SOLID-EARTH SCIENCES AND SOCIETY -- Copyright -- NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL -- Prologue -- SOCIETAL CHALLENGES FOR EARTH SCIENCES -- RESEARCH FRAMEWORK -- Objectives -- Research Areas -- EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE -- Contents -- Preface -- COMMITTEE PROCESS -- STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT -- Executive Summary -- PRESENT STATE OF THE SOLID-EARTH SCIENCES -- PRIORITIES -- Priority Themes: Objectives and Research Areas -- Selection of High-Priority Research Opportunities -- PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE -- Personnel Requirements -- Education Requirements -- Facilities and Equipment -- Data Gathering and Handling -- Funding for Priority Themes -- Global Collaboration -- RECOMMENDATIONS -- Education Recommendations -- Research Recommendations -- Priority Theme A-I -- Priority Theme A-II -- Priority Theme A-III -- Priority Theme A-IV -- Priority Theme A-V -- Priority Theme B -- Priority Theme C -- Priority Theme D -- General Recommendations -- 1 Global Overview -- ESSAY ON THE EARTH SCIENCES -- Living on Earth -- Understanding the Earth -- Predicting the Earth's Future -- THE EARTH AND ITS COMPONENTS -- UNIFYING FORCES IN THE GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES -- Plate Tectonics -- Images of the Earth -- Variations in the Earth's Orbit -- Humankind as a Geological Agent -- GOALS OF THE EARTH SCIENCES: RESEARCH FRAMEWORK -- Goal, Objectives, and Research Themes -- Research Framework -- Priority Theme Selection -- PRIORITY THEMES: RESEARCH AREAS -- Priority Theme A-I: Global Paleoenvironments and Biological Evolution -- Priority Theme A-II: Global Geochemical and Biogeochemical Cycles -- Priority Theme A-III: Fluids in and on the Earth -- Priority Theme A-IV: Crustal Dynamics: Ocean and Continents -- Priority Theme A-V: Core and Mantle Dynamics -- PRIORITY THEMES: OBJECTIVES -- Priority Theme B: Sustaining Resource Supplies -- Priority Theme C: Preventing Damage from Geological Hazards.

Priority Theme D: Assessing, Mitigating, and Remediating Effects of Environmental and Global Change -- RESEARCH SUPPORT -- Federal Funding -- Industry Support of University Research -- INSTRUMENTATION, COMPUTATIONAL CAPABILITY, AND DATA MANAGEMENT -- Facilities and Instruments -- Data Handling -- EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT -- INTERNATIONAL SCOPE -- ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT -- 2 Understanding Our Active Planet -- ESSAY: THE DYNAMIC EARTH -- ORIGIN OF THE EARTH -- Comparative Planetology -- Early Earth Evolution and Great Impacts -- STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE SOLID EARTH -- Seismic Determinations of Earth Structure -- Mantle Convection -- Core Dynamics and Geomagnetism -- Core-Mantle Boundary -- EARTHQUAKES: CONSEQUENCES OF A DYNAMIC MANTLE -- Geographic Distribution -- Understanding Earthquakes -- Earth Deformation -- VOLCANIC ACTIVITY: CONSEQUENCE OF CONVECTING MANTLE -- Geographic Distribution, Style, and Scale of Eruptions -- Flow and Storage of Magma -- Volcanic Eruptions -- OCEAN BASIN PROCESSES -- Ocean Spreading Centers -- Intraplate Volcanism: Hot Spots and Oceanic Plateaus -- Plate Kinematics -- Ocean Convergent Plate Boundaries: Island Arcs -- CONTINENTAL STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION -- Seismic Imaging of the Crust -- Mountain Building: Metamorphism and Deformation of Continents -- Extensional Deformation of Continental Lithosphere -- Evolution of the Continents -- Sedimentary Basins -- Continental Collision -- Growth of the Continents Through Time -- GEOCHEMICAL CYCLES -- INTERACTION BETWEEN THE SOLID EARTH AND ITS FLUID ENVELOPES -- RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES -- Research Area II: Global Geochemical and Biogeochemical Cycles -- Evolution of the Crust and Its Relationship to the Mantle -- Fluxes Along the Global Rift System -- Fluxes at Convergent Plate Margins -- Mathematical Modeling in Geochemistry.

Research Area III: Fluids in and on the Earth -- Mineral-Water Interface Geochemistry -- Role of Pore Fluids in Active Tectonic Processes -- Magma Generation and Migration -- Research Area IV: Dynamics of the Crust and Lithosphere -- Oceanic Lithosphere Generation and Accretion -- Architecture and History of Continental Rift Valleys -- Sedimentary Basins and Continental Margins -- Continental-Scale Modeling -- Recrystallization and Metasomatism of the Lithospheric Mantle and Lower Crustal Metamorphism -- Thermal Structure, Physical Nature, and Thickness of the Continental Crust -- The Lithosphere at Convergent Plate Boundaries -- Tectonic and Metamorphic History of Mountain Ranges -- Quantitative Understanding of Earthquake Rupture -- Rates of Recent Geological Processes -- Real-Time Plate Movements and Near-Surface Deformations -- Geological Predictions -- Modern Geological Maps -- Research Area V: Dynamics of the Core and Mantle -- Origin of the Magnetic Field -- Core-Mantle Boundary -- Imaging the Earth's Interior -- Experimental Determinations of Phase Equilibria and the Physical Properties of Earth Materials at High Pressure and Temperatu -- Chemical Geodynamics -- Geodynamic Modeling -- FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND DATA BASES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL REPORTS -- OTHER REPORTS -- 3 The Global Environment and Its Evolution -- ESSAY -- THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTS: A GEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE -- The Changing Land Surface -- Landforms -- Weathering and Soil Formation -- Rivers and Material in Transit from Mountains to Sedimentary Basins -- Winds and Glaciers: More Material in Transit -- Lakes: Interruptions in Transit -- Deltas and Estuaries -- Beneath the Sea -- Deposition at Atlantic-Type Margins -- Deposition at Convergent Plate Boundaries -- Deposition in the Deep Ocean -- CHANGE IN THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT.

Cyclical Change in the Global Environment -- The Rock Cycle -- Orbital Cycles -- Cycles of Sea-Level Change -- Cycles of Opening and Closing of Oceans -- Geochemical Cycles -- Paleoceanography: Cycles in the History of Oceanic Waters -- Paleoclimatology: Cycles in Past Climates -- Secular Change in the Global System -- The Precambrian Record -- Record of Change Between 600 Million and 150 Million Years Ago -- Record of Change from 150 Million Years Ago to the Current Ice Age -- Recognizing Environments from the Geological Record -- Paleogeography -- History of Life -- Speciation and Extinction -- Intrinsic Biological Traits -- Biotic Interactions -- Changes in the Physico-Chemical Environment -- Adaptive Radiation -- Pulses of Extinction -- Macroevolutionary Trends -- Origins of Major Biological Categories -- Phylogenetic Reconstruction -- Catastrophes in Earth History -- MODELING THE EARTH SYSTEM -- An Incomplete Record -- Intellectual Frontiers -- Dating Past Events -- Atmospheric and Oceanic Chemistry -- Dynamics of the Global Environment -- Life Through Time -- The Most Recent Past -- RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES -- Research Area I. Paleoenvironment and Biological Evolution -- Soil Development, History, and Contamination -- Glacier Ice and Its Inclusions -- Quaternary Record -- Recent Global Changes -- Paleogeography and Paleoclimatology -- Paleoceanography -- Forcing Factors in Environmental Change -- History of Life -- Discovery and Curation of Fossils -- Abrupt and Catastrophic Changes -- Organic Geochemistry -- Research Area II. Global Geochemical and Biogeochemical Cycles -- Geochemical Cycles: Atmospheres and Oceans -- Research Area III. Fluids in and on the Earth -- Analysis of Drainage Basins -- Mineral-Water Interface Geochemistry -- Research Area IV. Crustal Dynamics: Ocean and Continent -- Landform Response to Change.

Quantification of Thresholds, Response Rates, and Feedback Mechanisms for Landforms -- Mathematical and Computer Modeling of Landform Changes -- Sedimentary Basins -- Sequence Stratigraphy -- Facilities, Equipment, and Data Bases -- Data Bases in Well-Managed Computer-Based Information Systems -- New Tools and Techniques -- New Dating Techniques -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL REPORTS -- OTHER REPORTS -- 4 Resources of the Solid Earth -- ESSAY: NATURAL EXPLOITATION -- ROCK-FLUID INTERACTIONS -- WATER RESOURCES -- Water Quality -- Water Supply and Use -- Influencing the Water Cycle -- MINERAL RESOURCES -- Understanding Mineral Deposits -- Crustal Processes and Ore Deposits -- Genetic Studies of Ore Deposits -- Models in the Study of Mineral Deposits -- Mineral Exploration and Exploitation -- ENERGY RESOURCES -- Petroleum Resources -- Origin of Petroleum Within Sedimentary Basins -- Migration of Petroleum Within Sedimentary Basins -- Traps: Where Oil and Gas Stop -- Oil Shales and Tar Sands -- Exploration for Oil and Gas: The Integrated Approach -- More Oil from Producing Fields -- Coal: An Abundant Fuel Resource -- Origin and Development of Coal -- Exploration for Coal -- Limitations of Coal -- Sources of Energy from the Internal Engine -- Nuclear Energy -- Geothermal Energy -- RESOURCE DEPENDENCY -- RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES -- Sedimentary Basin Analysis -- Organic Geochemistry and the Origin of Petroleum -- Kinetics of Water-Rock Interaction -- Water Resources -- Analysis of Drainage Basins -- Surface and Soil Isotopic Ages -- Water Quality and Groundwater Contamination -- Modeling Water Flow -- Mineral Resources -- Source-Transport-Accumulation Models for Mineral Resources -- Prediction of Mineral Resource Occurrences -- Numerical Modeling of the Depositional Environment of Ore Bodies -- In Situ Mineral Resource Extraction.

Crustal Fluids.