Treatise on geophysics. Volume 1-10 / Трактат по геофизике. Части 1-10

Geophysics is the physics of the Earth, the science that studies the Earth by measuring the physical consequences of its presence and activity. It is a science of extraordinary breadth, requiring 10 volumes of this treatise for its description. Only a treatise can present a science with the breadth of geophysics if, in addition to completeness of the subject matter, it is intended to discuss the material in great depth. Thus, while there are many books on geophysics dealing with its many subdivisions, a single book cannot give more than an introductory flavor of each topic. At the other extreme, a single book can cover one aspect of geophysics in great detail, as is done in each of the volumes of this treatise, but the treatise has the unique advantage of having been designed as an integrated series, an important feature of an interdisciplinary science such as geophysics. From the outset, the treatise was planned to cover each area of geophysics from the basics to the cutting edge so that the beginning student could learn the subject and the advanced researcher could have an up-to-date and thorough exposition of the state of the field. The planning of the contents of each volume was carried out with the active participation of the editors of all the volumes to insure that each subject area of the treatise benefited from the multitude of connections to other areas.

Geophysics includes the study of the Earth’s fluid envelope and its near-space environment. However, in this treatise, the subject has been narrowed to the solid Earth. The Treatise on Geophysics discusses the atmosphere, ocean, and plasmasphere of the Earth only in connection with how these parts of the Earth affect the solid planet. While the realm of geophysics has here been narrowed to the solid Earth, it is broadened to include other planets of our solar system and the planets of other stars. Accordingly, the treatise includes a volume on the planets, although that volume deals mostly with the terrestrial planets of our own solar system. The gas and ice giant planets of the outer solar system and similar extra-solar planets are discussed in only one chapter of the treatise. Even the Treatise on Geophysics must be circumscribed to some extent. One could envision a future treatise on Planetary and Space Physics or a treatise on Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics.

Volume Editors

Volume 1 Seismology and the Structure of the Earth

Dr. Barbara Romanowicz

University of California at Berkeley, CA, USA

Dr. Adam Dziewonski

Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

Volume 2 Mineral Physics

Dr. G. David Price

University College London, London, UK

Volume 3 Geodesy

Dr. Tom Herring

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

Volume 4 Earthquake Seismology

Dr. Hiroo Kanamori

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume 5 Geomagnetism

Dr. Masaru Kono

Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan

Volume 6 Crust and Lithosphere Dynamics

Professor Anthony B. Watts

University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Volume 7 Mantle Dynamics

Dr. David Bercovici

Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

Volume 8 Core Dynamics

Dr. Peter Olson

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

Volume 9 Evolution of the Earth

Dr. David Stevenson

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume 10 Planets and Moons

Dr. Tilman Spohn

Deutsches Zentrum fu¨r Luft– und Raumfahrt, Berlin, Germany