Brian Skinner was born and raised in Australia, studied at the University of Adelaide in South Australia, worked in the mining industry in Tasmania, and in 1951 entered the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, from which he obtained his Ph.D. in 1954. Following a period as a research scientist in the United States Geological Survey in Washington D.C., he joined the faculty at Yale in 1966, where he continues his teaching and research as the Eugene Higgins Professor of Geology and Geophysics. Brian Skinner has been president of the Geochemical Society, the Geological Society of America, and the Society of Economic Geologists, He holds an honorary Doctor of Science from Toronto University, and an honorary Doctor of Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.Barbara Murck is a geologist and senior lecturer in environmental science at the University of Toronto Mississauga. She completed her undergraduate degree in Geological and Geophysical Sciences at Princeton University and then spent two years in the Peace Corps in West Africa, before returning to Ph.D. studies at the University of Toronto. Her subsequent teaching and research has involved an interesting combination of geology, natural hazards, environmental science, and environmental issues in the developing world, primarily in Africa and Asia. She also carries out practical research on pedagogy. She is an award-winning lecturer who has co-authored a number of books, including several with Brian Skinner.

• Part 1. The Earth System: Our Place in Space1. The Earth System 5What is Earth Syste, Science? 6Earth System Reservoirs 14Dynamic Intercations Among Reservoirs 16How Science Works: Hypothesis and Theory 222. Energy 31What is Energy? 32External Energy Sources 35Internal Energy Sources 42Earth's Energy Cycle 43Energy and Society 463. Matter 53Earth's Materials 54Organic Matter 59Composition and Internal Structure of Earth 61Minerals 64Rocks 71Regolith 74How Matter Moves Through the Earth System 764. Space and Time 81The Sun: An Ordinary Star 82The Solar System 85Other Suns and Planetary Systems 96Time and Change 101Part 2. The Geosphere: Earth Beneath Our Feet 1095. The Tectonic Cycle 111Plate Tectonics: A Unifying Theory 113Plate Motion and the Driving Force 120Plate Interactions and Earth's Landscapes 125Building the Continents 1326. Earthquakes and Volcanoes 143Earthquakes: When Rocks Shift 144Earthquake Hazard and Risk 150Earthquakes and Earth's Interior 156Volcanoes: When Rocks Melt 161Volcanic Disasters 173Magma Underground 176The Tectonic Connection: Origin and Distribution of Magmas and Volcanoes 1777. The Rock Cycle 185From Rock to Regolith 186From Regolith to Rock 195New Rock to Old 202From Rock to Magma and Back Again 209The Rock Cycle. The Tectonic Cycle, and Earth's Landscapes 212Part 3. The Hydrosphere: Earth's Blanket of Water and Ice 2218. The Hydrologic Cycle 223Water and the Hydrologic Cycle 224Water on the Ground 228Water Under the Ground 241Water and Society 2479. The Cryosphere 257Earth's Cover of Snow and Ice 258Glaciers 260Glaciation 270Sea Ice 277Ice in the Earth System 27910. The World OceanOcean Basins and Ocean Water 288Ocean Circulation 295Ocean Waves 301Ocean Tides 306Where Land and Ocean Meet 307Changing Sea Levels 311Part 4. The Atmosphere: Earth's Gaseous Envelope 31911. The Atmosphere 321The Habitable Planet 322Composition and Structure of Our Atmosphere 325Moisture in the Atmosphere 335The Atmosphere in the Earth System 34312. Wind and Weather SystemsWhy Air Moves 350Global Air Circulation 355Regional Wind and Weather Systems 360Local WInd and Weather Systems 364Severe Weather 365Weather and the Earth System 37313. the Climate System 379Earth's Climate System 380Evidence of Climate Change 381Earth's Past CLimates 392Why Climates CHange 400Feedbacks and Complexity in Earth's Climate System 408Part 5. The Biosphere: Life on Earth14. Life, Death and Evolution 417What is Life? An Overview of Basic Biological Processes 418Life: A Planetary Perspective 424Evolution: the History of Life 431Extinction: The History of Death 44215. Ecosystems, Biomes, and Cycles of Life 449Energy and Matter in Ecosystems 450Global Cycles of Life 459Earth's Major Ecosystems 47416. Populations, Communities, and Change 487Populations 488Communities 492Biodiversity 502Part 6. The Anthroposphere: Humans and the Earth System 51717. The Resource Cycle 519Resources from the Earth System 520Renewable Resources: Seeking Balance 526Limits to Growth 53718. Mineral and Energy Resources 541Nonrenewable Resources: Closing the Cycle 542Mineral Resources 542Energy Resources 55119. The Changing Earth System 473Understanding Anthropogenic Change 574Human Impacts on the Earth System 577Anthropogenic Role in Global Climate Change 592Anthroposphere: Humans and Earth System Change 599