Geology: Earth in Perspective

Reed Wicander is Professor Emeritus of Geology at Central Michigan University, where he taught Physical Geology, Historical Geology, Prehistoric Life, and Invertebrate Paleontology. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Dr. Wicander earned his B.S. degree in geology from San Diego State University and his Ph.D. from UCLA. His main research focuses on various aspects of Paleozoic palynology, specifically the study of acritarchs, a group of organic-walled microphytoplankton, on which he has published many papers. In addition, he has co-authored numerous geology textbooks with James S. Monroe. He is a past president of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists – The Palynological Society and the Commission Internationale de la Microflore du Paléozoïque, as well as a former councilor of the International Federation of Palynological Societies. James S. Monroe is Professor Emeritus of Geology at Central Michigan University, where he taught Physical Geology, Historical Geology, Prehistoric Life, and Stratigraphy and Sedimentology, and served as chair of the Geology Department. Dr. Monroe earned his Ph.D. from the University of Montana. He has coauthored numerous geology textbooks with Reed Wicander and has interests in Cenozoic geology and geologic education. He now lives in Chico, California where he remains active in geology by teaching courses to large groups of retirees. Parvinder "Parv" Sethi is a Professor of Geology at Radford University in Virginia with over 15 years of full-time teaching experience in Physical and Environmental Geology courses at the college level. He received his B.S. degree from Ferguson College in India, M.S. in Marine Geology from the University of Brussels, and his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. He has authored over 20 professional publications, presented over 100 peer-reviewed, research conference presentations, and has successfully competed for research funds from both State-level and Federal Funding Agencies including the National Science Foundation and the American Chemical Society-Petroleum Research Fund. He is a nationally-recognized, award-winning teacher, and past recipient of "The Geological Society of America – Biggs Award for Excellence in College Teaching" in 1997, and "The National Association of Geoscience Teachers – Eastern Region – John H. Moss Award for Excellence in Teaching" in 2002. He is an avid fine-art photographer, with a personal collection of over a million photographs of landscapes from National Parks, both in the U.S. and abroad. He has authored over a dozen interactive, multimedia instructional CD-ROMs for use for teaching geology both at the K-12 and college levels. His more recent research interests include designing and developing innovative multimedia and new media instructional technology for teaching geology, including immersive 360 degree QTVR Panoramas, HD videography and more recently the GeoWall suite of stereo-projection applications. He lives in Radford, Virginia and loves riding his motorcycle on the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway.

• Preface.Author Biography.1. Understanding Earth: A Dynamic and Evolving Planet.2. Plate Tectonics: A Unifying Theory.3. Minerals: The Building Blocks of Rocks.4. Igneous Rocks and Intrusive Igneous Activity.5. Volcanoes and Volcanism.6. Weathering, Soil, and Sedimentary Rocks.7. Metamorphism and Metamorphic Rocks.8. Earthquakes and Earth's Interior.9. Deformation, Mountain Building, and the Continents.10. Mass Wasting.11. Running Water.12. Groundwater.13. Glaciers and Glaciation.14. The Work of Wind and Deserts.15. Oceans, Shorelines and Shoreline Processes.16. Geologic Time: Concepts and Principles.17. Earth History.18. Life History.Appendix A: English-Metric Conversion Chart.Appendix B: Mineral Identification Tables.Multiple-Choice Questions Answers.Selected Short Answer Questions Answers.Glossary.Index.