geology, stratigraphic

An . . . Harvard geologist presents a narrative chronicle of the Earth's 4.6-billion-year evolution that places the environmental crises of [the recent] world in a context that explains the planet's fragile capacity to support life.

"Many thousands of years ago, when a sheet of ice up to a mile thick began to let go of the land, the Atlantic Ocean flooded great valleys that had been scooped out by glaciers, and the salty waves of an inland sea lapped the green hills of Vermont. Into this arm of the sea swam Charlotte [the whale]"--OCLC.

Constantly changing, Earth sometimes reveals clues about the plants, animals, and other organisms that lived long ago. Fossils teach us much about what life was like millions of years ago, answering the questions of how Earth changed and maybe even why it changed.

Each layer of sedimentary rocks contains clues about what life was like at the time the layers were formed. Readers will uncover the science behind rock formation.

Looks at how anthropocene is affecting the sciences, humanities, and politics.

"This book describes four different methods of paleotemperature assessment on selected Paleozoic rock units and determines spatial variations in maximum burial depths of these units and thicknesses of lost overburden. Stratigraphic and tectonic history of the northern Appalachian basin is described in details followed by a critical review of fluid inclusion, clay diagenesis, organic maturation, and stable isotope techniques of paleotemperature measurements in sedimentary rocks"--Amazon.

Examines the fate of the Gorgons, a little known prehistoric animal that ruled the world long before the Age of Dinosaurs, and speculates on the cataclysmic event that lead to their extinction more than 250 million years ago.

Documents the events surrounding a near-catastrophic event which took place at the end of the Permian period 251 million years ago, destroying ninety percent of life on Earth.