This book is an essential reference volume that surveys tectonic landforms on solid bodies throughout the Solar System.

Earth as an Evolving Planetary System, Second Edition, explores key topics and questions relating to the evolution of the Earth's crust and mantle over the last four billion years. This updated edition features exciting new information on Earth and planetary evolution and examines how all subsystems in our planet—crust, mantle, core, atmosphere, oceans and life—have worked together and changed over time. It synthesizes data from the fields of oceanography, geophysics, planetology, and geochemistry to address Earth's evolution. This volume consists of 10 chapters, including two new ones that deal with the Supercontinent Cycle and on Great Events in Earth history. There are also new and updated sections on Earth's thermal history, planetary volcanism, planetary crusts, the onset of plate tectonics, changing composition of the oceans and atmosphere, and paleoclimatic regimes. In addition, the book now includes new tomographic data tracking plume tails into the deep mantle. This book is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, with a basic knowledge of geology, biology, chemistry, and physics. It also may serve as a reference tool for structural geologists and professionals in related disciplines who want to look at the Earth in a broader perspective. - Kent Condie's corresponding interactive CD, Plate Tectonics and How the Earth Works, can be purchased from Tasa Graphic Arts here: http://www.tasagraphicarts.com/progptearth.html - Two new chapters on the Supercontinent Cycle and on Great Events in Earth history - New and updated sections on Earth's thermal history, planetary volcanism, planetary crusts, the onset of plate tectonics, changing composition of the oceans and atmosphere, and paleoclimatic regimes - Also new in this Second Edition: the lower mantle and the role of the post-perovskite transition, the role of water in the mantle, new tomographic data tracking plume tails into the deep mantle, Euxinia in Proterozoic oceans, The Hadean, A crustal age gap at 2.4-2.2 Ga, and continental growth

"Inspired by a GSA Penrose Conference held in Lander, Wyoming, June 14-18, 2006, this volume discusses the beginning and evolution of plate tectonics on Earth, and gives readers an introduction to some of the uncertainties and controversies related to the evolution of the planet. In the first three sections of the book, which cover isotopic, geochemical, metamorphic, mineralization, and mantle geodynamic constraints, a variety of papers address the question of when "modern-style" plate tectonics began on planet Earth. The next set of papers focuses on the geodynamic or geophysical constraints for the beginning of plate tectonics. The volume's final section synthesizes a broad range of evidence, from planetary analogues and geodynamic modeling, to Earth's preserved geologic record. This work provides an excellent graduate level text summarizing the current state of knowledge and will be of interest to a wide range of earth and planetary scientists."--Publisher's website.

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.

Dynamics of Plate Tectonics and Mantle Convection, written by specialists in the field, gathers state-of-the-art perspectives on the dynamics of plate tectonics and mantle convection. Plate tectonics is a unifying theory of solid Earth sciences. In its initial form, it was a kinematic theory that described how the planet's surface is fragmented into several rigid lithospheric plates that move in relation to each other over the less viscous asthenosphere. Plate tectonics soon evolved to describe the forces that drive and resist plate movements. The Earth sciences community is now developing a new perspective that looks at plate tectonics and mantle convection as part of a single system. Why does our planet have plate tectonics, and how does it work? How does mantle convection drive the supercontinent cycle? How have tectono-convective modes evolved over the Earth's history? How did they shape the planet and impact life? Do other planets have mantle convection and tectonics? These are some of the fascinating questions explored in this book. This book started with a challenge from the editor to the authors to provide perspectives from their vantage point and open the curtain to the endeavors and stories behind the science. - Provides diverse perspectives from different experts around the world in plate tectonics and geodynamics - Includes the most up-to-date knowledge on plate tectonics and mantle convection - Sets the scene for the developments and challenges likely to be faced by researchers in the future of geodynamics

This book provides an up-to-date interdisciplinary geoscience-focused overview of solid solar system bodies and their evolution, based on the comparative description of processes acting on them. Planetary research today is a strongly multidisciplinary endeavor with efforts coming from engineering and natural sciences. Key focal areas of study are the solid surfaces found in our Solar System. Some have a direct interaction with the interplanetary medium and others have dynamic atmospheres. In any of those cases, the geological records of those surfaces (and sub-surfaces) are key to understanding the Solar System as a whole: its evolution and the planetary perspective of our own planet. This book has a modular structure and is divided into 4 sections comprising 15 chapters in total. Each section builds upon the previous one but is also self-standing. The sections are: Methods and tools Processes and Sources Integration and Geological Syntheses Frontiers The latter covers the far-reaching broad topics of exobiology, early life, extreme environments and planetary resources, all areas where major advancements are expected in the forthcoming decades and both key to human exploration of the Solar System. The target readership includes advanced undergraduate students in geoscience-related topics with no specific planetary science knowledge; undergraduates in other natural science domains (e.g. physics, astronomy, biology or chemistry); graduates in engineering and space systems design who want to complement their knowledge in planetary science. The authors’ backgrounds span a broad range of topics and disciplines: rooted in Earth geoscience, their expertise covers remote sensing and cartography, field mapping, impact cratering, volcanology and tectonics, sedimentology and stratigraphy exobiology and life in extreme environments, planetary resources and mining. Several generations of planetary scientists are cooperating to provide a modern view on a discipline developed from Earth during and through Space exploration.

The revolutionary discovery of thousands of confirmed and candidate planets beyond the solar system brings forth the most fundamental question: How do planets and their host stars form and evolve? Protostars and Planets VI brings together more than 250 contributing authors at the forefront of their field, conveying the latest results in this research area and establishing a new foundation for advancing our understanding of stellar and planetary formation. Continuing the tradition of the Protostars and Planets series, this latest volume uniquely integrates the cross-disciplinary aspects of this broad field. Covering an extremely wide range of scales, from the formation of large clouds in our Milky Way galaxy down to small chondrules in our solar system, Protostars and Planets VI takes an encompassing view with the goal of not only highlighting what we know but, most importantly, emphasizing the frontiers of what we do not know. As a vehicle for propelling forward new discoveries on stars, planets, and their origins, this latest volume in the Space Science Series is an indispensable resource for both current scientists and new students in astronomy, astrophysics, planetary science, and the study of meteorites.

This textbook explains how mountains are formed and why there are old and young mountains. It provides a reconstruction of the Earths paleogeography and shows why the shapes of South America and Africa fit so well together. Furthermore, it explains why the Pacific is surrounded by a ring of volcanos and earthquake-prone areas while the edges of the Atlantic are relatively peaceful. This thoroughly revised textbook edition addresses all these questions and more through the presentation and explanation of the geodynamic processes upon which the theory of continental drift is based and which have led to the concept of plate tectonics. It is a source of information for students of geology, geophysics, geography, geosciences in general, general natural sciences, as well as professionals, and interested layman.

"This unusual book, published to honor Warren Bell Hamilton, comprises a diverse, cross-disciplinary collection of bold new ideas in Earth and planetary science. This volume is a rich resource for researchers at all levels looking for interesting, unusual, and off-beat ideas to investigate or set as student projects"--

The ideal textbook resource to support a one-semester capstone course in planetary processes for geoscience undergraduates.