Earth Materials Components of a Diverse Planet

There is a large and growing need for a textbook that can form the basis for integrated classes that look at minerals, rocks, and other Earth materials. Despite the need, no high-quality book is available for such a course. Earth Materials is a wide-ranging undergraduate textbook that covers all the most important kinds of (inorganic) Earth materials. Besides traditional chapters on minerals and rocks, this book features chapters on sediments and stratigraphy, weathering and soils, water and the hydrosphere, and mineral and energy deposits. Introductions to soil mechanics and rock mechanics are also included.This book steers away from the model of traditional encyclopedic science textbooks, but rather exposes students to the key and most exciting ideas and information, with an emphasis on thinking about Earth as a system. The book is written in such a manner as to support inquiry, discovery and other forms of active learning. All chapters start with a short topical story or vignette, and the plentiful photographs and other graphics are integrated completely with the text.Earth Materials will be interesting and useful for a wide range of learners, including geoscience students, students taking mineralogy and petrology courses, engineers, and anyone interested in learning more about the Earth as a system.

Part I - Introduction to Earth 1 The Origin of the Elements and Earth 1.1 Orion 1.2 The big picture 1.3 The beginning 1.4 Origin of the solar system 1.5 Evolution of the solar system 1.6 What is Earth made of today? Questions for thought—chapter 1 2 Earth Systems and Cycles 2.1 A Sand County Almanac 2.2 The Earth system and my aquarium 2.3 Systems and scientific investigations 2.4 Rocks and the Rock Cycle 2.5 From continental drift to plate tectonics 2.6 The theory of plate tectonics 2.7 The water cycle 2.8 Carbon and the carbon cycle Questions for thought—chapter 2 Part II - Fundamental Earth Materials 3 Minerals 3.1 Zeolites 3.2 Minerals defined 3.3 Importance of minerals 3.4 Studying minerals from the past to present 3.5 Elements, minerals, and rocks 3.6 Mineral formation 3.7 Common elements and the most common minerals 3.8 Mineral compositions 3.9 Mineral stability 3.10 Mineral classification 3.11 Mineral properties and identification Questions for thought—chapter 3 4 Mineral Crystals 4.1 Cuevo de los Cristales 4.2 Crystallography and crystal chemistry 4.3 The process of crystallization 4.4 Ionic crystals 4.5 Silicate minerals 4.6 Elemental substitutions in mineral crystals 4.7 The arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids Questions for thought—chapter 4 5 Igneous Petrology and the Nature of Magmas 5.1 Volcanism in Yellowstone National Park 5.2 Igneous petrology 5.3 Magma compositions 5.4 Magma sources 5.5 Magma movement 5.6 Different kinds of rocks 5.7 Melting of minerals and rocks 5.8 The importance of partial melting and partial crystallization 5.9 The most common occurrences of melts of different compositions 5.10 A closer look at magma chemistry Questions for thought—chapter 5 6 Plutonic Rocks 6.1 Yosemite Valley 6.2 Plutons of different kinds 6.3 Minerals in igneous rocks 6.4 Different kinds of plutonic rocks 6.5 The southeast face of El Capitan 6.6 The Sierra Nevada Batholith 6.7 The American Cordillera 6.8 Mafic and ultramafic plutonic rocks Questions for thought—chapter 6 7 Volcanoes and Their Products 7.1 Tambora and Toba 7.2 Volcanology 7.3 Volcanic eruptions 7.4 Xenoliths and volatiles 7.5 Classifying eruptions 7.6 From magma to rock 7.7 Naming volcanic rocks Questions for thought—chapter 7 8 Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks 8.1 Sedimentation during the formation of the Appalachian Mountains 8.2 Sediment and sedimentary environments 8.3 Products of weathering and erosion 8.4 Transportation and deposition of clastic sediment 8.5 Diagenesis and lithification 8.6 Sedimentary layers and structures 8.7 Different kinds of sedimentary rocks Questions for thought—chapter 8 9 Stratigraphy 9.1 Rocks of the Grand Canyon 9.2 Formations, groups, and members 9.3 Stratigraphy 9.4 Interpreting the environment of deposition 9.5 Rock lithology 9.6 Geological time 9.7 Subsurface stratigraphy Questions for thought—chapter 9 10 Metamorphic Rocks 10.1 Wollastonite in the Adirondack Mountains 10.2 Metamorphic rocks 10.3 Agents of metamorphism 10.4 Metamorphic textures 10.5 Metamorphic reactions 10.6 Burial metamorphism 10.7 Regional metamorphism 10.8 Contact metamorphism 10.9 Other types of metamorphism Questions for thought—chapter 10 Part III - Surficial Geology and Resources 11 Weathering and Soils 11.1 Mesopotamia 11.2 Weathering 11.3 Soil Questions for thought—chapter 11 12 Water and the Hydrosphere 12.1 The Salton Sea 12.2 Water on Earth 12.3 The water cycle 12.4 The ocean systems 12.5 Freshwater systems 12.6 Water chemistry 12.7 Freshwater quality Questions for thought—chapter 12 13 Mineral Deposits 13.1 Bingham Canyon, Utah 13.2 Why dig such a big hole? 13.3 Mineral deposits and ore deposits 13.4 The formation of ore deposits 13.5 Placer deposits 13.6 Chemical ore deposits 13.7 Sedimentary ore deposits 13.8 Igneous ore deposits 13.9 Other kinds of ore deposits 13.10 Is mining necessary? Questions for thought—chapter 13 14 Energy Resources 14.1 Star wars 14.2 The energy that we use 14.3 Fossil fuels 14.4 Alternatives to fossil fuels 14.5 Energy sources in the future Questions for thought—chapter 14 Part IV - Engineering Properties 15 Soil Mechanics 15.1 The Leaning Tower of Pisa 15.2 Soil mechanics 15.3 Sediments, soils, and rocks 15.4 Consolidated and unconsolidated materials 15.5 Soil composition and index properties 15.6 Soil classification 15.7 Soil strength Questions for thought—chapter 15 16 Rock Mechanics 16.1 Problems in Coeur d’Alene 16.2 Forces and stress 16.3 Strain—rock deformation in response to stress 16.4 On a larger scale 16.5 Determining values for rock strength Questions for thought—chapter 16

Dexter Perkins is a Professor at the University of North Dakota, USA. He was an undergraduate at the University of Rochester before moving to Ann Arbor to attend Law School at the University of Michigan, USA. He subsequently transferred to Michigan's Department of Geology and received a masters and a PhD degree. He is presently (in 2019) in his 38th year at UND. Kevin R. Henke is retired from the Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) at the University of Kentucky, USA. He obtained his M.S. in Geology at the University of North Dakota in 1984, and his Ph.D. at the same university in 1997. His interests range from topics such as metamorphic petrology, mineralogy and geochemistry. Adam Simon is Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan, USA. He obtained his Ph.D at the University of Maryland in 2003. His fields of study are economic geology, igneous petrology and geochemistry. Lance D. Yarbrough is Assistant Professor of Geology and Geological Engineering at the University of Mississippi, USA, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 2006. His areas of expertise include engineering geology, remote sensing, and geotechnical engineering.