Volcanic Worlds: Exploring The Solar System's Volcanoes (Springer Praxis Books / Geophysical Sciences) [Hardcover]

Rosaly M.C. Lopes (Author), Tracy K. P. Gregg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2004 | ISBN-10: 3540004319 | ISBN-13: 978-3540004318 | Edition: 1

Written by active research scientists who study the volcanism of Earth and of other planets, the contributions provide the first general review of volcanic activity throughout the Solar System. Successive chapters describe past and present volcanic activity as it is observed throughout the Solar System. These chapters relate to readers not only our present knowledge of volcanism throughout the Solar System but also how frontline scientists working in this field conduct their research.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews: "It is always satisfying to report on a book that is not only up to date and technically informative but also a pleasure to read. This is certainly true of Volcanic Worlds. … taken together these essays give an excellent survey of volcanism, both on the Earth and wherever it is found to occur on other planets and satellites. The standard of production, including the excellent monochrome and colour images, is excellent. This must surely constitute the best popular introduction to planetary volcanism currently available." (Lionel Wilson, Geological Magazine, Vol. 142 (3), 2005) "Lopes (Jet Propulsion Laboratory/NASA, Pasadena) and Gregg (SUNY, Buffalo) provide a general overview of volcanic processes solar system-wide. Separate chapters, each contributed by a noted researcher, explore different expressions of volcanic activity on a variety of worlds. … Also included are perspectives on the careers of the contributors—all respected researchers and all women—illustrating welcome changes in a traditionally male-dominated field. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates." (J.M. Dahl, CHOICE, Vol. 42 (9), May, 2005) "Volcanoes were commonplace on Mars and Venus. … Cryovolcanism, in which internal heating drives water, gases and even solid fragments to the surface, modified the surfaces of Ganymede and Triton. Ancient basaltic lava flows reshaped many lunar craters. All these topics are covered with insight, even cheerfully, in Volcanic Worlds, by Rosaly Lopes and Tracy Gregg. … and each is enlivened with scientific reminiscences, career notes and numerous illustrations." (NewScientist, November, 2004) "The breathtaking discoveries of volcanoes on the inner rocky planets and on the icy moons of the outer planets are the subject of this lively and engaging book. … Part review and part prospectus for young planetary geologists, it is an easy read. The illustrations are dramatic, colourful and often beautiful … . I recommend this book highly to laypeople and geologists interested in this rapidly advancing subject … ." (Lewis McCaffrey, Geoscientist, Vol. 15 (12), 2005) "The enthusiasm of the ladies for their chosen areas shouts loud from the text and I am sure that this will encourage further generations into the science of planetary volcanism. … The text is easily understood by those without a geological background, without patronizing those who have more in-depth knowledge. There are numerous black-and-white images and coloured plates that illustrate and support the text. … My message to all … is to look beyond its all-female production team and go out and buy it!" (Eve Scott, The Observatory, Vol. 125 (1188), 2005)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (October 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3540004319
• ISBN-13: 978-3540004318
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,249,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Rosaly M. C. Lopes is a Senior Research Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She is an expert on volcanoes on Earth and the planets and has worked on the NASA missions Galileo and Cassini. She has visited more than 50 active volcanoes all over the world and written more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. She enjoys bringing the excitement of her research to the general public via lectures, TV shows and books. Rosaly has written five books, three for the general public (Volcanoes: A Beginner's Guide, The Volcano Adventure Guide, Alien Volcanoes), one at undergraduate level (Volcanic Worlds) and one at the science research level (Io After Galileo).

Rosaly has obtained numerous awards for her work both in science and outreach. In 2005, she was awarded the Carl Sagan medal by the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, in recognition of her success in communicating science to the general public. Her other awards include the Latinas in Science medal from the Comision Feminil Mexicana Nacional in 1991, the 1997 Woman of the Year in Science and Technology Award from the Miami-based GEMS television, and the Medal of Excellence from Women at Work in 2006. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (elected 2006), the Royal Geographical Society, and the Explorers Club. She is a member of the International Astronomical Union, the American Geophysical Society, and the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb book about the volcanoes of our solar system, March 16, 2005

By 

Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Volcanic Worlds: Exploring The Solar System's Volcanoes (Springer Praxis Books / Geophysical Sciences) (Hardcover)

Can ladies do science?

Of course.

As Sally Ride says in the Foreword, this is the first edited book on planetary geology written solely by women. Let's hear it for Rosaly Lopes, Tracy Gregg, Katherine Cashman, Ellen Stofan, Lisa Gaddis, Susan Sakimoto, Joy Crisp, Louise Prockter, Mary Chapman, Gudrun Larsen, and Susan Kieffer! These ladies were the logical authorities to be chosen to write their respective chapters. And they did a great job.

Cashman leads off with a discussion of hot spot volcanism and subduction zone volcanism. The part on hot spots deals mostly with volcanoes in Hawaii, but the Laki volcano in Iceland is chosen as the most dramatic example of "the deleterious effects of volcanic gases." The section on subduction zone volcanism includes topics such as silicic lava flows and lava domes as well as caldera collapse. And there's plenty about the hazards associated with such volcanism, including a speculation that the eruption of Toba, Sumatra (74,000 years ago) may have reduced the human population to less than 100,000 back then.

Gregg talks about the exploration of volcanoes hidden at the sea floor on mid-ocean ridges. This includes some discussion of hydrothermal venting there, which can raise the ocean water temperature near a vent to over 400 degrees Celsius. And, of course, it is mentioned that there is speculation about similar volcanism (and even life) on the Jovian moon Europa.

What about "Earth's evil twin," as Stofan appropriately calls Venus? Thousands of volcanoes have been identified on Venus. We learn about lava flows there as well as long sinuous channels. Some of the lava flows there are much longer than were predicted. Hopefully, we'll learn from them how to better predict how far lava flows will travel on our own planet!

Gaddis tells us about lunar volcanoes. She shows a picture of a sinuous rille on the Moon. A few decades ago, some people speculated that such rilles were produced by water, but Gaddis explains that they are now known to have been carved by lava. And she says that volcanoes on the Moon range from about 4.3 billion years old (since the formation of the lunar crust) to 3 billion years old. There hasn't been any volcanic activity on the moon in the past billion years or so.

Sakamoto and Crisp then have sections on Martian volcanoes. Besides an overview, we get a detailed discussion of what Mars Pathfinder discovered from the Martian surface.

Lopes (who is almost literally the girl from Ipanema) has a fascinating section on the Io volcanoes observed by the Voyager and Galileo missions. She is now working on the Cassini Mission, where she is getting a chance to investigate calderas and cryovolcanism on Titan. I think we'll need a new edition to tell us about this!

Procter's section is on ice volcanism. She shows us evidence of cryoclastic eruptions on Europa and on other moons of major planets. The most interesting part is the discussion of the "cantaloupe terrain" of Triton.

Well, what do volcanoes produce? Um, ash! And Chapman and Larsen tell us plenty about it. Larsen is an expert in tephrachronology, and she knows all about the varied ages and types of ash deposits in Iceland. This detailed knowledge is used by the authors to draw conclusions about volcanic deposits on Mars (Chapman's specialty).

The book concludes with a chapter by Kieffer. She begins with the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park. She contrasts these geyser eruptions with volcanic plumes on Mars, Io, and Mount Saint Helens. And from here, she makes analogies with volcanism on Triton and Titan.

Volcanoes are very interesting. But one can see that it takes hard work and talent to do work in this field. In my opinion, there is one other requirement, namely courage. Volcanoes are dangerous! In any case, let me express my sincere admiration for all the authors in producing this fine book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Volcanoe Book, January 8, 2005

By 

S. Floyd (Los Angeles CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Volcanic Worlds: Exploring The Solar System's Volcanoes (Springer Praxis Books / Geophysical Sciences) (Hardcover)

This is a great book for everyone interested in volcanoes. It is very readable and talks not only about the science but also how the researchers do the science - with some very charming stories. It is really amazing that all chapters are written by female experts. We hear a lot about the lack of women scientists but there seems to be no lack of women studying volcanoes! A great book to give as a gift to a high school or college age daughter or niece.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blowin' Up Around the Solar System, January 13, 2006

By 

doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Volcanic Worlds: Exploring The Solar System's Volcanoes (Springer Praxis Books / Geophysical Sciences) (Hardcover)

Despite being presented for the community of professional astronomers, this book is fascinating and essential for anyone interested in geologic phenomena around our solar system. Thanks to recent discoveries by the various spacecrafts that have been sent to the furthest reaches of the solar system, plus steadily improving earthbound observations, we can see that volcanoes are very common on other worlds and also offer a great amount of variety in their structures and behaviors. This book is composed of chapters written by various planetary geologists, starting out with volcanoes right here on Earth, in order to establish basic knowledge on volcanic processes. We then learn about the volcanoes of Venus and Mars, plus several of the solid moons of the giant outer planets. Most interesting are two of Jupiter's moons, the hot-headed sulfur-spitting Io, and the watery and possibly life-supporting Europa. For the interested layperson, note that there are some readability issues with this book. It was written by scientists for scientists, so the prose is not exactly compelling, and a glossary (or at least better explanations of the many obscure scientific terms and jargon) sure would be helpful. Meanwhile, there is a vague feminist slant to this book because all of the chapters were submitted by women scientists, but fortunately this only applies to some of the introductions, and in any case this concept can be dismissed as inconsequential. That's because anyone is capable of teaching us about these fascinating aspects of nearby worlds. [~doomsdayer520~]