Environmental Isotopes in Hydrogeology [Hardcover]

Ian D. Clark (Author), Peter Fritz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1566702496 | ISBN-13: 978-1566702492 | Publication Date: July 23, 1997 | Edition: 1

Groundwater is an increasingly important resource to human populations around the world, and the study and protection of groundwater is an essential part of hydrogeology - the subset of hydrology that concentrates on the subsurface. Environmental isotopes, naturally occurring nuclides in water and solutes, have become fundamental tools for tracing the recharge, history, and contamination of groundwater.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...easily the best and most up-to-date book this reviewer has read on the subject... The first chapter provides an excellent introduction, while the final chapter offers a good practical discussion often missing in other books of a similar nature... Given the reasonable price for this book, the quality and quantity of information contained, and its timeliness, it is highly recommended.
-Choice

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: CRC Press; 1 edition (July 23, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566702496
• ISBN-13: 978-1566702492
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #368,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The very good book in the field of isotope hydrogeology!, August 11, 2000

By 

Adam Porowski (Warsaw, Poland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Environmental Isotopes in Hydrogeology (Hardcover)

This is one of the best textbooks I have ever read. The book regards the light, stable isotopes so called in hydrogeology - "environmental isotopes". The authors present the occurrence of the environmental isotopes, physical and chemical processes affecting the variations of isotopic composition of different types of waters in understandable, logical manner - starting from the hydrological cycle, from evaporation and water vapor through precipitation and fresh water to groundwaters, mixtures and brines. I think that Fritz's and Clark's book is very usefull especially for those starting the research with the isotopes in waters because such complex processes like the isotope fractionation and the mechanisms of isotope exchange are explained clearly and effectively. Although the big part of the book, what is also important to me, regards the interpretation of isotopic data, possibilities of using them to the evaluation of a water quality, identifying and dating both the modern and the old groundwaters. I refere this book either for those starting the work with stable isotopes in waters or for those having many years practice in that field. In my opinion it is not only the very good textbook but also the very well organized compendium of useful scientific information.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good text for advanced undergraduate/graduate students, March 3, 2005

By 

Kevin Zelnio "Deep Sea Biologist" (Beaufort, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Environmental Isotopes in Hydrogeology (Hardcover)

I read this book for a Stable Isotope Geochemistry class as an undergraduate at UC-Davis and found it moderately understandable. My background is in ecology and as a grad student now I am using stable isotopes to answer ecological questions. I still refer to this text and even compare some of my values to values used in the text. It is well-indexed and easy to find specific subjects. Though the writing is fairly dry, there are plenty of graphs and diagrams that are very informative and display the trends and concepts satisfactorily. I wonder though if some of the data they use is a outdated. They often cite work from 1970's and earlier and I don't know if there might have been some changes in methodology and increases in applications. This book is heavily biased on freshwater systems and I would like to see a new edition with a chapter on marine applications/problems/things to consider etc. All in all I would recommend it to advanced undergraduates and higher in geology, geography, ecology, environmental sciences and those wishing to learn about isotope fractionation and its uses in science generally.