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Energy Flow and Earth

How Earth Works

  • Book
  • Aug 2024

Overview

  • Narrates the role of energy flows in geological processes
  • Presents straightforward methods for estimating energy flow
  • Focuses on the source of the energy flow

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Earth System Sciences (BRIEFSEARTHSYST)

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Keywords

  • Structure Formation
  • Ocean Flows
  • Geodynamo
  • Atmospheric Flows
  • Fluid Mechanics

About this book

This book shows how energy flow plays a major role in: plate tectonics; the formation of continents; ocean basins; and building mountains. Energy flow also produces and drives volcanos, Earth’s magnetic field, the wind belts, our weather, and ocean circulation. The studies of convection cells, eddies, and energy flow all contribute to our understanding of how they are all formed and driven. Insight accumulated during 55 years of research is presented using simple fluid mechanics. The mathematics is algebra. No calculus or advanced geometry is used, so the text is readable to a broad audience. Some laboratory and computer studies are described that help to visualize the applications. This book should appeal to anyone interested in how energy flow is responsible for much of the earth’s larger “workings”. In addition to the general public, these include people who work in applied mathematics, fluid mechanics, earth science, and climate.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Falmouth, USA

    John A. Whitehead

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Energy Flow and Earth

  • Book Subtitle: How Earth Works

  • Authors: John A. Whitehead

  • Series Title: SpringerBriefs in Earth System Sciences

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental Science, Earth and Environmental Science (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-62693-7Due: 26 August 2024

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-62694-4Due: 26 August 2024

  • Series ISSN: 2191-589X

  • Series E-ISSN: 2191-5903

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: X, 140

  • Number of Illustrations: 36 b/w illustrations, 43 illustrations in colour

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