"The Umbria-Marche Apennines are entirely made of marine sedimentary rocks, representing a continuous record of the geotectonic evolution of an epeiric sea from the Early Triassic to the Pleistocene. The book includes reviews and original research works accomplished with the support of the Geological Observatory of Coldigioco"--
"This volume pays tribute to the career and scientific accomplishments of Walter Alvarez with papers related to the many topics he has covered : tectonics of microplates, structural geology, paleomagnetics, Apennine sedimentary sequences, geoarchaeology and Roman volcanics, Big History, and the discovery of evidence for a large asteroidal impact event at the Cretaceous-Tertiary (now Cretaceous-Paleogene) boundary site in Gubbio, Italy"--
Narrative Science examines the use of narrative in scientific research over the last two centuries. It brings together an international group of scholars who have engaged in intense collaboration to find and develop crucial cases of narrative in science. Motivated and coordinated by the Narrative Science project, funded by the European Research Council, this volume offers integrated and insightful essays examining cases that run the gamut from geology to psychology, chemistry, physics, botany, mathematics, epidemiology, and biological engineering. Taking in shipwrecks, human evolution, military intelligence, and mass extinctions, this landmark study revises our understanding of what science is, and the roles of narrative in scientists' work. This title is also available as Open Access.
Studies of Sr isotopic composition of thousands of samples of marine sediments and fossils have yielded a curve of 87Sr/86Sr versus age for seawater Sr that extends back to 1 billion years. The ratio has fluctuated with large amplitude during this time period, and because the ratio is always uniform in the oceans globally at any one time, it is useful as a stratigraphic correlation and age-dating tool. The ratio also appears to reflect major tectonic and climatic events in Earth history and hence provides clues as to the causes, timing, and consequences of those events. The seawater 87Sr/86Sr ratio is generally high during periods marked by continent-continent collisions, and lower when continental topography is subdued, and seafloor generation rates are high. There is evidence that major shifts in the seawater ratio can be ascribed to specific orogenic events and correlate with large shifts in global climate.
This timely book unpacks the idea of ‘disaster’ from a variety of approaches, broadening understanding and improving the usability of this complex and often contested concept. Including multidisciplinary perspectives from leading and emerging scholars, it offers reflections on how the concept of disaster has been shaped by and within various fields of research, providing complementary and thought-provoking comparisons across many domains.
"This volume covers new developments and research on mass extinctions, volcanism, and impacts. It addresses the following topics: the Central Iapetus magmatic province; thermogenic degassing in large igneous provinces; global mercury enrichment in Valanginian sediments; Guerrero-Morelos carbonate platform response to the Caribbean-Colombian Cretaceous large igneous province; implications for the Cretaceous-Paleocene boundary event in shallow platform environments and correlation to the deep sea; environmental effects of Deccan volcanism on biotic transformations and attendant Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary mass extinction in the Indian subcontinent; Deccan red boles; and factors leading to the collapse of producers during the Chicxulub impact and Deccan Traps eruptions"--
3D DIGITAL GEOLOGICAL MODELS Discover the practical aspects of modeling techniques and their applicability on both terrestrial and extraterrestrial structures A wide overlap exists in the methodologies used by geoscientists working on the Earth and those focused on other planetary bodies in the Solar System. Over the course of a series of sessions at the General Assemblies of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna, the intersection found in 3D characterization and modeling of geological and geomorphological structures for all terrestrial bodies in our solar system revealed that there are similar datasets and common techniques for the study of all planets—Earth and beyond—from a geological point-of-view. By looking at Digital Outcrop Models (DOMs), Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), or Shape Models (SM), researchers may achieve digital representations of outcrops, topographic surfaces, or entire small bodies of the Solar System, like asteroids or comet nuclei. 3D Digital Geological Models: From Terrestrial Outcrops to Planetary Surfaces has two central objectives, to highlight the similarities that geological disciplines have in common when applied to entities in the Solar System, and to encourage interdisciplinary communication and collaboration between different scientific communities. The book particularly focuses on analytical techniques on DOMs, DEMs and SMs that allow for quantitative characterization of outcrops and geomorphological features. It also highlights innovative 3D interpretation and modeling strategies that allow scientists to gain new and more advanced quantitative results on terrestrial and extraterrestrial structures. 3D Digital Geological Models: From Terrestrial Outcrops to Planetary Surfaces readers will also find: The first volume dedicated to this subject matter that successfully integrates methodology and applications A series of methodological chapters that provide instruction on best practices involving DOMs, DEMs, and SMs A wide range of case studies, including small- to large-scale projects on Earth, Mars, the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet, and the Moon Examples of how data collected at surface can help reconstruct 3D subsurface models 3D Digital Geological Models: From Terrestrial Outcrops to Planetary Surfaces is a useful reference for academic researchers in earth science, structural geology, geophysics, petroleum geology, remote sensing, geostatistics, and planetary scientists, and graduate students studying in these fields. It will also be of interest for professionals from industry, particularly those in the mining and hydrocarbon fields.
Some 250 million years ago, the earth suffered the greatest biological crisis in its history. Around 95 percent of all living species died out—a global catastrophe far greater than the dinosaurs' demise 185 million years later. How this happened remains a mystery. But there are many competing theories. Some blame huge volcanic eruptions that covered an area as large as the continental United States; others argue for sudden changes in ocean levels and chemistry, including burps of methane gas; and still others cite the impact of an extraterrestrial object, similar to what caused the dinosaurs' extinction. Extinction is a paleontological mystery story. Here, the world's foremost authority on the subject provides a fascinating overview of the evidence for and against a whole host of hypotheses concerning this cataclysmic event that unfolded at the end of the Permian. After setting the scene, Erwin introduces the suite of possible perpetrators and the types of evidence paleontologists seek. He then unveils the actual evidence--moving from China, where much of the best evidence is found; to a look at extinction in the oceans; to the extraordinary fossil animals of the Karoo Desert of South Africa. Erwin reviews the evidence for each of the hypotheses before presenting his own view of what happened. Although full recovery took tens of millions of years, this most massive of mass extinctions was a powerful creative force, setting the stage for the development of the world as we know it today. In a new preface, Douglas Erwin assesses developments in the field since the book's initial publication.
