Download Free Dunes And Fossil Soils Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Dunes And Fossil Soils and write the review.

Dunes grow, change their shape and fade away. This book demonstrates that the evolution of eolian sand and dunes is under control of climatic change, permafrost, vegetational growth, soil formation and human interference. The European sand belt spreads from the Netherlands through Germany and Poland into Russia as inland dune fields up to a hight of several meters as well as large carpets of thin eolian sand, the so-called coversand. This book illuminates the origin of this enormous sand masses from their first traces during the Saalian glaciation through the Weichselian glaciation up to present times. Periods of strong eolian activity change with periods of dune stability. The interior of the dunes exhibits striking interruptions of eolian activity by a large variety of fossil soils. The individual character of these soils allows to interprete the eolian sand movements period by period through the history of the last 150.000 years. All in all the book offers details of modern research on dune sand as well as comprehensive chapters of the recent state of knowledge on dune formation.
A synthesis of the environmental and climatic history of every major desert and desert margin, for researchers and advanced students.
It is more than half a century since the publication of R. A. Bagnold’s classic book The physics of blown sand and desert dunes, and it is a tribute to the quality of Bagnold’s work that many of the fundamental principles which he developed - main valid today. His book continues to be essential reading for any serious s- dent of aeolian processes. However, the past two decades have seen an explosion in the scale of research dealing with aeolian transport processes, sediments, and landforms. Some of this work has been summarized in review papers and edited conference proceedings, but this book provides the rst attempt to review the whole eld of aeolian sand research. Inevitably, it has not been possible to cover all - pects in equal depth, and the balance of included material naturally re ects the - thors’ own interests to a signi cant degree. However, our aim has been to provide as broad a perspective as possible, and to provide an entry point to an extensive mul- disciplinary scienti c literature, some of which has not been given the attention it deserves in earlier textbooks and review papers. Many examples are drawn from existing published work, but the book also makes extensive use of our own research in the Middle East, Australia, Europe, and North America. The book has been written principally for use by advanced undergraduates, po- graduates, and more senior research workers in geomorphology and sedimentology.
Diagenesis affects all sediments after their deposition andincludes a fundamental suite of physical, chemical and biologicalprocesses that control the texture, mineralogy and fluid-flowproperties of sedimentary rocks. Understanding the processes andproducts of diagenesis is thus a critical component in the analysisof the evolution of sedimentary basins, and has practicalimplications for subsurface porosity destruction, preservation andgeneration. This in turn is of great relevance to the petroleum andwater industries, as well as to the location and nature of someeconomic mineral deposits. Combines key papers in sandstone diagenesis published inSedimentology over the last 30 years. Records the development of diagenesis from the description ofgrain shapes through provenance, petrography and analyticalgeochemistry to predictive models of diagenetic process. Provides definitions and explanations of the terms and conceptsused in diagenesis. If you are a member of the International Association ofSedimentologists, for purchasing details, please see:http://www.iasnet.org/publications/details.asp?code=RP4
The Nile Basin contains a record of human activities spanning the last million years. However, the interactions between prehistoric humans and environmental changes in this area are complex and often poorly understood. This comprehensive book explains in clear, non-technical terms how prehistoric environments can be reconstructed, with examples drawn from every part of the Nile Basin. Adopting a source-to-sink approach, the book integrates events in the Nile headwaters with the record from marine sediment cores in the Nile Delta and offshore. It provides a detailed record of past environmental changes throughout the Nile Basin and concludes with a review of the causes and consequences of plant and animal domestication in this region and of the various prehistoric migrations out of Africa into Eurasia and beyond. A comprehensive overview, this book is ideal for researchers in geomorphology, climatology and archaeology.
Humans evolved in the dynamic landscapes of Africa under conditions of pronounced climatic, geological and environmental change during the past 7 million years. This book brings together detailed records of the paleontological and archaeological sites in Africa that provide the basic evidence for understanding the environments in which we evolved. Chapters cover specific sites, with comprehensive accounts of their geology, paleontology, paleobotany, and their ecological significance for our evolution. Other chapters provide important regional syntheses of past ecological conditions. This book is unique in merging a broad geographic scope (all of Africa) and deep time framework (the past 7 million years) in discussing the geological context and paleontological records of our evolution and that of organisms that evolved alongside our ancestors. It will offer important insights to anyone interested in human evolution, including researchers and graduate students in paleontology, archaeology, anthropology and geology.
Did you know . . . ? Michigan is seventeenth in oil production in the United States. The Great Lakes are said to be the only glacially produced structures that can be seen from the moon. Michigan was once part of a coral reef. The wood frog is one of the commonest true frogs of moist woodland floors in Michigan today and is able to freeze solid during the winter without harmful effects. These and many more amazing facts await the curious traveler in The Michigan Roadside Naturalist, J. Alan and Margaret B. Holman's captivating guide to the natural treasures of Michigan. A perfect accompaniment to the classic Michigan Trees and The Forests of Michigan, this user-friendly guide offers a Who's Who of the geology, biology, and archaeology of the Great Lakes State, as well as highway adventures along the state's major routes. The book begins with an educational yet accessible tour of important points in Michigan's natural and archaeological history, followed by seven road trips based on commonly traveled state routes, moving from south to north in the Lower Peninsula and east to west in the Upper Peninsula. Readers can proceed directly to the road trips or familiarize themselves with the state's treasure trove of fascinating features before embarking. Either way, an informative and fun odyssey awaits the passionate naturalist, amateur or otherwise. J. Alan Holman is Curator Emeritus of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Michigan State University Museum and Emeritus Professor of Geology and Zoology at Michigan State University. Margaret B. Holman is Research Associate at Michigan State University Museum and Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University.
The twelve contributions in this volume represent the results of a ten year interdisciplinary workshop on "desert margins" - concerned with the geomorphological, geochemica, mineralogical, sedimentological, soil scientific characterisation of (semi-) deserts in Spain, Africa, Arabia and China. Desert sediments and soils as well as processes and characteristics of their formation are regarded from different geoscientific perspectives. The subjects of research include the development of desert soils and landscapes, the formation of (alluvial) loess, swamp ores, fulgurites and floodout sediments and focus on the reconstruction of palaeoecological events and changes. A critical study of dating methods rounds off the book.
Geologically, the South Australian coast is very young, having evolved over only 1% of geological time, during the past 43 million years since the separation of Australia and Antarctica. It is also very dynamic, with the current shoreline position having been established from only 7000 years ago. The South Australian mainland coast is 3816 km long, with islands providing an additional 1251 km of coast, giving a total coastline of just over 5000 km. South Australian coastal landforms include cliffs, rocky outcrops and shore platforms, mangrove woodlands, mudflats, estuaries, extensive sandy beaches, coastal dunes and coastal barrier systems, as well as numerous near-shore reefs and islands. This book is a landmark study into the variable character of the South Australian coast and its long-term evolution.