Table of Contents

I. Forming the Earth      

1. A First Look at Planet Earth — Its Origins, Systems, and Tectonic Plates     

2. Minerals     

3. Igneous Rocks and Processes     

4. Volcanoes and Volcanism     

5. Weathering — The Breakdown of Rocks     

6. Sedimentary Processes, Environments, and Rocks     

7. Metamorphism and Metamorphic Rocks     

8. Telling Time Geologically 

II. Shaping the Earth’s Crust     

9. Earth Structures — Folds, Faults, and Fabrics     

10. Earthquakes     

11. The Earth’s Interior — What’s Going on Down There?     

12. Plate Tectonics and the Formation of the Earth’s Oceans     

13. Continental Tectonics and the Formation of the Earth’s Continents  

III. Sculpting the Earth’s Surface      

14. Mass Movement     

15. Streams and Floods         

16. Groundwater     

17. Glaciers and Ice Ages     

18. Deserts and the Work of Winds     

19. Shores and Coastal Processes     

20. Human Use of the Earth’s Resources 

Appendices 

Glossary 

Photo Credit 

Index