Explore the vast range of titles available.

\"What does it take for a volcanic eruption to really shake the world? Did volcanic eruptions extinguish the dinosaurs, or help humans to evolve, only to decimate their populations with a super-eruption 73,000 years ago? Did they contribute to the ebb and flow of ancient empires, the French Revolution and the rise of fascism in Europe in the 19th century? These are some of the claims made for volcanic cataclysm. Volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer explores rich geological, historical, archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records (such as ice cores and tree rings) to tell the stories behind some of the greatest volcanic events of the past quarter of a billion years. He shows how a forensic approach to volcanology reveals the richness and complexity behind cause and effect, and argues that important lessons for future catastrophe risk management can be drawn from understanding events that took place even at the dawn of human origins\"-- Provided by publisher.

What does it take for a volcanic eruption to really shake the world? Did volcanic eruptions extinguish the dinosaurs, or help humans to evolve, only to decimate their populations with a super-eruption 73,000 years ago? Did they contribute to the ebb and flow of ancient empires, the French Revolution and the rise of fascism in Europe in the 19th century? These are some of the claims made for volcanic cataclysm. Volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer explores rich geological, historical, archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records (such as ice cores and tree rings) to tell the stories behind some of the greatest volcanic events of the past quarter of a billion years. He shows how a forensic approach to volcanology reveals the richness and complexity behind cause and effect, and argues that important lessons for future catastrophe risk management can be drawn from understanding events that took place even at the dawn of human origins.

New Zealand forests burn less frequently than tussock grasslands, heath or shrublands. Species composition, past disturbance and stand condition determine inflammability and fuel load, and consequent fire intensity and spatial extent. Before people arrived, fires were ignited by lightning during drought years on the eastern sides of both islands. Volcanism occurring every 300–600 years was associated with fires in the central North Island. A review of radiocarbon-dated charcoal from the eastern South Island, and of evidence for fire in pollen profiles from the North Island, provide the basis for an assessment of fire frequency. Forest fires have occurred on both New Zealand's islands throughout the Holocene at least every few centuries, until the last millennium when frequency increased. The ‘return time’ of fire at any one place in the forested landscape was probably one or two millennia. Burned areas usually succeeded to forest again before the next inflagration. Consequently fire adaptation is infrequent in the New Zealand flora, and Polynesian forest clearance was rapid and largely permanent. There is an indication of an increase in fire frequency in the late Holocene, and a clear signal associated with people approx. 700 years BP. Separating the earliest anthropogenic fires from the background level of natural burning will be difficult without additional evidence.

\"Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanoes--these all stem from the same forces that give our planet life. It is only when they exceed our ability to withstand them that they become disasters. Viewed together, these events have shaped our cities and their architecture; elevated leaders and toppled governments; influenced the way we think, feel, fight, unite, and pray ... [In this book, Jones examines] some of our most devastating natural events, whose reverberations we continue to feel today\"-- Provided by publisher.

Valdivia Bank is an oceanic plateau in the South Atlantic formed by hot spot magmatism at the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge during the Late Cretaceous. It is part of the Walvis Ridge, an aseismic ridge and seamount chain widely considered to be formed by age‐progressive volcanism from the Tristan‐Gough plume. To better understand the formation and history of this edifice, we developed a bathymetric map of Valdivia Bank by merging available multibeam echosounder data sets with a bathymetry grid based mainly on satellite altimetry (SRTM15+). The bathymetric map reveals previously unresolved features including extensive rift grabens, volcanic mounds and knolls, and large‐scale sediment transport systems. After Valdivia Bank was emplaced and probably eroded at sea level, it underwent a period of rifting, followed by a secondary magmatic pulse that caused regional uplift to sea‐level, followed by subsidence to current depths. Shallow banks at depths of ∼1,000 m are the result of a thick sediment pile atop uplifted volcanic crust. Several shallower mounds (∼1,000–520 m) and a guyot (∼220 m) likely resulted from coral reef growth atop one or more volcanic pedestals formed during the younger Cenozoic magmatic event. As sediments accumulated on the shallow platforms, sediment transport systems developed as gullies, channels and mass transport deposits carved valleys and troughs, shedding sediment into abyssal fans at the plateau base. The new bathymetric map demonstrates that oceanic plateaus are geologically active long after initial emplacement. Plain Language Summary Valdivia Bank is an oceanic plateau in the South Atlantic that was formed as part of Walvis Ridge by hot spot volcanism at the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge. Walvis Ridge topography is more complex than that of simple hot spot tracks. Moreover, younger‐than‐expected ages from dredge samples suggest a second phase of volcanism. To better understand the development of this plateau, we created a detailed bathymetry map by compiling available multibeam echosounder data with satellite‐altimetry‐based depth estimates. The map reveals previously unseen features including rifts, volcanic mounds, and submarine slides and sediment drainage features. These suggest that after Valdivia Bank formed, it underwent faulting, followed by volcanism that raised the plateau to sea level. Subsequently, the plateau subsided while accumulating a thick sediment cover. Shallow banks resulted from thick sediments atop the uplifted basement. Several shallower mounds likely resulted from coral reef growth atop a volcanic base formed during the later stage of volcanism. As sediments accumulated atop the plateau, they were shed through gullies, channels and submarine slides, carving valleys and troughs, and then deposited around the plateau base. Our findings demonstrate that oceanic plateaus can be geologically active long after their formation. Key Points A bathymetry map was constructed for Valdivia Bank from multibeam data merged with satellite altimetry‐predicted depths Valdivia Bank experienced extension, forming rifts, and secondary volcanism, uplift, and exposure, then was capped by carbonate sediments Valdivia Bank shows evidence of mass wasting, partly triggered by Cenozoic uplift and erosion, but also owing to sediment cap instability

\"An epoch-changing work on scientific developments which can save countless lives. Each year the world faces thousands of earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater, resulting in devastating property destruction and tragic loss of life. To help avert these catastrophes, scientists have long searched for ways to predict when and where earthquakes will happen. The earth science establishment in the US says that earthquake prediction still lies outside the realm of possibility. But recent scientific developments across the globe suggest that seismic forecasting is on the horizon. Earthquake Prediction: Dawn of the New Seismology examines the latest scientific clues in hopes of discovering seismic precursors which may shed light on real earthquake prediction in the future. It is destined to be nothing less than an epoch-changing work, addressing this ancient enigma by joining the parts of a scientific detective story that ranges from the steppes of Russia to the coast of Chile, bringing to light astounding breakthroughs by researchers in Italy, India and elsewhere. Governments in countries such as China and Japan provide support for seismic forecasting, and it is time for our country to do the same. Earthquake Prediction makes the case, with an important message for the tens of millions of Americans on the US West Coast, the Mississippi River Valley, and other seismically active zones\"-- Provided by publisher.

The northeast (NE) Atlantic is one of the best-studied geological regions in the world, incorporating a wide array of geological phenomena including extensional tectonism, passive margin development, orogenesis, and breakup-related volcanism. Apatite fission-track (AFT) thermochronology has been an important tool in studying the onshore evolution of the NE Atlantic for several decades. Unfortunately, large regional-scale studies are rare, making it difficult to study geological processes across the whole region. In this work, a compilation of published AFT data is presented from across Fennoscandia, the British Isles, East Greenland, and Svalbard, with the goal of providing an accessible overview of the data and how this vast body of work has improved our understanding of the region’s evolution. Alongside a review of previous literature, interpolated maps of fission track age and mean track length (MTL) highlight regional trends in the data that may result from major first-order processes and areas of low sample density that should be targeted for future study. Additionally, in the absence of metadata required for thermal history modeling, apparent exhumation rate estimates are calculated from available elevation profiles and the timing of major exhumation events inferred from “boomerang plots” of fission track ages against MTL values. Across Fennoscandia, data suggests that the opening of the NE Atlantic and exhumation of the margin have clearly played a major role in the thermal history of the upper crust. The remaining areas of Britain, Ireland, East Greenland, and Svalbard all present more complex trends consistent with a combination of the NE Atlantic’s opening and the interplay between specific bedrock geology of sampling sites and localized geological processes. Areas of low sample density include southern Britain, NE Britain, southeast Greenland, southern Svalbard, and Eastern Fennoscandia, each of which provides the natural laboratory required to answer many unresolved questions.

Aim: (1) To synthesize data on the physical and phylogeographical history of the Mexican highlands, with a focus on the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB), and (2) to propose approaches and analyses needed for examining the interaction of climate and volcanism. Location: Mexico. Methods: We performed a literature and data survey of the climatic, geological and phylogeographical history of the Mexican highlands. We then assessed how the expected effects of topographic isolation, co-occurring palaeoclimatic fluctuations and volcanism can be tested against the distribution of genetic diversity of high-elevation taxa. Results: The Mexican highlands present a complex biogeographical, climatic and geological history. Montane taxa have been exposed to a sky-island dynamic through climate fluctuations, allowing for long-term in situ population persistence, while also promoting recent divergence and speciation events. Volcanic activity transformed part of the Mexican highlands during the Pleistocene, mainly in the TMVB, leading to co-occurring climate and topographical changes. The TMVB highlands provide a suitable template to examine how low-latitude mountains can facilitate both the long-term persistence of biodiversity as well as allopatric and parapatric speciation driven by climatic and geological events. Main conclusions: Climate fluctuations, together with recent volcanism, have driven the diversification and local persistence of biodiversity within the Mexican highlands. The climate-volcanism interaction is challenging to study; however, this can be overcome by coupling genomic data with landscape analyses that integrate the geological and climatic history of the region.

Rima Bode is located on the central nearside of the Moon, with its rich volcanic landforms, which is considered an ideal region for studying lunar geological evolution. In this study, we systematically analyzed the geomorphological characteristics, composition, spatial thickness variations in basalts and pyroclastic deposits, thermophysical properties, and chronology of Rima Bode using the Kaguya Multiband (MI) data, Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) data, Terrain Camera (TC) data, and the CE-2 Microwave Radiometer (MRM) data. The main results are as follows. (1) The basalts can be categorized into three distinct units (Regions II, III, and IV), and the distribution range of pyroclastic deposits was redefined. Using the crater excavation technique, the deposit thicknesses were constrained to 4.3–51.9 m for pyroclastic deposits and 2.3–269.2 m for basalts, establishing a quantitative stratigraphic framework; (2) this study reveals that pyroclastic deposits exhibit abnormally brightness temperature (TB) behaviors, with slower diurnal TB change rates, indicating their high thermal inertia. (3) Chronological analysis indicated that volcanism lasted for ~0.38 Ga, with at least four distinct episodes of volcanic eruptions, suggesting complex magmatic processes and continued thermal activity within this region. These findings establish a comprehensive geological framework for the Rima Bode region, thereby deepening our understanding of its geological evolution.