Table of Contents
Introduction to Earth Sciences: A Physics Approach v
1 A View of Earth: The Earth's Spheres 1
1 The Atmosphere 4
1.1 Composition 4
1.2 A layer model 5
1.3 Some other atmospheres in the solar system 7
2 The Hydrosphere 8
2.1 Saltwater and fresh waters 8
2.2 The water cycle 8
3 The Biosphere 11
3.1 Composition 11
3.2 The deep biosphere 11
4 The Lithosphere 13
4.1 A layer model of solid Earth 13
4.2 The rock cycle 16
Part A Earthquake and Volcanoes 27
2 Seismic Waves and Evidences of Earth's Interior Structure 29
1 Seismic Waves 30
1.1 Wave propagation and seismic data 30
1.2 Body waves: P- and S-waves 34
1.3 Reflection, refraction, transmission, and diffraction 49
1.4 Surface waves: Love and Rayleigh waves 67
2 Earth's Interior: Evidence 69
2.1 The crust/mantle boundary 73
2.2 The mantle/core boundary: the P-wave and S-wave shadowed zones 75
2.3 The outer-core/inner-core boundary 75
2.4 Scientific drilling programs 77
3 Earthquakes and Volcanoes 83
1 Earthquakes 84
1.1 What is an earthquake? 84
1.2 Causes of earthquakes 87
1.3 Locating the epicenter and focus of an earthquake 91
1.4 Measuring the size of an earthquake 91
1.5 Source (hypocenter) mechanisms 104
1.6 A description of some major earthquakes 115
1.7 Tsunamis 116
2 Volcanoes 122
2.1 What is and is not a volcano 122
2.2 Types of volcanoes 124
2.3 Examples of volcanoes 125
4 Tectonic Plate Theory 133
1 Observations Leading to the Tectonic Plate Theory 134
1.1 Quake and eruption correlations and noncorrelations 134
1.2 Continental drift: geological observations 137
1.3 Continental drift: geophysical observations 139
2 The Tectonic Plate Theory 142
2.1 Tectonic plate world map 142
2.2 Plate boundaries: mid-ocean ridges, oceanic trenches, and transform faults 146
2.3 The hotspot theory 154
2.4 The earthquake map vs. the plate map 157
2.5 The active volcanic map vs. the plate map 158
3 Earthquake and Volcanic Eruption: Predictions and Beyond 160
3.1 An earthquake-hazard map and earthquake and volcanic eruption predictions 160
3.2 Induced earthquakes 164
3.3 Multiple tremors (multiple sources) 167
Part B Earth's Climates 171
5 Climate and Heat Radiation 173
1 What is Climate? 173
1.1 The differences between weather and climate 173
1.2 Climate change from a historical perspective 174
1.3 Glaciers, ice ages, and the Holocene period 177
1.4 What causes climate change? 182
2 Heat and Temperature 185
2.1 Molecular vibration and heat 185
2.2 How is heat moved around 188
2.3 Temperature scales 190
2.4 Temperatures in the solid earth 192
6 Electromagnetic Radiation 197
1 Electric Charge, and Electric and Magnetic Fields 200
1.1 Electrically charged particles 201
1.2 Electric current density 202
1.3 The Lorentz force law: electric and magnetic fields 203
2 Basics of Electromagnetic Waves 207
2.1 Elastic waves and electromagnetic waves 207
2.2 Electromagnetic waves in vacuum 208
2.3 Waves and particles 214
2.4 The electromagnetic spectrum 217
2.5 Behaviors of electromagnetic waves 222
3 Electromagnetic Waves hi Matter 226
3.1 Electric monopoles and dipoles, and magnetic dipoles 227
3.2 Conductivity, permittivity, and permeability 231
4 Conductors, Semiconductors, and Insulators 234
7 Energy-Balance Equations and the Greenhouse Effect 245
1 Radiation Laws and the Blackbody Spectrum 246
1.1 The first law of radiation and Planck's law 246
1.2 The second and third laws of radiation, and Sun and Earth radiation 249
1.3 The fourth law of radiation 251
2 Energy-Balance Equations 253
2.1 The climate model without the atmosphere 253
2.2 Climate model with the atmosphere 256
3 Greenhouse Effects 259
3.1 How do we know that a gas is a greenhouse gas? 261
3.2 Climate model with the greenhouse effect 264
3.3 Absorption of electromagnetic radiation by the atmosphere 267
8 Climate Forcings 275
1 Tools of Global-Warming Analysis 275
1.1 Direct measurements of temperatures 276
1.2 Proxy measurements of temperatures 278
1.3 Numerical modeling of climates 281
2 Climate Forcings 286
2.1 Natural forcing 286
2.2 Human forcing 293
2.3 Anthropogenic climates 297
2.4 Mitigation of and adaptation to climate change 304
Part C Energy Resources 311
9 Friday Production and Consumption 313
1 Fundamentals of Energy 314
1.1 What-is energy? 314
1.2 Nonrenewable energy resources 315
1.3 Renewable energy resources 322
1.4 The scientific and technological challenges of the twenty-first century 326
2 The Economy of Energy 330
2.1 Conventional oil and gas 332
2.2 New frontiers of conventional oil and gas 338
2.3 Unconventional oil and gas 342
10 Biomass, Solar, and Wind Energy Resources: Fundamentals and Technology 353
1 Biomass Energy 354
1.1 Biofuels 357
1.2 Biopower 359
1.3 Bioproducts 362
2 Solar Energy 363
2.1 Photovoltaic cells 364
2.2 Concentrating solar power 373
3 Wind Energy 377
11 Source Rocks and Seismology 391
1 Source Rocks and Oil and Gas Traps 391
1.1 Sedimentary rocks 391
1.2 Heat, pressure, and diagenesis 392
1.3 Petroleum systems 395
1.4 The Earth's golden zone 401
1.5 How to find oil and gas? 404
2 Petroleum Seismology 405
2.1 How does petroleum seismology work? 405
2.2 General principle of seismic acquisition 408
3 Seismic Data Acquisition 409
3.1 Marine towed-streamer seismics 409
3.2 Ocean-bottom seismics 412
3.3 Land-surface seismics 414
3.1 Transition zone 420
3.5 Borehole seismics 420
12 Exploration, Production, and Monitoring 429
1 Exploration 429
1.1 Exploring for stratigraphic traps 430
1.2 Exploring the subsalt 431
1.3 Exploring the sub-basalt 433
2 Oil Production 437
2.1 Drilling, completion, and production 437
2.2 Hydraulic fracturing 443
2.3 Thermal recovery 446
3 Reservoir Monitoring 448
3.1 Time-lapse seismics 448
3.2 Permanent reservoir monitoring 449
Appendix A Global Climate Model (GCM) 459
Appendix B Answers to some of the Quizzes and Exercises 463
Index 499
