Dynamic Earth: Plates, Plumes and Mantle Convection / Edition 1

by Geoffrey F. Davies

Overview

Dynamic Earth clearly details the mechanisms responsible for plate tectonics, volcanic hotspots, and many resulting geological processes. Starting from basic principles, coverage provides a fundamental exploration into the principles of convection in the earth's mantle, summarizes key observations and presents all the relevant physics. The book begins with a brief history of the key ideas leading into mantle convection, covering more than 200 years of geological thought. It concludes with surveys of geochemical contraints on mantle evolution and the thermal evolution of the mantle, with implications for changes in the surface tectonic regime. Main concepts and arguments are presented with a minimum of mathematics. For the reader who desires fuller coverage, more mathematical versions of important aspects are also included. This book will be of interest to a broad range of geologists who desire a better understanding of the earth's internal dynamics. Graduate students and researchers working on the many aspects of mantle dynamics and its implications for geological processes will find it particularly useful. It is also suitable as a text for upper undergraduate and postgraduate courses in geophysics, geochemistry, and tectonics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521599337
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/18/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	472
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

Part I. Origins: 1. Introduction; 2. Emergence; 3. Mobility; Part II. Foundations: 4. Surface; 5. Interior; 6. Flow; 7. Heat; Part III. Essence: 8. Convection; 9. Plates; 10. The plate mode; 11. The plume mode; 12. Synthesis; IV. Implications: 13. Chemistry; 14. Evolution; Appendices; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Seismic imaging allows geophysicists to trace flow cells in the mantle, providing there are hints of how turmoil deep in the Earth makes things happen at the surface. Until now, finding out about this work meant wading through journals and hefty research papers. Geoffrey Davies has changed all that with his superb book, Dynamic Earth: Plates, Plumes and Mantle Convection." New Scientist

"...the book is an elegant and readable exposition with a clear message of how the plates and mantle probably work." Nature

"...I highly recommend the book for physhicists who are interested in exciting developments in a neighboring discipline. If one is a little careful not to take every detail as established beyond doubt. the book gives deep insights into how the machinery of the apparently solid earth works." American Journal of Physics

"I found this book easy to read and at times, felt as though Davies were sitting in the room actually conversing with me about the topic...Davies states that his goal is to describe physical processes important to our understanding of the dynamics of the Earth in a manner that is accessible to a broad audience; he succeeds in achieving his goal. This book is not written for specialists, although a specialist would benefit from having the information in this book in a single location." EOS

"...an excellent, modestly priced, and generally accessible book...The book is quite usable as a gateway to the geodynamics literature or as an overview for other types of Earth scientists. Specialists will find valuable Davies' insights on geochemistry, plumes, and the effect of phase changes on convection." Physics Today

"This book will make an excellent supplementary text for upper undergraduates and postgraduates in either a tectonics course or a geodynamics course...This work will be an asset to anyone interested in how the earth works." Pure appl. geophys., Vol 158 2001

From the Publisher