Book Description

The field of environmental geosciences investigates the alterations occurring on Earth. All the components and interactions of the Earth's environment. Atmosphere, ocean, and solid earth (lithos/ geos). Habitability of a planet is determined by these persistent and mutually beneficial interactions. There is a significant gap between what is taught in an undergraduate environmental science program and what is needed in the area of environmental evaluation and mitigation in the present day. An understanding of the Quaternary record, the quantitative evolution of sediment sequences and the tools used to describe them, and the dynamic of fluids at both the surface and the depths below the earth are essential for any environmental geoscientist. Geochemistry, geophysical sciences, process geography, engineering geology, economical geology, sedimentology, history of geology, and structural geology all play important roles in environmental Earth science. In reality, few people ever master every discipline of Earth's environmental sciences. Given the diversity of geologic variables which may interact alongside human activities and the abundance of human impacts on the geologic environment, the expertise of a practicing environmental geoscientist is in high demand. It's paradoxical that as people alter (control?) more of Earth's surface, they leave themselves more exposed to potentially harmful or catastrophic natural phenomena. There has never been a greater need for accurate environmental geoscientific information and knowledgeable environmental geoscientists.