Understanding Earth

This textbook integrates concepts of chemistry, physics, and geology in the context of the Earth as a system. It introduces the processes driven by the interior of Earth, including plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanism, and introduction to study of Earth materials. The physical and chemical processes occurring at the surface of Earth with an emphasis on energy in the Earth system are investigated as are the human impacts to the Earth system, including chemical and physical aspects of water pollution, oceanography, air pollution, meteorology, and global climate change. The authors also present topics such as minerals, igneous rocks and processes, metamorphism and metamorphic rocks, rock deformation and geologic structures, in addition to topics that include sedimentary rocks, sedimentary processes, rock weathering, mass wasting, river systems, groundwater, glaciers, deserts, and coastal processes.