Stephen Marshak’s engaging writing, striking visuals, and relatable examples make geology approachable for in-person and online students. Students will connect core science concepts with issues that matter to them—like energy resources, climate change, fracking, and natural disasters—while receiving in-text support with interactive concept-check questions, videos, animations, step-by-step visuals, 3D models, and more.
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE And Just What Is Geology?
CHAPTER 1 Introducing the Earth and Its Context
CHAPTER 2 The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
CHAPTER 3 What Is the Earth Made Of? Introducing Minerals and the Nature of Rock
CHAPTER 4 Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
CHAPTER 5 The Wrath of Vulcan: Volcanic Eruptions
INTERLUDE A Weathering, Sediment, and Soil: Key Components of the Critical Zone
NEW to the Eighth Edition, this chapter engages students in exploring the dynamic interplay between Earth's surface, climate, ecosystems, and human activity, empowering students to recognize the profound ways geology shapes their lives, communities, and future.
CHAPTER 6 Pages of the Earth's Past: Sedimentary Rocks
CHAPTER 7 A Process of Change: Metamorphism and the Rock Cycle
CHAPTER 8 Crags, Cracks, and Crumples: Geologic Structures and Mountain Building
CHAPTER 9 A Violent Pulse: Earthquakes
INTERLUDE B Exploring the Earth's Interior
INTERLUDE C Memories of Past Life: Fossils and Evolution
CHAPTER 10 Deep Time: How Old Is Old?
CHAPTER 11 A Biography of the Earth
CHAPTER 12 Riches in Rock: Energy and Mineral Resources
CHAPTER 13 Weather, Climate, and Climate Change in the Earth System
INTERLUDE D Ever-Changing Landscapes and the Hydrologic Cycle
CHAPTER 14 Unstable Ground: Mass Wasting
CHAPTER 15 Streams and Floods: The Geology of Running Water
CHAPTER 16 Groundwater, the Water Crisis, and Karst
CHAPTER 17 Restless Realm: Oceans and Coasts
CHAPTER 18 Amazing Ice: Glaciers and Ice Ages
CHAPTER 19 Dry Regions: The Geology of Deserts
EPILOGUE The Future of the Earth and the Universe
Copyright © W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2025