Landscape Evolution in the United States: An Introduction to the Geography, Geology, and Natural History,Used

This book was written for those curious about the natural wonder and beauty of the United States, for those wishing to delve into how mountains form and evolve beyond the obligatory colliding of continents, and for those who seek insight on the reasoning and methods geologists use to interpret landscape evolution and geological history. It is a textbook appropriate for first and secondyear university students, a reference book for advanced geology students, and a book appropriate for a general audience or traveler who seeks a deeper understanding and appreciation of landscape. As a textbook, it shows how geology, geography, tectonics, and climate interact to shape the landscape of the United States. As a general audience book, it introduces the physical characteristics of the United States, its structural framework, and its geological history.There are three parts. Part I is concerned with understanding how rock type and rock structure combine with tectonic activity, climate, isostasy, and sea level change to produce landscape and to predict how landscape will evolve. These chapters emphasize the reasoning and methods geologists use to interpret landscape. Part II divides the contiguous United States into nine structural provinces. The discussion is on the distribution and origin of landscape features with special emphasis on topography, rock type, rock structure, tectonic setting, climate, and recent uplift/erosion history. Part III is an excursion into the criteria and tools geologists use to understand how compressional mountain systems form and evolve. Special emphasis is on the evidence geologists find, and the rationale they use, to interpret the rock record with reference to the US Appalachian and Cordilleran Mountain systems. In a nutshell, Parts I and II deal specifically with presentday landscape, its evolution, and how the forces of nature affect it. The focus is on why the landscape looks the way it does. Part III deals with the rocks. The focus is on geological history, mountain building, and past landscapes. In this part of the book, the presentday landscape is of secondary importance. The table of contents follows.PART 1 KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING LANDSCAPE EVOLUTIONChapter 1 The Tortoise And The HareChapter 2 Component: The Rock/Sediment TypeChapter 3 Component: The Structural FormChapter 4 Mechanisms That Impart Change To LandscapeChapter 5 Forcing Variable: The Tectonic SystemChapter 6 Forcing Variable: The Climatic SystemChapter 7 Forcing Variables: Sea Level And IsostasyChapter 8 Interaction Of Tectonics, Climate And TimePART II STRUCTURAL PROVINCESChapter 9 Unconsolidated SedimentChapter 10 Nearly FlatLying Sedimentary LayersChapter 11 CrystallineCored MidContinent Anticlines And DomesChapter 12 Foreland Fold And Thrust BeltsChapter 13 Crystalline Deformation BeltsChapter 14 Young Volcanic Rocks Of The CordilleraChapter 15 Normal FaultDominated LandscapesChapter 16 Cascadia Volcanic Arc SystemChapter 17 California Transpressional SystemChapter 18 The Story Of The Grand CanyonPART III MOUNTAIN BUILDINGChapter 19 Early Theories On The Origin Of Mountain BeltsChapter 20 Keys To The Interpretation Of Geological HistoryChapter 21 Tectonic Style, Rock Successions, And Tectonic ProvincesChapter 22 Formation, Collapse, And Erosonal Decay Of Mountain SystemsChapter 23 The Appalachian Orogenic Belt: An Example Of Compressional Mountain BuildingChapter 24 The Cordilleran Orogenic BeltShows how geology, climate, and tectonics interact to shape the landscape of the United States. Emphasis is on evidence geologists find, and the methods, criteria, and rationale geologists use, to interpret the physical characteristics of the United States, its structural framework, and its geological history. Offers more than 300 fullcolor drawings, photographs, and maps designed to be simple and informative. Questions at the end of each chapter aid in