oldest well-preserved terrains of Western Australia and South Africa, by Don Lowe, Gary Byerly, Bruce Simonson, Scott Hassler, the author and others, and the documentation of new exposed and buried impact structures in several continents, have led to a...
When in 1981 Louis and Walter Alvarez, the father and son team, unearthed a tell-tale Iridium-rich sedimentary horizon at the 65 million years-old ...
Unique among all creatures, further to the increase in its cranial volume from Australopithecus to Homo sapiens, the use of tools and cultural and scientific creativity, the genus Homo is distinguished by the mastery of fire, which since about two million years ago has become its blueprint. Through the Holocene and culminating in the Anthropocene, the burning of much of the terrestrial vegetation, excavation and combustion of fossil carbon from up to 420 million years-old biospheres, are leading to a global oxidation event on a geological scale, a rise in entropy in nature and the sixth mass...
Unique among all creatures, further to the increase in its cranial volume from Australopithecus to Homo sapiens, the use of tools and cultural and sci...
After a brief review of global tectonics and the structure of the crust and upper mantle, the basic relations of conductive heat transport and the rock thermal properties are introduced as well as the various methods for measuring thermal conductivity and heat generation due to the decay of radioactive elements. The authors analyze geothermal flow and the thermal state of the lithosphere and deep interior and discuss the fundamental problems related to the formation, upwelling mechanisms, solidification and cooling of magmas. The text presents analytical methods that allow us to gain...
After a brief review of global tectonics and the structure of the crust and upper mantle, the basic relations of conductive heat transport and the roc...
The study of disaster statistics and disaster occurrence is a complicated interdisciplinary field involving the interplay of new theoretical findings from several scientific fields like mathematics, physics, and computer science. Statistical studies on the mode of occurrence of natural disasters largely rely on fundamental findings in the statistics of rare events, which were derived in the 20th century. With regard to natural disasters, it is not so much the fact that the importance of this problem for mankind was recognized during the last third of the 20th century - the myths one...
The study of disaster statistics and disaster occurrence is a complicated interdisciplinary field involving the interplay of new theoretical findin...
This book describes the algorithms, validation and preliminary analysis of the Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) products, a long-term, high-quality dataset that is now freely available worldwide to government organizations and agencies, scientific research institutions, students and members of the general public.
The GLASS products include leaf area index, broadband albedo, broadband emissivity, downward shortwave radiation and photosynthetically active radiation. The first three GLASS products cover 1981 to 2012 with 1km and 5km spatial resolutions and 8-day temporal...
This book describes the algorithms, validation and preliminary analysis of the Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) products, a long-term, high-qu...
Modern researchers in plate tectonics may be concerned with the analysis of distributed deformation across diffuse plate boundaries and triple junction zones. This book extends classic methods of kinematic analysis first developed in the 1960s to the more general scenarios of diffuse deformation zones between plates. The analytic methods presented specifically target the non-rigid deformation implied by unstable triple junction configurations. These methods are then applied to the tectonic evolution of western Caribbean region which provides new ways to test and challenge the established...
Modern researchers in plate tectonics may be concerned with the analysis of distributed deformation across diffuse plate boundaries and triple junc...
The number of megacities worldwide is rapidly increasing and contemporary cities are also expanding fast. As a result, cities and their inhabitants are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the effects of catastrophic natural events such as extreme weather events (recently more frequent and intense as a result of the ongoing climate changes), earthquakes, tsunamis or man-induced events such as terrorist attacks or accidents. Furthermore, due to increasing technological complexity of urban areas, along with increasing population density, cities are becoming more and more risk...
The number of megacities worldwide is rapidly increasing and contemporary cities are also expanding fast. As a result, cities and their inhabitants...
With increased climate variability, aggravated natural hazards in the form of extreme events are affecting the lives and livelihoods of many people. This work serves as a basis for formulating a 'preparedness plan' to ensure the effective policy formulation for planned development. Increased demand and competition with a high degree of variability have forced people to struggle in order to prosper. Good governance and innovative policy formulation are necessary to create a resilient society. This may promote a paradigm shift in the mindset on and perceptions of natural hazards and their...
With increased climate variability, aggravated natural hazards in the form of extreme events are affecting the lives and livelihoods of many people. T...
Beach renourishment is the restoration of beaches that have been depleted. The text deals with the sources of beach sediment as well as the causes and typical responses to beach erosion, before discussion of beach renourishment.
Some of the first documented renourishment projects were undertaken in the early 1900's on the east coast of the United States. Several countries have since renourished beaches, particularly during the past few decades. Most projects have been in the United States, the United Kingdom, some European countries and Australia. These are reviewed and experience...
Beach renourishment is the restoration of beaches that have been depleted. The text deals with the sources of beach sediment as well as the causes ...