Exploration seismology deals with the use of artificially generated elastic waves to locate mineral deposits (including hydrocarbons, ores, water, geothermal reservoirs, etc.), archaeological sites, and to obtain geological information Гог engineering. Exploration seismology provides data that, when used in conjunction with other geophysical, borehole, and geological data and with concepts of physics and geology, can provide information about the structure and distribution of rock types.

Geophysics is a diverse science. At its best it has the rigour of physics and the vigour of geology. Its subject is the Earth. How does the Earth work? What is its composition? How has it changed? Thirty years ago many of the answers to these questions were uncertain. We knew the gross structure of our planet and that earthquakes occurred, volcanoes erupted and high mountains existed, but we did not understand why. Today we have a general knowledge of the workings of the planet, although there is still much to be discovered. <...>

The new discoveries of diamond and coesite previously thought to form only in the mantle or under cataclysmic conditions have mobilized the petrologic community into an intense search throughout the world for new occurrences of these minerals in crustal rocks. The advancement in petrologic knowledge has taken shape in three separate and interconnected spheres that have allowed us to explore further into the depths of our planet.

The early advances in understanding the internal structure of the Earth and the nature of earthquakes were achieved with a very limited number of seismic stations. Yet, by 1914, not only the presence of a core was recognised by Oldham (1906) from his analysis of the travel times of seismic waves from 14 earthquakes across the globe, but also a good estimate of its radius had been made (Gutenberg, 1913).

This work is not intended as a textbook, or as a review, but represents an enquiry into the problem of how and why solid planets produce crusts. As this seems to have happened at many different scales throughout the Solar System, we were curious to see whether some general principles might emerge from the detail. The formation of the planets themselves is the outcome of essentially random processes, constrained mainly by the history of the inner nebula and by the cosmochemical abundances of the chemical elements. But perhaps the production of crusts might be a simpler or more uniform process, a notion supported by the frequent appearance of basaltic lavas of assorted types on the surfaces of rocky bodies. <...>

This modern introduction to seismic data processing in both exploration and global geophysics demonstrates practical applications through real data and tutorial examples. The underlying physics and mathematics of the various seismic analysis methods are presented, giving students an appreciation of their limitations and potential for creating models of the subsurface. Designed for a one-semester course, this textbook discusses key techniques within the context of the world’s ever-increasing need for petroleum and mineral resources – equipping upper undergraduate and graduate students with the tools they need for a career in industry.

Based on four decades of research by Professor Andrew S. Goudie, this volume provides a state-of-the-art synthesis of our understanding of desert geomorphology. It presents a truly international perspective, with examples from all over the world. Extensively referenced and illustrated, it covers such topics as the importance of past climatic changes, the variability of different desert environments, rock breakdown, wind erosion and dust storm generation, sand dunes, fluvial and slope forms and processes, the role of the applied geomorphologist in desert development and conservation and the Earth as an analogue for other planetary bodies. This book is destined to become the classic volume on arid and semi-arid geomorphology for advanced students and researchers in physical geography, geomorphology, Earth science, sedimentology, environmental science and archaeology <...>

This cutting-edge summary combines ideas from several sub-disciplines, including geology, geomorphology, oceanography and geochemistry, to provide an integrated view of Earth surface dynamics in terms of sediment generation, transport and deposition. Introducing a global view of fundamental concepts underpinning source-to-sink studies, it provides an analysis of the component segments which make up sediment routing systems. The functioning of sediment routing systems is illustrated through calculations of denudation and sedimentation as well as the response to external drivers; with the final sections focusing on the stratigraphic record of sediment routing systems. Containing quantitative solutions to a wide range of problems in Earth surface dynamics, this book is suitable for graduate students as well as academic and professional researchers. philip a. allen is Emeritus Professor of Sedimentary Geology at Imperial College London and a process-oriented Earth scientist with a particular interest in the interactions and feedbacks between the solid Earth and its ‘exosphere’ through the critical interface of the Earth’s surface. He has received the Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award for 2006 to 2011 and the Lyell Medal from the Geological Society of London in 2007. He served on the Council of the Geological Society from 2008 to 2012, and was Secretary of the Science Committee from 2009 to 2012.

Geodynamics is the application of the basic principles of physics, chemistry and mathematics to understanding how the internal activity of the Earth results in all the geological phenomena and structures apparent at the surface, including seafloor speading and continental drift, mountain building, volcanoes, earthquakes, sedimentary basins, faulting, folding, and more. Geodynamics also deals with how the Earth’s internal activity and structure reveals itself externally in ways both geophysical, its gravitational and magnetic fields, and geochemical, the mineralogy of its rocks and the isotopic composition of its rocks, atmosphere, and ocean. The discipline of geodynamics did not exist until about the early 1970s. The plate tectonics revolution was the impetus for the birth of the subject. Today, geodynamics goes beyond the Earth to consider the interiors and surfaces of other planets and moons in our solar system. While this aspect of the science could be termed planetary dynamics, it involves the same geodynamical processes that shape the Earth, though often with intriguingly different outcomes for the other bodies. <...>

The oil and gas industries now routinely use seismic amplitudes in exploration and production as they yield key information on lithology and fluid fill, enabling interpretation of reservoir quality and likelihood of hydrocarbon presence. The modern seismic interpreter must be able to deploy a whole range of sophisticated geophysical techniques, such as seismic inversion, AVO (amplitude variation with offset), and rock physics modelling, as well as integrating information from other geophysical techniques and well data.