This book presents and discusses research in the field of earth science, with a focus on the impact of internal wave breaking on ocean upper layer formation; geoexchange; neutron clusters in the earth's core; pyrite as a concentrator of gold in laboratory and natural systems; triggering earthquakes by rainfalls; and mineralogy and origin of rare-earth-element-bearing granites.

An Introduction to Forensic Geoscience provides fundamental training in geoscience as developed through the lens of its forensic applications. It incorporates a range of topics including geophysical methods of grave detection, the mineralogy of art, identification of microfossils, and comparison of soil trace evidence samples. Each topic is introduced using core concepts that are developed with increasing complexity in order to give readers an understanding of the underlying scientific principles involved and a taste of the wide range of possible forensic uses. A variety of detailed reference tables have been compiled for the text and each chapter contains lists of references to applicable textbooks and journal articles. Examples of real criminal cases are also presented in each chapter to make the connections between theory and real world application. The goal of this book is to give readers a familiarity with the wide range of ways in which geoscience principles and geological materials can be utilized forensically. Additional resources for this book can be found at: http://www.wiley.com/go/bergslien/forensicgeoscience.

Volume 20 first provides an overview of geodesy throughout the past six decades, providing a short glimpse of emerging technology that is expected to enable rapid advances in many branches of science in the decades to come. Next, the performance of two wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometers possessing rhodium anode have been compared to assess their usefulness in limnological studies, using bottom sediments from Araxá, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The authors reviews the applications of infrared absorption spectroscopy in the fields of condensed matter physics and earth sciences. Infrared absorption spectroscopy is mainly associated with interactions between atoms and vibrational phonons of materials. Additionally, a comparative study held at different drainage systems in Araxá, Minas Gerais, Brazil is presented with the aim of evaluating the performance of The Constant Flux: Constant Sedimentation and Constant Rate of Supply models. Following this, monazite and rutile geochronology and Zr-in-rutile thermometry are used to understand the thrust age and thermochronology of the Araçuaí/Ribeira Orogenic System-São Francisco Craton transition in southeastern Brazil. Recent work on neurotoxin-producing microalgae (dinoflagellates) is presented wherein effects from space weather may display the hormetic dose-response, either through geomagnetic activity or solar X-ray flux. Lastly, the authors provide a soft-computing approach to forecast 30-year-ahead annual rainfall in Tehran, Iran. A time-series of yearly data covering more than one century was used for the design of ensemble projections to understand and quantify the uncertainty associated with intradecadal-to-interdecadal predictability.

Horizons in Earth Science Research. Volume 17 opens with a discussion about the attainment of a new multichannel seismic profile in the Volturno Basin, located in the Northern Campania continental shelf of the Southern Tyrrhenian margin of Italy. This multichannel seismic profile has permitted geological sections to be constructed and interpreted to study the correlation between seismic units individuated through the seismo-stratigraphic techniques. Next, a conversation about the idea that human built structures can be studied as a geological system is presented. It will be argued that considering human works in the context of geological processes can be traced back, at least, to Lyell's works that set the foundations of modern Geology. One of the largest plutonic bodies in the European Variscan belt, Moldanubian batholith, is studied for composition, with the findings including coarse-grained, porphyritic I/S-type biotite granites to granodiorites of the Weinsberg suite, (2) two-mica S-type granites of the Eisgarn suite and (3) fine to medium-grained, and I/S-type biotite granodiorites of the Freistadt/Mauthausen suite. An analysis of satellite gravimetry is presented using several applied methodologies including entropial and information transformations, computing of various derivatives, coherence features and multistatistical characteristics, inverse probability, and advanced downward continuation. This book includes a chapter focused on the chemical and biological properties of the water in salt lakes in order to understand the mechanisms of the organisms adaptation to extreme conditions in hypersaline biotope. The history of the application of radiometric dating of speleothems physically related to rock art is reviewed to show that there are significant issues with both radiocarbon analysis and 230Th/234U analysis of carbonate precipitates in limestone caves. A geochemical and thermochronological study designed for the elucidation of the burial and exhumation history of an extensive pull-apart basin conducted on the East Eurasian longstanding convergent margin is presented. Several tests are described using an S8 Tiger spectrometer from Bruker Co., belonging to LARIN (Ionizing Radiations Laboratory) and UNESPetro (Geosciences Center Applied to Petroleum), IGCE-UNESP-Rio Claro (SP), Brazil. Next, Ions in water samples collected from rivers and wells are examined. In closing, a study comparing surface-to-volume (SV) allometries of natural water bodies and of the living systems inhabiting them is presented.