The passage of nine days, which is how long a drop of water typically stays in Earth's atmosphere, is something we can easily grasp. But spans of hundreds of years--the time a molecule of carbon dioxide resides in the atmosphere--approach the limits of our comprehension. Our everyday lives are shaped by processes that vastly predate us, and our habits will in turn have consequences that will outlast us by generations. Timefulness reveals how knowing the rhythms of Earth's deep past and conceiving of time as a geologist does can give us the perspective we need for a more sustainable future.Marcia Bjornerud shows how geologists chart the planet's past, explaining how we can determine the pace of solid Earth processes such as mountain building and erosion and comparing them with the more unstable rhythms of the oceans and atmosphere. These overlapping rates of change in the Earth system--some fast, some slow--demand a poly-temporal worldview, one that Bjornerud calls "timefulness." She explains why timefulness is vital in the Anthropocene, this human epoch of accelerating planetary change, and proposes sensible solutions for building a more time-literate society.This compelling book presents a new way of thinking about our place in time, enabling us to make decisions on multigenerational timescales. The lifespan of Earth may seem unfathomable compared to the brevity of human existence, but this view of time denies our deep roots in Earth's history--and the magnitude of our effects on the planet.

    Michael G. Strauss explores these central questions about science and faith in simple and entertaining language, showing how modern scientific discoveries about the origin and design of the universe proclaim the character of God and agree with the biblical story of creation. For the Christian confronted with possible inconsistencies between faith and science, and for the skeptic who believes modern science has shown that belief in God is unnecessary, The Creator Revealed can demonstrate the glory, power, and wonder of God by looking at science, the Bible, and the effect that truth has on peoples lives. Reconciling the truth of scripture with the truth of science can change your perspective and your life. The message of The Creator Revealed will expand your idea of who God is, increase your faith in him, and provide a way to share this revelation of God in creation with others.

    Constitution’s roots in interstate river navigation, to the failure of the levees in Hurricane Katrina and the water wars in the west. Through his own travels and his encounters with experts all over the country—a Mississippi River tugboat captain, an Erie Canal lock operator, a project manager buying water rights for farms along the Colorado River—Doyle reveals the central role rivers have played in American history and how vital they are to its future.

    The fruits of geology provide most of the materials that give us shelter, and most of the energy that drives our modern lives. Within the study of geology lie some of the clues to the extraordinary impact our species is going to play out on the planet, in centuries and millennia to come.In this Very Short Introduction Jan Zalasiewicz gives a brief introduction to the fascinating field of geology. Describing how the science developed from its early beginnings, he looks at some of the key discoveries that have transformed it, before delving into its various subfields, such as sedimentology, tectonics, and stratigraphy. Analyzing the geological foundations of the Earth, Zalasiewicz explains the interlocking studies of tectonics, geophysics, and igneous and metamorphic petrology and geochemistry; and describes how rocks are dated by radiometric dating. Considering the role and importance of geology in the finding and exploitation of resources (including fracking), he also discusses its place in environmental issues, such as foundations for urban structures and sites for landfill, and in tackling issues associated with climate change. Zalasiewicz concludes by discussing the exciting future and frontiers of the field, such as the exploration of the geology of Mars.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

    How do you go about recreating the anatomy and behavior of a creature we've never seen? How can we restore landscapes long lost to time? And where does the boundary between paleontology—the science of understanding fossils—and artistic license lie? In this outstanding book, Mark Witton shares his detailed paintings and great experience of drawing and painting extinct species. The approaches used in rendering these impressive creatures are discussed and demonstrate the problems, as well as the unexpected freedoms, that paleontological artists are faced with. The book showcases more than 90 scientifically credible paintings of some of the most spectacular animals in the Earth's history, as well as many less familiar species.

    Yet, apart from the frequent use of cliches such as 'tectonic shift' by economists, journalists, and politicians, the science itself is rarely mentioned and poorly understood. This book explains modern plate tectonics in a non-technical manner, showing not only how it accounts for phenomena such as great earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, but also how it controls conditions at the Earth's surface, including global geography and climate. The book presents the advances that have been made since the establishment of plate tectonics in the 1960s, highlighting, on the 50th anniversary of the theory, the contributions of a small number of scientists who have never been widely recognized for their discoveries.Beginning with the publication of a short article in Nature by Vine and Matthews, the book traces the development of plate tectonics through two generations of the theory. First generation plate tectonics covers the exciting scientific revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, its heroes and its villains. The second generation includes the rapid expansions in sonar, satellite, and seismic technologies during the 1980s and 1990s that provided a truly global view of the plates and their motions, and an appreciation of the role of the plates within the Earth 'system'. The final chapter bring us to the cutting edge of the science, and the latest results from studies using technologies such as seismic tomography and high-pressure mineral physics to probe the deep interior. Ultimately, the book leads to the startling conclusion that, without plate tectonics, the Earth would be as lifeless as Venus.

    That world was not imaginary; it was the earth more than 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era. In Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction, George R. McGhee Jr. explores that ancient world, explaining its origins; its downfall in the end-Permian mass extinction, the greatest biodiversity crisis to occur since the evolution of animal life on Earth; and how its legacies still affect us today.McGhee investigates the consequences of the Late Paleozoic ice age in this comprehensive portrait of the effects of ancient climate change on global ecology. Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction examines the climatic conditions that allowed for the evolution of gigantic animals and the formation of the largest tropical rainforests ever to exist, which in time turned into the coal that made the industrial revolution possible--and fuels the engine of contemporary anthropogenic climate change. Exploring the strange and fascinating flora and fauna of the Late Paleozoic ice age world, McGhee focuses his analysis on the forces that brought this world to an abrupt and violent end. Synthesizing decades of research and new discoveries, this comprehensive book provides a wealth of insights into past and present extinction events and climate change.

    Guide and source-book with advice on observing and collecting gems and minerals in Washington.

    Continents colliding along the eastern coast of North America built huge mountains that shed sediment into a shallow inland sea to the west. Thick wedges of sandstone, shale, and limestone piled up, all folded by later collisions to the east. In West Virginia's Valley and Ridge Province, rsistant, titled sandstones form long ridges that parallel the fold axes, while less folded rock forms the horizontal layers of the Appalachian Plateaus to the west. From Harpers Ferry at the edge of the Blue Ridge through the Allegheny Mountains west to the Ohio River valley, sedimentary rock thickens and thins, hiking valuable layers of coal and reservoirs of oil and gas. Authors Joseph Lebold and Christopher Wilkinson lead you along roads through the Mountain State, past roadcuts exposing contorted rock layers, coral reefs, and ancient red soils. Sidebars provide more details about iconic places such as the New River Gorge, Seneca Rocks, and Dolly Sods, and about unusual geologic features such as the riverless Teays Valley and the karst topography and caverns of the Big Levels.

    Early settlers sought out other natural resources as well, with limestone quarried from the Niagara Escarpment along Lake Michigan, iron mined in the Penokee Range, and copper discovered in glacial deposits, eroded from Midcontinental Rift basalts near Lake Superior. Not only is Wisconsin's geology some of the most diverse of any sate in the country, but much of it is internationally famous. Within the state's borders are enormous potholes eroded by glacial floods, a mysterious meteor impact site, caves with flowstone "painted" by iron and manganese oxides, and Van Hise Rock in the Barabooo Hills, where principles of structural geology were established.Author Scott Spoolman has picked 52 of the best geologic sites in the state to include in Wisconsin Rocks!, a new title in the state-by-state Geology Rocks! series. Organized into five regions of the state, all of the sites are in publically accessible parks and natural areas. Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy learning about the rock formations of the state's many glens, gorges, and bluffs. Geology buffs can also explore glacial features along Wisconsin's 1,200-mile-long Ice Age Trail or avoid them altogether in the Driftless Area, a region mysteriously untouched by the massive ice sheets of the Pleistocene Epoch.

    Arranged chronologically (starting 13.8 billion years ago), the chapters each deal with a particular event or process that has resulted in the formation under discussion. These include the early beginnings of the Earth, meteorites, canyons and limestone caves, vast desert landscapes, moonscapes and bizarrely-shaped rocks, and Namibia's astonishing underwater lakes and reservoirs. Picture-driven, with accessible text, this book features all the highlights of Namibian landscapes and landforms. A treat for travellers real and virtual - those on the road as well as those in armchairs.