Digital library
Textbooks, references and open learning resources.
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Environmental Science 101
Jason Hlebakos · Mt. San Jacinto College
This text will challenge you to develop critical thinking skills for confronting global issues and may even impact the way you approach your daily life. Environmental science is an interdisciplinary field that draws heavily on the sciences but assumes that humanity (or any other group of organisms) maintains a central focus. This course will overview some basic concepts of the “hardsciences,” (chemistry, biology, et cetera) and will then focus on issues that confront humanity today.
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Introduction to Fluid Motions and Sediment Transport
John Southard · Massachusetts Institute of Technology
This course introduces students to aspects of fluid dynamics relevant to transport and deposition of particulate sedimentary materials. Emphasis is on the structure of turbulent shear flows and the forces exerted by fluid motions on bed of loosed sediment. With fluid dynamics as background, the course deals with sediment movement as bed load and suspended load, and with the geometry, kinematics, and dynamics of ripple and dune bed forms.
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Introduction to Soil Science Laboratory Manual (Schwyter and Vaughan)
Anna R. Schwyter and Karen L. Vaughan · University of Wyoming
This text explores the fundamental principles of soil science and soils as a natural resource. Students will be introduced to the physics, chemistry, microbiology, morphology, fertility and management of soils, and to the processes driving soil formation. The major soil types of the world and their classification will be discussed, and the relation of major soil characteristics to soil productivity, conservation and sustainability will be addressed.
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Remote Sensing
Ander Knudby · University of Ottawa
This introductory book on Remote Sensing is intended to be the equivalent of a textbook for an undergraduate-level university course.
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Introduction to Climate Science
Andreas Schmittner · Oregon State University
This book describes how Earth's climate is changing, how it has been changing in the recent geological past and how it may change in the future. It covers the physical sciences that build the foundations of our current understanding of global climate change such as radiation, Earth's energy balance, the greenhouse effect and the carbon cycle. Both natural and human causes for climate change are discussed. Impacts of climate change on natural and human systems are summarized.
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Earth Science
Lumen Learning · LibreTexts
This Earth science textbook surveys Earth as an interconnected system, covering minerals, rocks, plate tectonics, volcanoes, earthquakes, oceans, water resources, deserts, and glaciers. It places Earth processes in geologic time and extends to the atmosphere, weather, climate change, astronomy, stellar evolution, and the solar system, emphasizing the dynamic interactions shaping our planet and its environment.
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Soil and Water Conservation: An Annotated Bibliography
Colby Moorberg · Kansas State University
This text highlights freely-available online resources covering various aspects of soil and water conservation, and is designed to be a resource for conservation students and practitioners. The thirteen chapters in the annotated bibliography are grouped into four sections, including History and Fundamentals, Conservation Practices, Conservation Implementation, and Careers. Types of cited resources include extension bulletins, USDA NRCS conservation practice standards, and other government report
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Physical Geology
Anne Huth · Achieving the Dream
The Earth is an active planet shaped by dynamic forces. Such forces can build mountains and crumple and fold rocks. As rocks respond to these forces, they undergo deformation, which results in changes in shape and/or volume of the rocks. The resulting features are termed geologic structures. This deformation can produce dramatic and beautiful scenery, as evidenced in the figure of above, which shows the deformation of originally horizontal rock layers.
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Bending the Curve: Climate Change Solutions
Ramanathan, V.; Aines, R.; Auffhammer, M.; Barth, M.; Cole, J.; Forman, F., et al. · University of California
Climate change is an urgent problem. Because it is causing new weather extremes and fatal catastrophes, climate change is better termed climate disruption. Bending the curve to flatten the upward trajectory of pollution emissions responsible for climate disruption is essential in order to protect billions of people from this global threat. Education is a key part of the solution; this textbook book lays out ten solutions that together can bend the curve of climate warming below dangerous levels.
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Geology
Lumen Learning · Lumen Learning
This survey course covers the fundamentals of geology and earth science, helping students understand how the Earth was formed and the forces shaping its continued evolution. It also introduces students to how geological resources are used in human civilization. Key topics include rock and mineral formation; weathering and soil formation; plate tectonics; Earth’s interior; crustal deformation; earthquakes and volcanoes; mass movement; hydrology; and applications of resources for human use.
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Geology of California
Allison Jones, Cole Heap, Debra Brooks, Emily Wright, Martha House, Steven Newton & Steven Skinner · Academic Senate of California Community Colleges Open Education Resources Initiative
This Open Educational Resource (OER) aims to provide students at California's institutions of higher education an interactive and immersive tool to support their learning about the geology of California with up-to-date information about the golden state's climate, earthquake hazards, and water issues. This work is supported by the Academic Senate of California Community Colleges Open Education Resources Initiative.
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GEOS: A Physical Geology Lab Manual for California Community Colleges
Chloe Branciforte & Emily Haddad · Ventura College & East Los Angeles College
In the contents: 01: An Introduction to Science and the Geosciences · 02: Imagery and Maps in the Geosciences
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3.4: Maturity
Michael Rygel and Page Quinton · SUNY Potsdam
Textural maturity refers the the size and shape of grains and the nature of interstitial materials. Compositional maturity refers to the composition of framework grains. A complex set of processes influences these characteristics
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Introduction to Physical Oceanography
Robert H. Stewart · Texas A & M University
This book is written for upper-division undergraduates and new graduate students in meteorology, ocean engineering, and oceanography. Because these students have a diverse background, I have emphasized ideas and concepts more than mathematical derivations.
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The Story of Earth - An Observational Guide
Daniel Hauptvogel and Virginia Sisson · University of Houston
Our goal in creating the material for this lab manual was to focus heavily on students making observations of geologic data, whether rocks, minerals, fossils, maps, graphs, and other things. We want students to look at things and wonder why, how, and when. The exercises and examples used in this book are scattered throughout the world. We wanted to make sure that one region of the world was not the sole focus of this work.
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Sedimentary Geology: Rocks, Environments and Stratigraphy
Michael Rygel and Page Quinton · SUNY Potsdam
An undergraduate-level textbook that covers the fundamentals of sedimentology, depositional environments and stratigraphy. We provide a modest amount of text that focuses on essential concepts and support it with hundreds of color photographs, illustrations, and videos. Captions accompanying the visual components highlight the major points but allow for more detailed discussions and questions.
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Introduction to Physical Geology
Deborah Shulman · Chabot College
This text address Earth's natural environments, with emphasis on spatial characteristics, change over time, interactions between environmental components, and human-environment interactions. Physical processes, techniques, and tools by which Earth's climates, soils, vegetation, water resources, and land forms are linked into integrated global patterns. Effect of natural environments on human activities and how humans modify environments.
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Geophysical Flows
Anne Willem Omta · Massachusetts Institute of Technology
LibreTexts
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Environmental Geology
Steven Earle · Thompson Rivers University
Environmental Geology is a comprehensive and up-to-date textbook that is designed for use in college-level courses on the environmental aspects of Earth Science. It has a focus on Earth systems, climate change and glaciation, on natural hazard processes such as earthquakes, volcanoes, slope failures, and flooding, and on Earth resources such as water, energy, and metals.
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Fossil Treasures of the Geology Museum
Daniel B Thomas, Jeffrey H Robinson, and Daphne E Lee · University of Otago
Tens of thousands of iconic fossils are housed in the collections of the Geology Museum at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka – University of Otago, in Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand. Used for teaching and research for over a century, here we offer a close look at some of the most special fossil treasures in the collections.