Vox of publishers is a blog of the AGU publications department.
Geophysics is a powerful tool for understanding the functioning of our planet. It allows us to connect complex phenomena of the real world with fundamental physical laws, to deduce the nature of regions otherwise inaccessible from the earth, to frame natural processes and events in terms of cause and effect, and to mathematically predict the future behavior of the components of the earth.
The geophysics of the earthly system recognizes the critical importance of the interactions between the components of the terrestrial system – the solid land, the oceans, the atmosphere and even the biosphere – in this understanding. A prospect of the terrestrial system also recognizes convection as a universal process and a unifying theme to study the earth.
A new book in Agu’s Advanced manual series,, Geophysics of the terrestrial systemHelp students higher to learn how to apply mathematics and physics to understand the functioning of the terrestrial system. Here, we have asked the author of the book to explain how an approach to terrestrial systems reinforces the study of geophysics and how to make these subjects engaging and accessible to students.
Why adopt an approach to earthly systems to study geophysics?
There was a time when geophysics was mainly devoted to the study of the “solid earth” – the crust on which we hold and the coat and the nucleus below. With this concentration, it was logical to treat plates tectonics as the unifying theme. But why limit our point of view to solid earth? The oceans and the atmosphere also behave geophysically and are ultimately motivated by the same type of process – competition – plates tectonics. In addition, the study of the solid land alone would be incomplete if the interactions with the rest of the terrestrial system were ignored.
How did you find the idea of Geophysics of the terrestrial system manual?
When I started teaching in Sany-Binghamton, I was given free rein to teach the “rest” of geophysics, in other words, all that is non-seismological. My research has always been “global” – to involve the different ways whose rotation of the earth can be affected by the movements of the plates, the ocean tide and the response of the oceans to the variations in atmospheric pressure – it therefore seemed natural to take a global approach in teaching. And, this global approach has apparently increased the interest of students (even to the point where it did not care about the introduction of complex mathematics)! However, I could not find any manual of existing geophysics with a scientific approach to the terrestrial system at the level that I wanted to teach this material.
How is the manual organized?
The manual includes two parts: (i) a scientific framework for the terrestrial system and (ii) a planet motivated by convection. The first part includes chapters on the origin of the earth, the evolution of its atmosphere and the climate system. The second part covers gravity, seismology, heat flow and geomagnetism, with frequent application to the earthly system.
How could instructors use this manual in their teaching and who is the target audience?
The manual is quite long – an inevitable consequence to try to explain how the earth works! Instruators using the entire book to teach geophysics in the terrestrial system should plan a two -semester course. However, as indicated in the preface to the manual, combinations of different parts of the book can serve as a basis for a variety of semester courses, including traditional geophysics of solid earth, climate change and seminar classes exploring geophysical research.
The main public of this book is geology students at the higher level or beginner of the first cycle or beginner, whose exposure to basic physical geology has been supplemented by at least one semester each of the physics of calculation and college, but which can be somewhat confident to use mathematics and physics to understand the earth. The undergraduate students and higher cycles specializing in geophysics, physics and engineering, as well as students working towards a master’s degree in teaching of earth sciences, can also benefit from this manual.
How does your manual make geophysics accessible to students?
Geophysics is intrinsically a mathematically intensive area, and – on several levels – all students find this intimidating. My manual gently presents mathematical concepts and is gradually being built; As far as possible, qualitative interpretations are also presented.
For example, the concept of slope is first discussed qualitatively in the first chapters. Then he is expressed mathematically using a simple calculation. The relevant mathematical and qualitative concepts are built throughout the book, up to (in the last two chapters) that students are able to assess and fully use the gradient as a three -dimensional vector.
What special features appear in your manual?
Perhaps my most notable characteristic is the use of “stopping and reflection” questions – moments when I arouse the story and directly addresses the reader, in fact encouraging the reader to connect the subject discussed with previous material (or, sometimes, to anticipate imminent equipment). In addition, I use a specific formatting to highlight the definitions of essential terms, explanations of key concepts and important formulas and equations. In addition, a companion website includes homework exercises for each chapter and brief advice for instructors at the mathematical level of each chapter.
Another feature of which I am very proud is the vast list of references and abundant text quotes. At a time when the honesty and the validity of science are questioned on several occasions, these quotes underline that science is not only a history created from the air to make a conclusion credible; This is a summary of independent results obtained by a large number of researchers evaluated by peers.
Finally, many color figures improve what is already interesting the subject.
Geophysics of the terrestrial system2024. ISBN: 978-1-119-62797-5. List price: $ 169.95 (rigid coverage), $ 136 (e-book).
The preface is freely available. Visit the book page on Wiley.com and click on “Read an extract” under the cover image.
Publisher’s note: This is the AGU publications policy to invite the authors or books of books newly published to write a summary for Vox of EOS publishers.
—Steven R. Dickman ((Protected by e-mail),, 
0000-0001-5909-453X), University of Binghamton, United States