Treatise on Geophysics

Treatise on Geophysics is a comprehensive and in-depth study of the physics of the Earth. Its breadth and detail of coverage are beyond what any geophysics text has provided previously. Thoroughly revised and updated from the first edition, it continues to provide students and professionals with fundamental and state-of-the-art discussion of all aspects of geophysics. A highlight of the second edition is a new volume on Near Surface Geophysics that discusses the role of geophysics in the exploitation and conservation of natural resources and the assessment of degradation of natural systems by pollution. The near surface is a zone where human and natural systems interact. Understanding the effects of human impacts is a challenge particularly for the long term.§§Additional features of the new edition include new chapters in the Planets and Moon volume on planetary atmospheres, planetary tectonics, extrasolar planets and asteroids and comets. The Mantle Dynamics volume contains new chapters on the generation of plate tectonics from mantle convection and the core-mantle boundary region. The Core Dynamics volume includes new chapters on waves and turbulence in the fluid outer core. The Crustal and Lithosphere Dynamics volume has new contributions on mountain building and landscape evolution. The volume on the Evolution of the Earth presents a new assessment on the role of volatiles in Earth evolution. New material in the Geodesy volume expands the temporal resolution and latency of geodetic measurements to high-rate, real time measurements and increases the spatial resolution to meter size pixels with optical and radar imaging systems. Application areas are extended with new material on the uses of Earth gravity measurements.§§Comprehensive and detailed coverage of all aspects of geophysics§Fundamental and state-of-the-art discussions of all research topics§Integration of topics into a coherent whole