Planetary Surface Processes
Planetary Surface Processes
CAD$109.95
Planetary Surface Processes is the first advanced textbook to cover the full range of geologic processes that shape the surfaces of planetary-scale bodies. Using a modern, quantitative approach, this book reconsiders geologic processes outside the traditional terrestrial context. It highlights processes that are contingent upon Earth's unique circumstances and processes that are universal. For example, it shows explicitly that equations predicting the velocity of a river are dependent on gravity: traditional geomorphology textbooks fail to take this into account. This textbook is a one-stop source of information on planetary surface processes, providing readers with the necessary background to interpret new data from NASA, ESA and other space missions. Based on a course taught by the author at the University of Arizona for 25 years, it is aimed at advanced students, and is also an invaluable resource for researchers, professional planetary scientists and space-mission engineers.
- Provides comprehensive coverage of all planetary surface processes in one book
- A quantitative, process-orientated approach allows readers to apply geologic processes to previously unanticipated circumstances on new planetary-scale bodies
- Presents extensively class-tested material from the author's 25 years of experience teaching courses on the topic
Reviews & endorsements
"… an essential volume for any student of terrestrial or more exotic geology and geomorphology, and it contains a lot of fascinating nuggets for the general reader." - Spaceflight
"The author's interest in solid bodies is far more than skin-deep...The book has many helpful illustrations, open-ended thought problems at the end of each chapter, and a manageable list of high-impact articles for a bibliography. It provides an in-depth, synthetic introduction to the physics of processes shaping solid-body surfaces..Recommended." - B.M Simonson, CHOICE, September 2012
"..truly shines in the middle chapters on material strengths and topography, tectonics..poised to become the standard text for planetary surface geology and will make an essential addition to the bookshelves of students and researchers alike." - J. Taylor Perron, Physics Today, November 2012
"Melosh is an intellectual giant...[this book]will continue to reward the reader for decades to come. Each time I open this book, I learn something new or at least see an old idea presented in a way I had not thought of before...The book is a remarkable resource, and I plan to incorporate it in my own teaching of Earth and planetary surface processes.." - Jon Pelletier, Meteoritics & Planetary Science, October 2012
Product details
October 2011Hardback
9780521514187
534 pages
255 × 183 × 30 mm
1.17kg
141 b/w illus. 28 tables 34 exercises
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface
- 1. The grand tour
- 2. The shapes of planets and moons
- 3. Strength versus gravity
- 4. Tectonics
- 5. Volcanism
- 6. Impact cratering
- 7. Regoliths, weathering and surface texture
- 8. Slopes and mass movement
- 9. Wind
- 10. Water
- 11. Ice
- References
- Index.
