Geodynamics

by Donald L. Turcotte, Gerald Schubert

First published in 1982, Don Turcotte and Jerry Schubert's Geodynamics became a classic textbook for several generations of students of geophysics and geology. The authors bring this text completely up-to-date in this second edition. Important additions include a chapter on chemical geodynamics, an updated coverage of comparative planetology based on recent planetary missions, and a variety of other new topics. Geodynamics provides the fundamentals necessary for an understanding of the workings of the solid earth, describing the mechanics of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain building in the context of the role of mantle convection and plate tectonics. Observations such as the earth's gravity field, surface heat flow, distribution of earthquakes, surface stresses and strains, and distribution of elements are discussed.

Genres: Academic, Geology, Science, Textbooks

472 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2001

About the author

Donald Lawson Turcotte was an American geophysicist most noted for his work on the boundary layer theory of mantle convection as part of the theory of plate tectonics. He worked at Cornell University then the University of California, Davis.

Reviews

[Robert Moore]

This is the place to start for introductory geodynamics. The text is easy to read and there's a good coverage of subjects. It's one of the better intro to intermediate texts I've studied from.

[Adriana]

bruh why are there typos in the problem solutions

[Hildur]

Has a lot of useful information on geodynamics but is lacking a bit in its quality of explaining that information. Some of the problems have errors in them as well as some of the answers in the back.
I borrowed this book from the library and as useful as the things in it are, I don't know if I'll bother buying it in the future.

This could be one of the best books on geodynamics that's been written so far but that just makes me kind of sad because I know it can be done a lot better. Maybe it's just time for a new edition.

[Pam]

I've been going back and forth between this book and the Stuwe book. I like the other book better for ease of reading and completeness of background, and this one for more detailed and advance information. Good source for geodynamics.

[Nathan Katsiaficas]

I mean all of these books are dry, but Geodynamics by Turcotte and Schubert is a great reference book for any geophysicist/geologist interested in modeling or mantle dynamics/geophysics. I'd also recommend The Solid Earth by Fowler.

[Ding Xiaoxue]

necessary