Cataclysms

A New Geology for the Twenty-First Century

Michael Rampino (New York University)

$61.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Columbia University Press
22 August 2017

Mathematics & Sciences; History of science; Evolution; Geology & the lithosphere; Palaeontology

In 1980, the science world was stunned when a maverick team of researchers proposed that a massive meteor strike had wiped the dinosaurs and other fauna from the Earth 66 million years ago. Scientists found evidence for this theory in a crater of doom on the Yucatan Peninsula, showing that our planet had once been a target in a galactic shooting gallery.

In Cataclysms, Michael R. Rampino builds on the latest findings from leading geoscientists to take neocatastrophism a step further, toward a richer understanding of the science behind major planetary upheavals and extinction events.Rampino recounts his conversion to the impact hypothesis, describing his visits to meteor-strike sites and his review of the existing geological record. The new geology he outlines explicitly rejects nineteenth-century uniformitarianism, which casts planetary change as gradual and driven by processes we can see at work today.

Rampino offers a cosmic context for Earth's geologic evolution, in which cataclysms from above in the form of comet and asteroid impacts and from below in the form of huge outpourings of lava in flood-basalt eruptions have led to severe and even catastrophic changes to the Earth's surface. This new geology sees Earth's position in our solar system and galaxy as the keys to understanding our planet's geology and history of life.

Rampino concludes with a controversial consideration of dark matter's potential as a triggering mechanism, exploring its role in heating Earth's core and spurring massive volcanism throughout geologic time.

By: Michael Rampino (New York University)
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780231177801
ISBN 10: 0231177801
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 22 August 2017
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Catastrophism Versus Gradualism 2. Lyell's Laws 3. The Alvarez Hypothesis 4. Mass Extinctions 5. Kill Curves and Strangelove Oceans 6. Catastrophism and Natural Selection: Charles Darwin Versus Patrick Matthew 7. Impacts and Extinctions: Do They Match Up? 8. The Great Dying: The End-Permian Extinctions 9. Catastrophic Volcanic Eruptions and Extinctions 10. Ancient Glaciers or Impact-Related Deposits? 11. The Shiva Hypothesis: Comet Showers and the Galactic Carousel 12. Geological Upheavals and Dark Matter Epilogue: What Does It All Mean? A New Geology Sources and Further Reading Index

Michael R. Rampino is a professor of biology and environmental studies at New York University. He has been a consultant for NASA and is the coauthor of Origins of Life in the Universe (2008) and editor of Climate: History, Periodicity, and Predictability (1988).

Reviews for Cataclysms: A New Geology for the Twenty-First Century

Cataclysms is a useful, well-written and not overly technical summary of Neocatastrophism since the Alvarez team published the initial work in the early 1980's. Rampino paints a lively picture of how work in the area of geoscience is actually done - aided and abetted to good purpose by copious illustrations -- Niles Eldredge, author of Eternal Ephemera As late as 1964, it was hard to find a scientist who believed that crashing meteorites, rather than volcanism, had caused craters on the Moon and the Earth. In this well-written and provocative book, Michael Rampino tantalizes us with his examination of the relationship between astronomy and geology, which he argues could become truly predictive of the past and future. Cataclysms takes us far out, indeed. But if there is one lesson from the history of geology, it is that we should listen to those like Rampino who think outside the box - or even outside the solar system. -- James Powell, author of Fixing the Sky