By looking backward at the course of great extinctions, a paleontologist sees what the future holds.More than 200 million years ago, a cataclysmic event known as the Permian extinction destroyed more than 90 percent of all species and nearly 97 percent of all living things. Its origins have long been a puzzle for paleontologists. During the 1990s and the early part of this century, a great battle was fought between those who thought that death had come from above and those who thou...

The Palaeozoic or Primary Era spans a period of time ranging from 542 million to 251 million years ago. The name Paleozoic, derives from the fact that, in the past, it was considered the first geological age. The Paleozoic covers a range of about 300 million years, giving rise to many forms of life, until the appearance of thecodonts, commonly believed to be the ancestors of dinosaurs.

Rivers are significant geomorphological agents, they show an amazing diversity of form and behaviour and transfer water and sediment from the land surface to the oceans. This book examines how river systems respond to environmental change and why this understanding is needed for successful river management. Highly dynamic in nature, river channels adjust and evolve over timescales that range from hours to tens of thousands of years or more, and are found in a wide range of environments.

The Cenozoic or Tertiary Era, derives its name from the greek and means "recent life". It covers the long period of time ranging from 65 to 1.8 million years ago. For the great success of the Mammals, the Cenozoic is also called the Age of Mammals.Birds conquer the heavens, no longer dominated by the flying reptiles. Toward the end of this Age will come out early hominids.

Tectonic geomorphology is the study of the interplay between tectonic and surface processes that shape the landscape in regions of active deformation and at time scales ranging from days to millions of years. Over the past decade, recent advances in the quantification of both rates and the physical basis of tectonic and surface processes have underpinned an explosion of new research in the field of tectonic geomorphology. Modern tectonic geomorphology is an exceptionally integrative field ...

Mapping closely to how ore deposit geology is now taught, this textbook systematically describes and illustrates the major ore deposit types, linking this to their settings in the crust and the geological factors behind their formation. Written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students with a basic background in the geosciences, it provides a balance of practical information and coverage of the relevant geological sciences, including petrological, geochemical, hydrological and tecto...

Salt tectonics is the study of how and why salt structures evolve and the three-dimensional forms that result. A fascinating branch of geology in itself, salt tectonics is also vitally important to the petroleum industry. Covering the entire scale from the microscopic to the continental, this textbook is an unrivalled consolidation of all topics related to salt tectonics: evaporite deposition and flow, salt structures, salt systems, and practical applications. Coverage of the principles of...

Geology for Nongeologists introduces basic concepts in geology: how rocks, minerals, and fossils are classified, how wind, ice, and water have shaped the earth, how mountains are formed, and how volcanoes, geysers, earthquakes, glaciers, and groundwater work to modify the physical structure of Earth.Primarily designed as an information source, and intended to be a non-technical survey for those with little background in science, this book is presented in a reader-friendly ...

Glaciers and Glaciation is the classic textbook for all students of glaciation. Stimulating and accessible, it has established a reputation as a comprehensive and essential resource.In this new edition, the text, references and illustrations have been thoroughly updated to give today's reader an up-to-the minute overview of the nature, origin and behaviour of glaciers and the geological and geomorphological evidence for their past history on earth.The first part of...

The invasion of land by ocean-dwelling plants and animals was one of the most revolutionary events in the evolution of life on Earth, yet the animal invasion almost failed—twice—because of the twin mass extinctions of the Late Devonian Epoch. Some 359 to 375 million years ago, these catastrophic events dealt our ancestors a blow that almost drove them back into the sea. If those extinctions had been just a bit more severe, spiders and insects—instead of vertebrates—might have become the ec...

Presents and authoritative and biblical geological time-line for high school students and adults.Includes substantial illustrations, a glossary, and an extensive reference section.Clearly explains how data from volcanic deposits, seismic activity in Earth history, and even the presence of ripple marks in rock layers support the Bible as history.From the acclaimed Creation Research Society, this technical study of rock strata, and the fossils found t...