Synopses & Reviews
The authors (all of the U. of Surrey, UK) explain geology for civil engineers without what they view as the major distraction of teaching the argot of geological terminology. Within the text, they include a civil engineering core that explores the origins of geomaterials, rock types, recognition of geomaterials, groundwater, and engineering properties of rocks, but they also cover the origins of geology, tectonic plate mechanics, the rock cycle, geological structure, boundary hazards, and geochemistry hazards. Distributed in the US by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Synopsis
This book explains the process of ground formation - what it is made of and how it behaves as an engineering material. This enables the civil engineer to work from a few first principles to determine if the ground is an asset or a hazard. It focuses on the tectonic plate mechanisms that give rise to the geology of our planet and describes the way these create hazards such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis. The authors state that groundwater can be both a resource and a hazard and through this book they provide an overview of the origins of geomaterials.