Geology for Dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
	About This Book
	Foolish Assumptions
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond the Book
	Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Studying the Earth
	Chapter 1 Rocks for Jocks (and Everybody Else)
		Finding Your Inner Scientist
			Making observations every day
			Jumping to conclusions
		Focusing on Rock Formation and Transformation
			Understanding how rocks form
			Tumbling through the rock cycle
		Mapping Continental Movements
			Unifying geology with plate tectonics theory
			Debating a mechanism for plate movements
		Moving Rocks around on Earth’s Surface
		Interpreting a Long History of Life on Earth
			Using relative versus absolute dating
			Witnessing evolution in the fossil record
	Chapter 2 Observing Earth through a Scientific Lens
		Realizing That Science Is Not Just for Scientists
		Using a Methodical Approach: The Scientific Method
			Sensing something new
			I have a hypothesis!
			Testing your hypothesis: Experiments
			Crunching the numbers
			Interpreting results
			Sharing the findings
		Building New Knowledge: A Scientific Theory
			It’s never “just a theory”
			Scientific theory versus scientific law
			The road to paradigms
		Speaking in Tongues: Why Geologists Seem to Speak a Separate Language
			Lamination vs. foliation: Similar outcomes from different processes
			Gabbro vs. basalt: Different outcomes from similar processes
	Chapter 3 From Here to Eternity: The Past, Present, and Future of Geologic Thought
		Catastrophe Strikes Again and Again
		Early Thoughts on the Origin of Rocks
		Developing Modern Geologic Understanding
			Reading the rock layers: Steno’s stratigraphy
			These things take time! Hutton’s hypothesis
			What has been will be: Lyell’s principles
		Uniformi-what? Understanding the Earth through Uniformitarianism
		Pulling It All Together: The Theory of Plate Tectonics
		Forging Ahead into New Frontiers
			Asking how, where, and why: Mountain building and plate boundaries
			Mysteries of the past: Snowball earth, first life, and mass extinctions
			Predicting the future: Earthquakes and climate change
			Out of this world: Planetary geology and the search for life
	Chapter 4 Home Sweet Home: Planet Earth
		Earth’s Spheres
		Examining Earth’s Geosphere
			Defining Earth’s layers
			Examining each layer
Part 2 Elements, Minerals, and Rocks
	Chapter 5 It’s Elemental, My Dear: A Very Basic Chemistry of Elements and Compounds
		The Smallest Matter: Atoms and Atomic Structure
			Getting to know the periodic table
			Interpreting isotopes
			Charging particles: Ions
		Chemically Bonding
			Donating electrons (ionic bonds)
			Sharing electrons (covalent bonds)
			Migrating electrons (metallic bonds)
		Formulating Compounds
	Chapter 6 Minerals: The Building Blocks of Rocks
		Meeting Mineral Requirements
		Making Crystals
		Identifying Minerals Using Physical Characteristics
			Observing transparency, color, luster, and streak
			Measuring mineral strength
			If it tastes like salt, it must be halite: Noting unique mineral properties
			Measuring properties in the lab
		Realizing Most Rocks Are Built from Silicate Minerals
			Finding silicates in many shapes
			Grouping silicate minerals
		Remembering the Nonsilicate Minerals
			Carbonates
			Sulfides and sulfates
			Oxides
			Native elements
			Evaporites
		Gemstones
	Chapter 7 Recognizing Rocks: Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic Types
		Mama Magma: Birthing Igneous Rocks
			Remembering how magma is made
			Classifying melt composition
			Reacting in sequence: Bowen’s reaction series
			Evolving magmas
			Crystallizing one way or another: Igneous rocks
			Classifying igneous rocks
			Studying volcanic structures
			Looking below the surface
		Merging Many Single Grains of Sand: Sedimentary Rocks
			Weathering rocks into sediments
			Changing from sediment into rock
			Sizing up the grains: Classifying sedimentary rocks
			Searching for sedimentary basins
			Telling stories of the past: Sedimentary structures
		Stuck between a Rock and a Hard Place: Metamorphic Rocks
			Turning up the heat and pressure: Metamorphism
			Grading metamorphism with index minerals
			Between the mineral sheets: Foliation, or maybe not
			Categorizing metamorphic rocks
		Tumbling through the Rock Cycle: How Rocks Change from One Type to Another
Part 3 One Theory to Explain It All: Plate Tectonics
	Chapter 8 Adding Up the Evidence for Plate Tectonics
		Drifting Apart: Wegener’s Idea of Continental Drift
			Continental puzzle solving
			Fossil matching
			Stratigraphic stories
			Icy cold climates of long ago
			Meeting at the equator
			Searching for a mechanism
		Coming Together: How Technology Sheds Light on Plate Tectonics
			Mapping the seafloor
			Flip-flopping magnetic poles: Paleomagnetism and seafloor spreading
			Measuring plate movements
			Unifying the theory
	Chapter 9 When Crustal Plates Meet, It’s All Relative
		Density Is Key
		Two of a Kind: Continental and Oceanic Crust
			Dark and dense: Oceanic crust
			Thick and fluffy: Continental crust
		Understanding Why Density Matters: Isostasy
		Defining Plate Boundaries by Their Relative Motion
			Driving apart: Divergent plate boundaries
			Crashing together: Convergent plate boundaries
			Slip-sliding along: Transform plate boundaries
		Shaping Topography with Plate Movements
			Deforming the crust at plate boundaries
			Compressing rocks into folds
			Faulting in response to stress
			Building mountains
	Chapter 10 Who’s Driving This Thing? Mantle Convection and Plate Movement
		Running in Circles: Models of Mantle Convection
			Mantle plumes: Just like the lava in your lamp
			The slab-pull and ridge-push models
		Using Convection to Explain Magma, Volcanoes, and Underwater Mountains
			Plate friction: Melting rock beneath the earth’s crust
			Creating volcanic arcs and hotspots
			Birthing new seafloor at mid-ocean ridges
		Shake, Rattle, and Roll: How Plate Movements Cause Earthquakes
			Responding elastically
			Sending waves through the earth
			Measuring magnitude
Part 4 Superficially Speaking: About Surface Processes
	Chapter 11 Gravity Takes Its Toll: Mass Wasting
		Holding Steady or Falling Down: Friction versus Gravity
		Focusing on the Materials Involved
			Loose materials: Resting at the angle of repose
			Bedrock: Losing its stability
		Triggering Mass Movements
			Adding water to the mix
			Changing the slope angle
			Shaking things up: Earthquakes
			Removing vegetation
		Moving Massive Amounts of Earth, Quickly
			Falls
			Slides and slumps
			Flows
		A More Subtle Approach: Creep and Soil Flow (Solifluction)
	Chapter 12 Water: Above and Below Ground
		Hydrologic Cycling
			Driving the cycle with evaporation
			Traveling across a continent
		Streams: Moving Sediments toward the Ocean
			Draining the basin
			Two types of flow
			Measuring stream characteristics
			Carrying a heavy load
			Measuring what is transported
		Eroding a Stream Channel to Base Level
		Seeking Equilibrium after Changes in Base Level
		Leaving Their Mark: How Streams Create Landforms
			Draining the basin
			Meandering along
			Depositing sediments along the way
			Reaching the sea
		Flowing beneath Your Feet: Groundwater
			Infiltrating tiny spaces underground
			Measuring porosity and permeability
			Setting the water table
			Springing from rocks
			That sinking feeling: Karst, caves, and sinkholes
	Chapter 13 Flowing Slowly toward the Sea: Glaciers
		Identifying Three Types of Glaciers
		Understanding Ice as a Geologic Force
			Transforming snow into ice
			Balancing the glacial budget
			Flowing solidly down the mountain
		Eroding at a Snail’s Pace: Landforms Created by Glacial Erosion
			Plucking and abrading along the way
			Creating their own valleys
			Speaking French: Cirques, arêtes, et roche moutonnées
		Leaving It All Behind: Glacial Deposits
			Depositing the till
			Plains, trains, eskers, and kames
			Behaving erratically: Large boulders in odd places
		Where Have All the Glaciers Gone?
			Filling the erosional gaps
			Cycling through ice ages
			Rebounding isostatically
	Chapter 14 Blowing in the Wind: Moving Sediments without Water
		Lacking Water: Arid Regions of the Earth
		Transporting Particles by Air
			Skipping right along: Bed load and saltation
			Suspending particles in air
		Deflating and Abrading: Features of Wind Erosion
			Removing sediments
			Scratching the surface
		Just Add Wind: Dunes and Other Depositional Wind Features
			Migrating piles of sand: Dunes
			Shaping sand
			Laying down layers of loess
		Paving the Desert: Deposition or Erosion?
	Chapter 15 Catch a Wave: The Evolution of Shorelines
		Breaking Free: Waves and Wave Motion
			Dissecting wave anatomy
			Starting to roll
			Going with the flow: Currents and tides
		Shaping Shorelines
			Carving cliffs and other features
			Budgeting to build sandbars
		Categorizing Coastlines
Part 5 Long, Long Ago in This Galaxy Right Here
	Chapter 16 Getting a Grip on Geologic Time
		The Layer Cake of Time: Stratigraphy and Relative Dating
			Speaking relatively
			Sorting out the strata
			Putting rock layers in the right order
			Losing time in the layers
		Show Me the Numbers: Methods of Absolute Dating
			Measuring radioactive decay
			Common radioactive isotopes for geological dating
			Other exacting methods of geological dating
		Relatively Absolute: Combining Methods for the Best Results
		Eons, Eras, and Epochs (Oh My!): Structuring the Geologic Timescale
	Chapter 17 A Record of Life in the Rocks
		Explaining Change, Not Origins: The Theory of Evolution
		The Evolution of a Theory
			Acquiring traits doesn’t do it
			Naturally, selecting for survival
			Mendel’s peas please
			Genetic nuts and bolts
			Spontaneously mutating genes
			Speciating right and left
		Putting Evolution to the Test
		Against All Odds: The Fossilization of Lifeforms
			Bones, teeth, and shell: Body fossils
			Just passing through: Trace fossils
		Correcting for Bias in the Fossil Record
		Hypothesizing Relationships: Cladistics
	Chapter 18 Time before Time Began: The Precambrian
		In the Beginning . . . Earth’s Creation from a Nebulous Cloud
		Addressing Archean Rocks
			Creating continents
			Revving up the rock cycle
			Feeling hot, hot, hot: Evidence for extreme temperatures
		Originating with Orogens: Supercontinents of the Proterozoic Eon
		Single Cells, Algal Mats, and the Early Atmosphere
			Hunting early prokaryotes and eukaryotes
			You know it as pond scum: Cyanobacteria
			Waiting to inhale: The formation of Earth’s atmosphere
		Questioning the Earliest Complex Life: The Ediacaran Fauna
	Chapter 19 Teeming with Life: The Paleozoic Era
		Exploding with Life: The Cambrian Period
			Toughen up! Developing shells
			Ruling arthropods of the seafloor: Trilobites
		Building Reefs All Over the Place
			Swimming freely: Ammonoids and nautiloids
			Exploring freshwater: Eurypterids
		Spinal Tapping: Animals with Backbones
			Fish evolve body armor, teeth, and . . . legs?
			Venturing onto land: Early amphibians
			Adapting to life on land: The reptiles
		Planting Roots: Early Plant Evolution
		Tracking the Geologic Events of the Paleozoic
			Constructing continents
			Reading the rocks: Transgressions and regressions
			Fossilizing carbon fuels
			Pangaea, the most super of supercontinents
	Chapter 20 Mesozoic World: When Dinosaurs Dominated
		Driving Pangaea Apart at the Seams
			One continent becomes many
			Influencing global climate
			Creating the mountains of North America
		Repopulating the Seas after Extinction
		The Symbiosis of Flowers
		Recognizing All the Mesozoic Reptiles
			Flocking together
		Climbing the Dinosaur Family Tree
			Branching out: Ornithischia and Saurischia
			Horned faces and armor: Ornithischian dinosaurs
			Long necks and meat eaters: Saurischian dinosaurs
		Flocking Together: The Evolutionary Road to Birds
		Laying the Groundwork for Later Dominance: Early Mammal Evolution
	Chapter 21 The Cenozoic Era: Mammals Take Over
		Putting Continents in Their Proper (Okay, Current) Places
			Creating modern geography
			Consuming the Farallon Plate
			Carving the Grand Canyon with uplift
			Icing over northern continents
		Entering the Age of Mammals
			Regulating body temperature
			Filling every niche
		Living Large: Massive Mammals Then and Now
			Nosing around elephant evolution
			Returning to the sea: Whales
			Larger than life: Giant mammals of the ice ages
		Right Here, Right Now: The Reign of Homo Sapiens
		Arguing for the Anthropocene
			Altering the climate
			Shaping the landscape
			Leaving evidence in the rock record
	Chapter 22 And Then There Were None: Major Extinction Events in Earth’s History
		Explaining Extinctions
			Heads up! Astronomical impacts
			Lava, lava everywhere: Volcanic eruptions and flood basalts
			Shifting sea levels
			Changing climate
		End Times, at Least Five Times
			Cooling tropical waters
			Reducing carbon dioxide levels
			The Great Dying
			Paving the way for dinosaurs
			Demolishing dinosaurs: The K/T boundary
		Modern Extinctions and Biodiversity
			Hunting the megafauna
			Reducing biodiversity
Part 6 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 23 Ten Ways You Use Geologic Resources Every Day
		Burning Fossil Fuels
		Playing with Plastics
		Gathering Gemstones
		Drinking Water
		Creating Concrete
		Paving Roads
		Accessing Geothermal Heat
		Fertilizing with Phosphate
		Constructing Computers
		Building with Beautiful Stone
	Chapter 24 Ten Geologic Hazards
		Changing Course: River Flooding
		Caving In: Sinkholes
		Sliding Down: Landslides
		Shaking Things Up: Earthquakes
		Washing Away Coastal Towns: Tsunamis
		Destroying Farmland and Coastal Bluffs: Erosion
		Fiery Explosions of Molten Rock: Volcanic Eruptions
		Melting Ice with Fire: Jokulhlaups
		Flowing Rivers of Mud: Lahars
		Watching the Poles: Geomagnetism
Index
Supplemental Images
EULA