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1 The Earth in Context
2 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
3 Patterns in Nature: Minerals
4 Up From the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
5 A Surface Veneer: Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks
6 Change in the Solid State: Metamorphic Rocks
7 The Wrath of Vulcan: Volcanic Eruptions
8 A Violent Pulse: Earthquakes
9 Crags, Cracks, and Crumples: Crustal Deformation and Mountain Building
10 Deep Time: How Old is Old?
11 A Biography of Earth
12 Riches in Rock: Energy and Mineral Resources
13 Unsafe Ground: Landslides and Other Mass Movements
14 Streams and Floods: The Geology of Running Water
15 Restless Realm: Oceans and Coasts
16 A Hidden Reserve: Groundwater
17 Dry Regions: The Geology of Deserts
18 Amazing Ice: Glaciers and Ice Ages
19 Global Change in the Earth System


Science Daily

Seafloor Fossils Provide Clues To Climate Change
Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
Deep under the sea, a fossil the size of a sand grain is nestled among a billion of its closest dead relatives. Known as foraminifera, these complex little shells of calcium carbonate can tell you the sea level, temperature, and ocean conditions of Earth millions of years ago. That is, if you know what to look for.

Are The Alps Growing Or Shrinking?
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST
The Alps are growing just as quickly in height as they are shrinking. This paradoxical result comes from a new study by a group of German and Swiss geoscientists. Due to glaciers and rivers, about exactly the same amount of material is eroded from the slopes of the Alps as is regenerated from the deep Earth's crust. The climatic cycles of the glacial period in Europe over the past 2.5 million years have accelerated this erosion process.

Abiotic Synthesis Of Methane: New Evidence Supports 19th-Century Idea On Formation Of Oil And Gas
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST
Scientists in Washington, D.C. are reporting laboratory evidence supporting the possibility that some of Earth's oil and natural gas may have formed in a way much different than the traditional process described in science textbooks.

New York Times

The Missing Piece
Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400
Ten years ago, Maya Lin wrote that she was officially retiring from “the monument business.” After completing the landmark Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Washington, D.C., 1982), the artist and architect designed three major civic works commemorating significant American passages: the Civil Rights Memorial (1989), commissioned by the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala.; the Women’s Table (1993) in honor of coeducation at Yale University, her alma mater; and the continuing Confluence Pro...

Planetary Matters
Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400
A day isn’t just a standard measure, all the same size so each fits on a calendar page. A day is a period of light, an astronomical event.

German Geothermal Project Leads to Second Thoughts After the Earth Rumbles
Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0400
German officials are reviewing the safety of a plant that extracts heat from below the earth’s surface, an operation that scientists say set off an earthquake last month.

The Earth’s Paunch
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0400
The earth bulges at the Equator. Does this include the oceans?

Our Planet, Pole to Pole, Cold to Hot
Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0400
Leave it to Disney to make global warming as soothing as a full-body massage with “Earth.”


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Norton Gradebook

Instructors now have an easy way to collect students’ online quizzes with the Norton Gradebook without flooding their inboxes with e-mails.

Students can track their online quiz scores by setting up their own Student Gradebook.