GIS, the acronym for Geographic Information Systems, has been around since the 1980s. Although one can impute a number of characteristics from the use of this acronym, at the heart of the term “systems” lies a computer software package for storing, displaying, and analyzing spatial data. Consequently, the use of the term GIS implies an object or tool which one can use for exploring and analyzing data that are recorded for specific locations in geographical space (see Cowen [1988] for an early article articulating this type of definition and Foresman [1998] for a rich and varied account of the history of Geographic Information Systems).

Справочник по геологии, составленный в формате "вопрос - ответ" с делением по разделам. В конце имеется алфавитный указатель.

Courtesy of The Lord of/he Rings trilogy, movie audiences have been drawn to a fantasy place called "Middle Earth," an ever-changing landscape that seems almost alien. The Lord ofthe Rings may have come from the imagination of two great storytellers, author J. R. R. Tolkien and director Peter Jackson, but the landscape chosen for the movies was real. This enthralling fantasy world was actually New Zealand, a land formed and shaped by two of the most awe-inspiring, yet destructive, forces known to humans: volcanoes and plate tectonics. This was one instance where geology made a movie even more fascinating. But geology is more than just amazing landscapes. It is rocks, minerals, fossils, processes, cycles, the physical characteristics and features of our amazing planet. We are surrounded by geology-it is in everyone's backyard; it is at everyone's feet. Geology describes how our environment became what it is, in effect providing a history of the planet and its universe. Ranging from the backyard to outer space, The Handy Geology Answer Book answers nearly 1,100 fundamental questions about this most fascinating science. With more than 100 photographs and illustrations, The Handy Geology Answer Book takes you on a tour of our world. It answers questions on topics ranging from the microscopic formation of crystals to the titanic, eons-long processes that form islands, mountains, continents, and even planets. You'll be taken back in time to uncover the mysteries of dinosaur fossils and then catapulted toward the forefront of science, where you will learn how artificial gems are synthesized and why glaciologists fret over the effects of global warming on Earth's massive ice shelves. Along the way, you will get to know some of the famous geologists who cleared a path for future generations of scientists as they explore the mysteries of caves, mine the planet's rich mineral resources, and try to save lives by accurately predicting earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. Once your appetite has been whetted, the final chapter of Handy Geology provides a solid foundation for further research, as well as helpful advice on how to begin XI XII enjoying geology as a hobby or even a career. Ahelpful glossary will tell you what, for example, an alluvial fan or a talus slope is. As scientists and writers, we have used our experience to write this book. Our backgrounds and love of nature have taken us to many of the geologic rarities of the world.  We have traveled extensively across the Earth, doing fieldwork, conducting interviews with scientists, and managing many "rock hunts" of our own. We have crossed Antarctica's Transantarctic Mountains, hiked the European Alps, traveled the oceans, and wit· nessed the upheaval caused by the shift of tectonic plates in New Zealand and other places. We have visited almost every geologic "hot site" in America, hiking into the Grand Canyon, walking the rim of Meteor Crater, and watching an active Cascade Range volcano. We have also explored plenty of dormant sites and experienced several California earthquakes, just to name a few of our adventures. Not that we have shunned our own backyard-we live just about where the edge of the last glacial ice sheet existed over 10,000 years ago, right near the famous New York Finger Lakes, where deep troughs were carved by glacial advances and retreats over millions of years. In part, this book represents a distillation of what we discovered during our travels. And it answers hundreds of basic questions on that most interesting of topicsplanet Earth. So sit back, grab your rock hammer and hand lens, and enjoy the scenery.

The Hoek and Brown criterion was introduced in 1980 to provide input for the design of underground excavations in rock. The criterion now incorporates both intact rock and discontinuities, such as joints, characterized by the Geological Strength Index (GSI), into a system designed to estimate the mechanical behaviour of typical rock masses encountered in tunnels, slopes and foundations.The strength and deformation properties of intact rock, derived from laboratory tests, are reduced based on the properties of discontinuities in the rock mass. The non-linear Hoek-Brown criterion for rock masses is widely accepted and has been applied in many projects around the world. While, in general, it has been found to provide satisfactory estimates, there are several questions on the limits of its applicability and on inaccuracies related on the quality of the input data.This paper introduces relatively few fundamental changes, but it does discuss many of the issues of utilization and presents case histories to demonstrate
practical applications of the criterion and the GSI system

The ceratopista or horn-faced dinosaurs are exquisite creatures. They include large, exotic dinosaurs, the ceratopsids, with wondrous ornaments on their heads, including dazzling combinations of horns over the nose and eyes and lengthy frills behind the skull, often enhanced with rococo tracery and detailing. The ceratopsids are found only in western North America, although perhaps someday soon they will be found in Asia as well. Ceratopsians also include small, lithe protoceratopsids, shared equally between Asia and western North America. Protoceratopsids, which tend to be more tasteful and restrained in their adornments than ceratopsids, presumably include the ancestors of the ceratopsids. Recently admitted into the ceratopsian clan is the small Psittacosaurus from Asia, which is so generalized in its structure that it has neither horns nor a frill. <...>