The primary purpose of this text is to provide introductory geology students - who have had little or no science background - with a better understanding and appreciation of geology. Thompson & Turk's MODERN PHYSICAL GEOLOGY, Second Edition, stands out through its early coverage of plate tectonics (Chapter 2), the inclusion of special topic areas, and its beautiful design and writing style. It offers a complete overview of all topics in physical geology, including the most recent developments and research in areas of climate change and environmental issues.

This text is a brief version of Thompson & Turk's "Modern Physical Geology". It offers professors a more streamlined alternative to the longer introductory text. It emphasizes human-environment interactions and discusses the latest research in physical geology.

Physical Geology is a vast subject and it is not possible to cover all aspects in one book. This book does not invent the wheel but merely put together sets of updated but concise material on Physical Geology with lots of illustrations. All illustrations are created by hand and give a real classroom feel to the book. Students or readers can easily reproduce them by hand. This is a book, where a diagram says it all. The book is divided into four parts. The first part “The Solar System and Cosmic Bodies” deals with elements of our Solar System and the cosmic bodies around it (like meteorites, asteroids, etc.). The second part “The Earth Materials” deals with Earth and its internal structure. The third part “The Hydrologic System” is more exhaustive and deals with the hydrological system of the Earth including Weathering and Mass Wasting, Streams, Groundwater, Karst, Glaciers, Oceans and Aeolian Processes and Landforms. The fourth and the final part “The Tectonic System” deals with different aspects of Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes and Volcanoes.

This is a discount Black and white version. Some images may be unclear, please see BCCampus website for the digital version.This book was born out of a 2014 meeting of earth science educators representing most of the universities and colleges in British Columbia, and nurtured by a widely shared frustration that many students are not thriving in courses because textbooks have become too expensive for them to buy. But the real inspiration comes from a fascination for the spectacular geology of western Canada and the many decades that the author spent exploring this region along with colleagues, students, family, and friends. My goal has been to provide an accessible and comprehensive guide to the important topics of geology, richly illustrated with examples from western Canada. Although this text is intended to complement a typical first-year course in physical geology, its contents could be applied to numerous other related courses.

This authoritative text offers detailed and comprehensive explanations of all important natural systems and processes in physical geography. Fundamental processes and materials of inorganic earth systems are presented first, giving students a solid foundation from which to study the more complex organic systems covered later. The third edition provides an updated chapter on soils, a new section on remote sensing techniques and revised coverage of such topics as El Nino, acid rain, Sahel drought and rain forest destruction. More than 160 full-color photographs and maps are incorporated in the text, plus over 1,000 glossary entries.

A modern quantitative approach to structural geology and tectonics for advanced students and researchers.