Mantle Convection for Geologists

An accessible explanation of the Earth's fundamental tectonic mechanism for students and researchers across a variety of geoscience disciplines.

Geoffrey F. Davies (Author)

9780521198004, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 February 2011

240 pages, 101 b/w illus. 5 tables
25.4 x 17.9 x 1.6 cm, 0.62 kg

'… this is a highly recommendable textbook for non-specialists, and also is a good complement to earlier standard and more mathematics-oriented textbooks for students of geodynamics.' Masaki Ogawa, American Mineralogist

Mantle convection is the fundamental agent driving many of the geological features observed at the Earth's surface, including plate tectonics and plume volcanism. Yet many Earth scientists have an incomplete understanding of the process. This book describes the physics and fluid dynamics of mantle convection, explaining what it is, how it works, and how to quantify it in simple terms. It assumes no specialist background: mechanisms are explained simply and the required basic physics is fully reviewed and explained with minimal mathematics. The distinctive forms that convection takes in the Earth's mantle are described within the context of tectonic plates and mantle plumes, and implications are explored for geochemistry and tectonic evolution. Common misconceptions and controversies are addressed - providing a straightforward but rigorous explanation of this key process for students and researchers across a variety of geoscience disciplines.

1. Introduction
2. Context
3. Why moving plates?
4. Solid, yielding mantle
5. Convection
6. The plate mode of convection
7. The plume mode of convection
8. Perspective
9. Evolution and tectonics
10. Mantle chemical evolution
11. Assimilating mantle convection into geology
Appendix A. Exponential growth and decay
Appendix B. Thermal evolution details
Appendix C. Chemical evolution details
References
Index.

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