Geosciences, Environment and Man

by H. Chamley

Overview

Geosciences, Environment and Man has three major objectives, which determine the division in three parts of this volume: I. To consider the main natural geological processes interfering with and therefore threatening the activities of man: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, land movements, floods, wind and coastal risks; main prevention and mitigation measures against these natural hazards are presented. II. To examine the exploitation of earth's natural resources such as materials, ores and minerals, fossil fuels, water, radioactivity, and the resulting consequences on solid Earth balance and future. III. To assess the hold level reached by the activities of man on planet surface envelopes through agriculture, urbanization, industrialization, and communication; the local to global effects of human influence triggered by recent demographic growth on underground, soils, water and air characters are taken into account. Both deteriorating and beneficial aspects of Earth - the interactions of man are emphasized, as well as mitigation or restoration measures and perspectives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780444514226
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Publication date:	08/28/2003
Series:	Developments in Earth and Environmental Sciences , #1
Pages:	550
Product dimensions:	5.94(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Abridged content. Table of contents. Foreword. Introduction. The Earth-Man encounter. 1. Population explosion. 2. Human occupancy steps. 3. Main natural hazards. 4. Main man-induced impacts and risks. 5. Perspectives. Part I. The Man facing Earth hazards. 1. Earthquakes. 1.1 1999, major earthquakes in Turkey. 1.2 The seismic hazard. 1.3 Mechanism. 1.4 Artificial earthquakes. 1.5 Earthquake forecasting. 1.6 Earthquake prevention. 1.7 Perspectives. 2. Volcanic eruptions. 2.1 1980, return to Mount St. Helens activity. 2.2 The volcanic hazard. 2.3 Indirect effects. 2.4 Eruption forecasting. 2.5 Prevention of eruptions. 2.6 Perspectives. 3. Land movements. 3.1 Slope gravity displacements. 3.2 Vertical movements. 3.3 Physicochemical change of surface formations. 4. Wind and water hazards. 4.1 Flooding. 4.2 Aeolian hazards. 4.3 Coastal hazards. Part II. Exploiting Geological Resources. 5. Earth materials and ores. 5.1 A strong demand for non-renewable ground resources. 5.2 Main resources and exploitation. 5.3 Environmental impact. 5.4 The future of mining sites. 6. Underground water. 6.1 A strong demand for limited resources. 6.2 Water resources. 6.3 Specific uses. 6.4 Impact of water exploitation. 6.5 Perspectives of water management. 7. Radioactivity. 7.1 Natural radioactivity.
7.2 Exploitation of nuclear energy. 7.3 Nuclear waste. Part III. Earth facing man activities. 8. Soils. 8.1 Haiti, Everglades: loss, conservation of surface formations. 8.2 Deforestation. 8.3 Soil exploitation. 8.4 Desertification.
9. Cities, industries, and communications. 9.1 Florida Keys: a concreted complex in the heart of a natural park. 9.2 An increasing demand for artificial ground surfaces. 9.3 Human impact on surface environments. 9.4 Urban and industrial waste.
9.5 Stone and building decay. 10. Chemical contamination of Earth surface formations. 10.1 Freshwater, soil and underground.
10.2 Coasts and seas. 11. Regional to global change of Earth fluid envelopes, and impact on solid Earth. 11.1 Modification of ocean-atmosphere interactions. 11.2 Greenhouse effect-inducing gases. 11.3 Acid rain. 11.4 Air quality, water quality, soil reworking. Epilogue. References. Index.

Editorial Reviews

from:J.W. Green
"...will serve as a good summary environmental geology book." —Choice Reviews

from:J. Matschullat
"....This new textbook stands out for several reasons: it is well made, it is partly provocative, and it is comprehensive in the sense that the author successfully wrote an encompassing book without becoming boring. ...Chamley has delivered a highly recommendable textbook." —Environmental Geology

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