Observations from the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury have transformed our understanding of the origin and evolution of rocky planets. This volume is the definitive resource about Mercury for planetary scientists, from students to senior researchers. Topics treated in depth include Mercury's chemical composition; the structure of its crust, lithosphere, mantle, and core; Mercury's modern and ancient magnetic field; Mercury's geology, including the planet's major geological units and their surface chemistry and mineralogy, its spectral reflectance characteristics, its craters and cratering history, its tectonic features and deformational history, its volcanic features and magmatic history, its distinctive hollows, and the frozen ices in its polar deposits; Mercury's exosphere and magnetosphere and the processes that govern their dynamics and their interaction with the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field; the formation and large-scale evolution of the planet; and cu
Very few people have spent as much time as William E. Glassley in such deep wilderness. So it would behoove us to pay attention even if he had not brought back such a fascinating, lovely, and us
Join Bonnie J. Buratti, a leading planetary astronomer, on this personal tour of NASA's latest discoveries. Moving through the Solar System from Mercury, Venus, Mars, past comets and asteroids and the moons of the giant planets, to Pluto, and on to exoplanets, she gives vivid descriptions of landforms that are similar to those found on Earth but that are more fantastic. Sulfur-rich volcanoes and lakes on Io, active gullies on Mars, huge ice plumes and tar-like deposits on the moons of Saturn, hydrocarbon rivers and lakes on Titan, and nitrogen glaciers on Pluto are just some of the marvels that await readers. Discover what it is like to be involved in a major scientific enterprise, with all its pitfalls and excitement, from the perspective of a female scientist. This engaging account of modern space exploration is written for non-specialist readers, from students in high school to enthusiasts of all ages.
The Technocratic Antarctic is an ethnographic account of the scientists and policymakers who work on Antarctica. Jessica O'Reilly conducted most of her research for this book in New Zealand, home of t
The Technocratic Antarctic is an ethnographic account of the scientists and policymakers who work on Antarctica. Jessica O'Reilly conducted most of her research for this book in New Zealand, home of t
President Kennedy’s announcement that an American would walk on the Moon before the end of the 1960s took the scientific world by surprise. The study of the Moon and planets had long fallen out of fav
"Written by international scientists well established in the planetary science and remote sensing fields, this book presents recent developments of planetary exploration techniques. It covers the late
"National Geographic and science journalist Marc Kaufman combine inside stories, fascinating facts, and eye-popping pictures, some never before seen, of the red planet and NASA's groundbreaking Curios
Venus is the brightest 'star' in the night sky and it has been observed since ancient times. Often dubbed Earth's 'twin', it is the planet most similar to the Earth in size, mass and composition. There the similarity ends: Venus is shrouded by a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere, its surface is dominated by thousands of volcanoes and it lacks a protective magnetic field to shield it from energetic solar particles. So why isn't Venus more like Earth? In this book, a leading researcher of Venus addresses this question by explaining what we know through our investigations of the planet. Venus presents an intriguing case study for planetary astronomers and atmospheric scientists, especially in light of the current challenges of global warming, which supports, and potentially threatens, life on Earth. Scientifically rigorous, yet written in a friendly non-technical style, this is a broad introduction for students and astronomy and space enthusiasts.
Antarctica is the coldest and driest continent on Earth – a place for adventure and a key area for global science. Research conducted there has received increasing international attention due to concerns over destruction of the ozone layer and the problem of global warming and melting ice shelves. This dramatically illustrated new book brings together an international group of leading Antarctic scientists to explain why the Antarctic is so central to understanding the history and potential fate of our planet. It introduces the beauty of the world's greatest wilderness, its remarkable attributes and the global importance of the international science done there. Spanning topics from marine biology to space science this book is an accessible overview for anyone interested in the Antarctic and its science and governance. It provides a valuable summary for those involved in polar management and is an inspiration for the next generation of Antarctic researchers.
The best-selling author of The Seven Daughters of Eve now turns his sights on the United States, one of the most genetically variegated countries in the world. From the blue-blooded pockets of old-WAS
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.
Geological Evolution of Antarctica is a collection of papers presented at the Fifth International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences, held under the auspices of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) at Robinson College, Cambridge, 23–28 August 1987. Contributors were invited to address problems related to the tectonic evolution of the Antarctic crust and the palaeoenvironmental evolution of Antartica since the Late Mesozoic. One hundred and seventy two papers and posters were presented, of which one hundred and fifteen are included in this volume. Papers dealing with the crustal development of Antarctica are divided into major geographical areas and arranged in chronostratigraphic order. The first four sections in this group cover the craton, the Transantarctic Mountains, Weddell Sea-Ross Sea region and the Pacific margin; the last addresses aspects of Gondwana break-up. A final group of papers discusses some of the environmental changes arising from the break-up of
The most fantastic of all journeys—the Spirit and Opportunity mobile robot missions to the surface of Mars—produced over 150,000 astonishing photographs. While the images were made available on low-re
The extreme events that we hear about daily—hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions—are extreme in purely human terms, in the devastation they do. But this book moves ou
Planetary Crusts explains how and why solid planets and satellites develop crusts. Extensively referenced and annotated, it presents a geochemical and geological survey of the crusts of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, the asteroid Vesta, and several satellites like Io, Europa, Ganymede, Titan and Callisto. After describing the nature and formation of solar system bodies, the book presents a comparative investigation of different planetary crusts and discusses many crustal controversies. The authors propose the theory of stochastic processes dominating crustal development, and debate the possibility of Earth-like planets existing elsewhere in the cosmos. Written by two leading authorities on the subject, this book presents an extensive survey of the scientific problems of crustal development, and is a key reference for researchers and students in geology, geochemistry, planetary science, astrobiology and astronomy.
The Geology of Australia provides a vivid account of the evolution of the Australian continent over the last 4400 million years. This second edition features two new chapters, covering the evolution o
This textbook is intended to be used in a lecture course for college students majoring in Earth Sciences. Planetary science provides an opportunity for these students to apply a wide range of subject
Editors Esposito (U. of Colorado), Stofan (Proxemy Research, Virginia), and Cravens (U. of Kansas) present 12 contributions based on talks presented at the February 2006 AGU-sponsored Chapman conferen
