The Solid Earth: an Introduction to Global Geophysics: Second Edition C
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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89307-7 - The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics: Second Edition C. M. R. Fowler Frontmatter More information The Solid Earth From the citation for the Prestwich Medal of the Geological Society, 1996 (awarded for the contribution made by The Solid Earth to geophysics teaching and research) by the then President Professor R. S. J. Sparks F.R.S. The Prestwich Medal is given for major contributions to earth science, and provides an opportunity for the Society to recognise achievements in areas that can lie outside the terms of reference of its other awards. This year, the Prestwich Medal has been given to Mary Fowler for the contribution of her book, The Solid Earth,which has had an enormous impact. The book has been acclaimed by today’s leading geophysicists. There is consensus that, although there are many books covering various aspects of geophysics, there are only a small number that can be seen as landmarks in the subject. Mary’s book has been compared to Jeffreys’s The Earth and Holmes’s Physical Geology. The Solid Earth is recognised by her peers as a monumental contribution. In this book she displays a wide knowledge of a very broad range of geological and geophysical topics at a very high level. The book provides a balanced and thoroughly researched account which is accessible to undergraduates as well as to active researchers. The book has been described as one of the outstanding texts in modern earth sciences. (Geoscientist, Geological Society, 1996, Vol. 6, No. 5, p. 24.) © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89307-7 - The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics: Second Edition C. M. R. Fowler Frontmatter More information MARY FOWLER is Professor of Geophysics and Head of the Earth Sciences Department at Royal Holloway, University of London. She studied Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, as a student of Lady Jeffreys, and was then taken on as a PhD student by Sir Edward Bullard. Her thesis was on the structure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, supervised by Drummond Matthews and Brian Kennett. Seismological research at ETH Zurich, Switzerland followed and then adjunct status at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada where she taught, wrote the first edition of The Solid Earth and participated in Lithoprobe studies. For ten years her involvement with science was largely honorary while she raised her family. In 1992 she moved to Royal Holloway. Since then she has served as Vice-President of the Royal Astronomical Society, as a Member of the Bureau of the International Lithosphere Program ILP, and on the Council of the Royal Astronomical Society, Council of the Geological Society, and the Governing Board of the School of Cosmic Physics in the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. In addition, she has been a member of various advisory panels for the UK Natural Environment Research Council and the Research Assessment Exercise of the Higher Education Funding Council for England. She has served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Geophysical Research and Reviews of Geophysics. Her edited books are Heat, Metamorphism and Tectonics (Nisbet and Fowler, 1988) and The Early Earth: Physical, Chemical and Biological Development (Fowler, Ebinger and Hawkesworth, 2002). © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89307-7 - The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics: Second Edition C. M. R. Fowler Frontmatter More information The Solid Earth An Introduction to Global Geophysics Second Edition C. M. R. Fowler Royal Holloway University of London © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89307-7 - The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics: Second Edition C. M. R. Fowler Frontmatter More information University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521893077 C Cambridge University Press 2005 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2005 Reprinted with corrections 2006 13th printing 2015 Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall. A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Fowler, C. M. R. The solid earth: an introduction to global geophysics / C. M. R. Fowler. – 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0 521 58409 4 (hardback) – ISBN 0 521 89307 0 (paperback) 1. Geophysics. 2. Earth. I. Title. QC806.F625 2004 550 – dc22 2003065424 ISBN 978-0-521-58409-8 Hardback ISBN 978-0-521-89307-7 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Information regarding prices, travel timetables and other factual information given in this work are correct at the time of first printin g but Cambridge University Press does not guarantee the accuracy of such information thereafter. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89307-7 - The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics: Second Edition C. M. R. Fowler Frontmatter More information TO MY FAMILY Magna opera domini exoquisita in omnes voluntates ejus. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Psalm 111.2: at the entrance to the old Cavendish Laboratories, Cambridge. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89307-7 - The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics: Second Edition C. M. R. Fowler Frontmatter More information © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89307-7 - The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics: Second Edition C. M. R. Fowler Frontmatter More information Contents Preface to the first edition page xi Preface to the second edition xv Acknowledgements to the first edition xvi Acknowledgements to the second edition xviii Introduction 1 References and bibliography 3 Tectonics on a sphere: the geometry of plate tectonics 5 Plate tectonics 5 A flat Earth 11 Rotation vectors and rotation poles 14 Present-day plate motions 15 Plate boundaries can change with time 24 Triple junctions 26 Absolute plate motions 32 Problems 37 References and bibliography 40 Past plate motions 43 The role of the Earth’s magnetic field 43 Dating the oceanic plates 54 Reconstruction of past plate motions 67 Problems 93 References and bibliography 94 Seismology Measuring the interior 100 Waves through the Earth 100 Earthquake seismology 111 Refraction seismology 140 Reflection seismology 157 Problems 178 References and bibliography 186 vii © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89307-7 - The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics: Second Edition C. M. R. Fowler Frontmatter More information viii Contents Gravity 193 Introduction 193 Gravitational potential and acceleration 193 Gravity of the Earth 196 The shape of the Earth 198 Gravity anomalies 202 Observed gravity and geoid anomalies 213 Flexure of the lithosphere and the viscosity of the mantle 218 Problems 228 References and bibliography 230 Geochronology 233 Introduction 233 General theory 234 Rubidium–strontium 244 Uranium–lead 247 Thorium–lead 249 Potassium–argon 251 Argon–argon 252 Samarium–neodymium 254 Fission-track dating 258 The age of the Earth 262 Problems 265 References and bibliography 267 Heat 269 Introduction 269 Conductive heat flow 270 Calculation of simple geotherms 275 Worldwide heat flow: total heat loss from the Earth 285 Oceanic heat flow 288 Continental heat flow 298 The adiabat and melting in the mantle 303 Metamorphism: geotherms in the continental crust 308 Problems 321 References and bibliography 323 The deep interior of the Earth 326 The internal structure of the Earth 326 Convection in the mantle 353 The core 371 References and bibliography 381 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89307-7 - The Solid Earth: An Introduction to Global Geophysics: Second Edition C. M. R. Fowler Frontmatter More information Contents ix The oceanic lithosphere: ridges, transforms, trenches and oceanic islands 391 Introduction 391 The oceanic lithosphere 397 The deep structure of mid-ocean ridges 409 The shallow structure of mid-ocean ridges 417 Transform faults 440 Subduction zones 458 Oceanic islands 487 Problems 492 References and bibliography 494 The continental lithosphere 509 Introduction 509 The growth of continents 517 Sedimentary basins and continental margins 557 Continental rift zones 584 The Archaean 595 Problems 601 References and bibliography 602 Appendix 1 Scalars, vectors and differential operators 615 Appendix 2 Theory of elasticity and elastic waves 620 Appendix 3 Geometry of ray paths and inversion of earthquake body-wave time–distance curves 630 Appendix 4 The least-squares method 636 Appendix 5 The error function 638 Appendix 6 Units and symbols 640 Appendix 7 Numerical data 648 Appendix 8 The IASP91 Earth model 650 Appendix 9 The Preliminary Reference Earth Model, isotropic version – PREM 651 Appendix 10 The Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (abridged version) 654 Glossary 655 Index 666 The colour plates are situated between pages 398 and 399.