Written in an engaging and highly readable style, The Handbook of Geoscience is ideal for students, administrators, legal professionals, non-scientific professionals, and general readers with little or no science background. This handbook is a user-friendly overview of our physical, biological, and ecological environment, one that offers up-to-date coverage of the major scientific fields that form the structure of geoscience. Students who are enrolled in a geoscience course or one of its many subdisciplines will find this work an invaluable resource to support and supplement classroom instruction. The emphasis is on readability, with clear, example-driven explanations refined by more than 35 years of experience of instruction and student feedback.

The 'sedimentary cover' refers to the stratified rocks of youngest Proterozoic and Phanerozoic age that rest upon the largely crystalline basement rocks of the continental interior. This volume presents data and interpretations of the geophysics of the craton and summarizes the craton's tectonic evolution. It also presents the stratigraphy, structural history, and economic geology of specific sedimentary basins (e.g. Appalachian basin) and regions (e.g. Rocky Mountains). It concludes with a discussion of the currently popular theories of cratonal tectonics, & unresolved questions are identified.

This report provides a summary of NBS Oil Shale activities covering the period 1975 to 1979. At the start of this period a Workshop on Standard Reference Materials (SRM's) needed for Oil Shale Processing was held at NBS and served to provide the priority guidance for the future of this program. A summary of the recommendations of that Workshop, the manuscripts presented during the Workshop, and the list of attendees is included in this report. The status of the Oil Shale Research at NBS is also presented consisting of developmental work on the feasibility of producing an Oil Shale and a Shale Oil Standard Reference Materials characterized for both trace inorganic and trace organic constituents. Additionally, information is given dealing with the development of measurement methods appropriate for Oil Shale and Shale Oil trace inorganic and trace organic analysis. Several papers are also included giving additional details on these matters. Other NBS Standard Reference Materials, which may be appropriate for the use by the Oil Shale community, are described briefly within this document. Finally, recommendations for future Oil Shale projects dealing with the development of measurement methods and Standard Reference Materials at NBS are presented.