A Student's Guide to Geophysical Equations

A compact guide to deriving the key geophysical equations - helping students to tackle homework exercises and prepare for exams.

William Lowrie (Author)

9780521183772, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 May 2011

296 pages, 78 b/w illus. 7 tables
22.9 x 15 x 1.8 cm, 0.48 kg

'Figures are small, simple, and clear, and largely devoted to illustrating dimensions or coordinate systems relating to the equations under discussion … succeeds as a supplemental work to either a more general introductory textbook (most naturally Lowrie's own Fundamentals of Geophysics, which maintains continuity in mathematical notation) or as an introduction to several more advanced, subject-specific works … a worthy addition to the shelf (or eBook reader) of serious students of geophysics, or indeed faculty preparing lecture courses on related subjects.' James Wookey, American Mineralogist

The advent of accessible student computing packages has meant that geophysics students can now easily manipulate datasets and gain first-hand modeling experience - essential in developing an intuitive understanding of the physics of the Earth. Yet to gain a more in-depth understanding of physical theory, and to develop new models and solutions, it is necessary to be able to derive the relevant equations from first principles. This compact, handy book fills a gap left by most modern geophysics textbooks, which generally do not have space to derive all of the important formulae, showing the intermediate steps. This guide presents full derivations for the classical equations of gravitation, gravity, tides, earth rotation, heat, geomagnetism and foundational seismology, illustrated with simple schematic diagrams. It supports students through the successive steps and explains the logical sequence of a derivation - facilitating self-study and helping students to tackle homework exercises and prepare for exams.

Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Mathematical background
2. Gravitation
3. Gravity
4. The tides
5. Earth's rotation
6. Earth's heat
7. Geomagnetism
8. Foundations of seismology
Appendix A. Magnetic poles, the dipole field, and current loops
Appendix B. Maxwell's equations of electromagnetism
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Geology & the lithosphere [RBG], Earth sciences [RB], Earth sciences, geography, environment, planning [R]