Geology: Earth in Perspective

Handy Definitions: Helping students quickly zero in on key concepts, all important terms are highlighted in boldface and then defined at the bottom of the page where they are first introduced.

Unique Chapters: Unlike many physical geology textbooks, this title devotes an entire chapter to "Earth History," covering the history of Earth from its formation 4.6 billion years ago to the present. A full chapter on "Life History" details the history of life on Earth from its first appearance to the present day.

UPDATED ART & PHOTO PROGRAM: New photos and vivid process art and diagrams help students engage with content and grasp complex physical processes.

UP-TO-DATE COVERAGE: Chapter 1's "Global Geologic and Environmental Issues Facing Humankind" integrates the latest data. Chapter 2 includes recent examples of natural disasters. Chapter 4's "Types of Volcanoes" provides new information on the 2018 eruption of Mount Kilauea. Chapter 8's "Earthquake Prediction" contains new insight on paleoseismology. Chapter 15's "The Perils of Living Along a Shoreline" offers new details on Hurricanes Sandy and Harvey. Chapter 16's "Geologic Time and Climate Change" includes updated dating techniques to more accurately identify historic climate change periods.

NEW STRATIGRAPHY SECTION: Chapter 16: "Geologic Time: Concepts and Principles" includes a new section on "Stratigraphy and Stratigraphic Terminology."

REVISED LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Revamped and expanded throughout the book and tagged to chapter subsections, Learning Objectives help students focus on key concepts and maximize their study time.

Straight From the Headlines: GEO-FOCUS boxes in every chapter spotlight important topics for further exploration and discussion. Topics relate to climate change, fracking, environmental issues, energy resources, and much more.

Diving Deeper: Critical Thinking questions in every chapter ask students to apply what they have learned to open-ended questions that require deeper understanding of key concepts.

Expansive Study Tools: Ensuring students gain a thorough understanding of key concepts, each chapter ends with Key Concepts Review, Important Terms, Review Questions, and Creative Thinking Visual Questions.

Robust Teaching and Learning Tools: A full suite of unique online learning tools on MindTap—including video and animation quizzes, map quizzes, remedial quantitative exercises, and more—appeals to different learning styles and offers your students a variety of ways to study. In addition to MindTap, the text’s second-to-none supplements package includes Chapter Test Banks, an Instructor’s Manual, and Chapter PowerPoints.