Introduction
A view of earth
The earth sciences
Earth science and the environment
The nature of scientific inquiry
Studying earth science
Box 1.1 Earth as a System
Box 1.2 Earth's place in the cosmos
1 Minerals: Building Blocks of Rocks
Box 1.1 Carrot, karat, carat
Box 1.2 Gemstones
2 Rocks: Materials of the Lithosphere
Box 2.1 Asbestos: What are the risks?
3 Weathering, Soil, and Mass Wasting
Box 3.1 Acid precipitation: A human impact on the earth system
Box 3.2 Laterites and the clearing of the rainforest
Box 3.3 The Gros Ventre slide: A classic case study
4 Running Water and Groundwater
Box 4.1 The effects of urbanization on discharge
Box 4.2 The midwest floods of 1993
Box 4.3 Dowsing for water
Box 4.4 Geothermal energy: An alternative
5 Glaciers, Deserts, and Wind
Box 5.1 Do glaciers move? An application of the scientific method
Box 5.2 What if the ice melted?
Box 5.3 Common misconceptions about deserts
Box 5.4 Dust bowl: Soil erosion in the great plains
6 Earthquakes and Earth's Interior
6.1 Damaging earthquakes east of the Rockies
Box 6.2 Tsunami warning system
7 Plate Tectonics
Box 7.1 A new test for plate tectonics
Box 7.2 Plate tectonics into the future
Box 7.3 The earth system: Plate tectonics and the rock cycle
8 Igneous Activity
Box 8.1 The year without a summer
Box 8.2 Volcano sizes
Box 8.3 Volcanic activity and climate
9 Mountain Building
Box 9.1 The San Andreas fault system
Box 9.2 Oil traps
Box 9.3 The Rocky Mountains
10 Geologic Time
Box 10.1 Radon
11 Earth History: A Brief Summary
Box 11.1 The great paleozoic extinction
Box 11.2 Farewell to the dinosaurs
12 Ocean Waters and the Ocean Floor
Box 12.1 Evidence for the existence of turbidity currents
Box 12.2 Seafloor sediments and climatic change
13 The Restless Ocean
Box 13.1 Tidal power
Box 13.2 Is global warming causing sea levels to rise?
14 Composition, Structure, and Temperature
Box 14.1 Altering the atmosphere's composition: Sources and types of air pollution
Box 14.2 The ozone problem
Box 14.3 Solar energy
15 Moisture
Box 15.1 Dry air at 100 percent relative humidity?
Box 15.2 Atmospheric stability influences air pollution
Box 15.3 Precipitation probability forecasts
16 Air Pressure and Wind
Box 16.1 Scales of atmospheric motion
Box 16.2 Wind energy: An alternative with potential
17 Weather Patterns and Severe Storms
Box 17.1 Lake-effect snow
Box 17.2 The deadliest weather
Box 17.3 Hurricane Andrew
18 Climate
Box 18.1 The world's hottest and coldest places
Box 18.2 Precipitation records and mountainous terrain
Box 18.3 Climate change in cities
Box 18.4 Earth as a system: Climate feedback mechanisms
19 Earth's Place in the Universe
Box 19.1 Proof for Earth's rotation
Box 19.2 Astrology
Box 19.3 Calendars
20 Touring Our Solar System
Box 20.1 Venus and the runaway greenhouse effect: A lesson for planet Earth?
Box 20.2 The search for extraterrestrial intelligence
Box 20.3 Discovery of planet X
Box 20.4 Is Earth on a collision course?
Box 20.5 Comet Shoemaker Levy impacts Jupiter
21 Light, Astronomical Observations, and the Sun
Box 21.1 The largest telescopes
Box 21.2 Variable sun and climate change
22 Beyond Our Solar System
Box 22.1 Determining distance from magnitude
Box 22.2 Supernova 1987 A
Box 22.3 From stardust to you
Appendix A Metric and English Units Compared
Appendix B Mineral Identification Key
Appendix C Earth's Grid System
Appendix D Topographic Maps
Appendix E Star Charts
Appendix F World Soils
Appendix G Landforms of the Conterminous United States
Appendix H Periodic Table of the Elements