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 Third Edition

James S. Reichard
Georgia Southern University
 Final PDF to printer

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY, THIRD EDITION

Published by McGraw-Hill Education, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. Copyright © 2018 by ­McGraw-
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Reichard, James S., author.
Title: Environmental geology / James S. Reichard, Georgia Southern University.
Description: Third edition. | New York, NY : McGraw-Hill, [2017]
Identifiers: LCCN 2016030710 | ISBN 9780078022968 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Environmental geology—Textbooks.
Classification: LCC QE38 .R45 2017 | DDC 550—dc23 LC record available at
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rei22967_fm_i-xx.indd ii 11/16/16 11:33 AM

 his book is dedicated to my wife Linda and children, Brett and Kristen. Their
love and support has carried me through the many hours spent away from home.
Words cannot express my love and gratitude.
—James Reichard

© Jim Reichard

Jim Reichard and his family on the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park, Montana.
From left to right: Jim, son Brett, daughter Kristen, and wife Linda.
Brief Contents

PART ONE Fundamentals of Environmental Geology

Chapter 1 Humans and the Geologic Environment 3
Chapter 2 Earth from a Larger Perspective 35
Chapter 3 Earth Materials 65
Chapter 4 Earth’s Structure and Plate Tectonics 93

PART TWO Hazardous Earth Processes

Chapter 5 Earthquakes and Related Hazards 121
Chapter 6 Volcanoes and Related Hazards 159
Chapter 7 Mass Wasting and Related Hazards 193
Chapter 8 Streams and Flooding 225
Chapter 9 Coastal Hazards 261

PART THREE Earth Resources

Chapter 10 Soil Resources 295
Chapter 11 Water Resources 331
Chapter 12 Mineral and Rock Resources 365
Chapter 13 Conventional Fossil Fuel Resources 403
Chapter 14 Alternative Energy Resources 441

PART FOUR The Health of Our Environment

Chapter 15 Pollution and Waste Disposal 481
Chapter 16 Global Climate Change 517

iv
 Contents

Preface x Origin of the Solar System 42

Meet the Author xx The Nebular Hypothesis 43
How Reliable Is the Nebular Hypothesis? 45
Other Stars in the Universe 46
PART ONE
Does Life Exist Beyond Earth? 48
Fundamentals of Environmental Geology Life on Earth 48
Habitable Zones 48
Chapter 1 CASE STUDY 2.1 Searching for Life on Mars
Possible Intelligent Life 52
50

Humans and the Geologic Solar System Hazards 53

Electromagnetic Radiation 53
Environment 3
Asteroid and Comet Impacts 55
Introduction 4
Summary Points 62
What Is Geology? 6 USDA, NRCS, Lynn Betts
Key Words 63
Scientific Inquiry 7
Applications 63
How Science Operates 7
Science and Society 10
Environmental Geology 12
Environmental Problems and Time Scales 13
Chapter 3
Geologic Time 14
Environmental Risk and Human Reaction 17 Earth Materials 65
Earth as a System 19 Introduction 66
The Earth and Human Population 21 Basic Building Blocks 67
Population Growth 22 Atoms and Elements 67 © Image Ideas/PictureQuest
Limits to Growth 22 Minerals 68
Sustainability 24 Rocks 70
Ecological Footprint 27 Rock-Forming Minerals 71
CASE STUDY 1.1 Collapse of a Society Living Igneous Rocks 73
Unsustainably 28
Weathering Processes 74
Environmentalism 30 Physical Weathering 74
Summary Points 32 Chemical Weathering 75
Key Words 33 Sedimentary Rocks 78
Applications 33 Detrital Rocks 79
Chemical Rocks 80
Metamorphic Rocks 83
Chapter 2 The Rock Cycle 84
Rocks as Indicators of the Past 85
Earth from a Larger CASE STUDY 3.1 Early Earth History as Told by
Perspective 35 Our Oldest Rocks 89

Introduction 36 Summary Points 90

Key Words 90
Our Solar System 39 UNASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi
The Sun 39 NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring Applications 90
The Planets 40
Comets and Asteroids 41
The Moon 42
v
vi Contents

Chapter 4 Factors That Affect Ground Shaking 141

Secondary Earthquake Hazards 143
Predicting Earthquakes 147
Earth’s Structure and Plate CASE STUDY 5.1 Vertical Evacuations—An Important Lesson
Tectonics 93 from Japan 148
Introduction 94 Reducing Earthquake Risks 150
Seismic Engineering 150
Deformation of Rocks 95 Amante, C. and B. W. Eakins,
ETOPO1 1 Arc-Minute Global Early Warning Systems 153
Earth’s Interior 96 Relief Model: Procedures, Data Planning and Education 155
Earth’s Structure 97 Sources and Analysis, NESDIS,
Earth’s Magnetic Field 98 NOAA, U.S. Dept. of Commerce Summary Points 156
Earth’s Internal Heat 99 Key Words 157
Developing the Theory of Plate Tectonics 100 Applications 157
Continental Drift 100
Mapping the Ocean Floor 101
Magnetic Studies 101
Location of Earthquakes 103
Chapter 6
Polar Wandering 104
Volcanoes and Related
Plate Tectonics and the Earth System 105
Types of Plate Boundaries 105 Hazards 159
Movement of Plates 108 Introduction 160
Surface Features and Plate Boundaries 108 Nature of Volcanic Activity 161 © Image Plan/Corbis
Plate Tectonics and People 115 Magma and Plate Tectonics 162
CASE STUDY 4.1 Biogeography and Plate Tectonics 118 Volcanic Eruptions 164
Volcanic Landforms 166
Summary Points 119
Key Words 119 CASE STUDY 6.1 Hawaiian and Yellowstone
Hot Spots 170
Applications 119
Volcanic Hazards 172
Lava Flows 173
Explosive Blasts 174
PART TWO
Pyroclastic Flows 175
Hazardous Earth Processes CASE STUDY 6.2 Explosive Blast of Mount St. Helens 176
Volcanic Ash 180
Chapter 5 Mass Wasting on Volcanoes
Volcanic Gases 184
182

Earthquakes and Related Tsunamis 185

Predicting Eruptions and Minimizing the Risks 186
Hazards 121
Predictive Tools 188
Introduction 122 Early Warning and Evacuation 190
How Earthquakes Occur 124 © AFLO/Mainichi Newspaper/
epa/Corbis Summary Points 191
Earthquake Waves 126 Key Words 191
Types of Seismic Waves 128
Applications 191
Measuring Seismic Waves 128
Locating the Epicenter and Focus 129
Measuring the Strength of Earthquakes 130
Intensity Scale 130
Magnitude Scales 131
Chapter 7
Magnitude and Ground Shaking 132
Mass Wasting and Related
Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics 133
Earthquake Magnitude and Frequency 134 Hazards 193
Transform Boundaries—San Andreas Fault 134 Introduction 194
Convergent Boundaries—Cascadia Subduction Zone 135 Slope Stability and Triggering © AP Photo/Nick Ut
Intraplate Earthquakes—North American Plate 136 Mechanisms 196
Earthquake Hazards and Humans 137 Nature of Slope Material 196
Seismic Waves and Human Structures 137 Oversteepened Slopes 198
 Contents vii

Water Content 200

Climate and Vegetation 200
Chapter 9
Earthquakes and Volcanic Activity 201
Types of Mass Wasting Hazards 201 Coastal Hazards 261
Falls 202 Introduction 262
Slides 203 Shoreline Characteristics 263
Slump 204
Coastal Processes 264 Program for the Study of
Flows 205 Developed Shorelines, Western
Tides 264
CASE STUDY 7.1 Recurrent Mass Wasting at La Conchita, Currents 265
Carolina University.
California 206 Waves 266
Creep 208 Wave Refraction and Longshore Currents 266
Snow Avalanche 208 Shoreline Evolution 267
CASE STUDY 7.2 Mass Wasting Tragedy at Oso, Barrier Islands 269
Washington 209
Coastal Hazards and Mitigation 269
Submarine Mass Wasting 212
Hurricanes and Ocean Storms 270
Subsidence 212 Tsunamis 279
Collapse 213
CASE STUDY 9.1 New Orleans and the Next Hurricane
Gradual Subsidence 214 Katrina 280
Reducing the Risks of Mass Wasting 215 Rip Currents 284
Recognizing and Avoiding the Hazard 215 Shoreline Retreat 285
Engineering Controls 216
Summary Points 292
Summary Points 222 Key Words 293
Key Words 222 Applications 293
Applications 222

PART THREE
Chapter 8 Earth Resources

Streams and Flooding 225 Chapter 10

Introduction 226
Role of Streams in the Earth
Soil Resources 295
System 227 © Doug Sherman/Geofile
Introduction 296
Stream Discharge 227 Formation of Soils 297
Drainage Networks and Basins 228 Weathering 298 © Glow Images
Stream Erosion, Transport, and Deposition 230 Development of Soil Horizons 299
River Valleys and Floodplains 236 Soil Color, Texture, and Structure 300
Flooding and Flood Hazards 238 Soil-Forming Factors 302
Measuring the Severity of Floods 238 Classification of Soils 305
Frequency of Floods 238 Soil Science Classification 305
Natural Factors That Affect Flooding 241 Engineering Classification 307
Types of Floods 242 Human Activity and Soils 308
Human Activity and Flooding 245 Soil Properties 308
CASE STUDY 8.1 Levees and the Disastrous 2005 Soil as a Resource 314
Flood in New Orleans 246 Soil Loss and Mitigation 317
Land-Use Factors That Affect Flooding 248 CASE STUDY 10.1 Lessons Learned from the 1930s Dust
Ways to Reduce the Impact of Floods 249 Bowl 322
Salinization of Soils 325
Summary Points 258
Soils with Hardpans 327
Key Words 258
Permafrost 327
Applications 258
Summary Points 328
Key Words 329
Applications 329

viii Contents
Chapter 11
Water Resources 331
Introduction 332
Earth’s Hydrologic Cycle 332
Where Freshwater Is Found 333
Human Use of Freshwater 334
Traditional Sources of Freshwater
Surface Water Resources 336
CASE STUDY 11.1 Off-Stream Water Usage and the Aral Sea
Disaster 338
Groundwater Resources 340
CASE STUDY 11.2 Groundwater Mining in the Breadbasket of
the United States 350
Selecting a Water-Supply Source
Alternative Sources of Freshwater
Desalination 355
Reclaimed or Recycled Wastewater 357
Aquifer Storage and Recovery 358
Rainwater Harvesting 358
Conservation 359
Summary Points 362
Key Words 362
Applications 362
Chapter 12
Mineral and Rock
Resources 365
Introduction 366
Minerals and People 367
Economic Mineral Deposits 369
Resources and Reserves 370
Geology of Mineral Resources 370
Igneous Processes 370
Metamorphic Processes 374
Sedimentary Processes 375
CASE STUDY 12.1 Asbestos: A Miracle Fiber Turned
Deadly 378
Mining and Processing of Minerals 384
Mining Techniques 385
Mineral Processing 389
Distribution and Supply of Mineral Resources
Meeting Future Demand for Minerals
Recycling and Reuse 393
Environmental Impacts and Mitigation 394
Heavy Metals and Acid Drainage
Processing of Ores 398
Collapse and Subsidence 399
Abandoned Mine Hazards 400
rei22967_fm_i-xx.indd viii
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Summary Points 400
Key Words 400
Applications 401
Tim McCabe, USDA, NRCS
Chapter 13
Conventional Fossil Fuel
336
Resources 403
Introduction 404
Human Use of Energy 405 U.S. Coast Guard
Energy Conversions 406
Renewable versus Nonrenewable Energy 407
Historical Energy Usage 407
354 Coal 409
355 Environmental Impacts of Mining Coal 411
Environmental Impacts of Using Coal 413
Petroleum 414
Origin of Petroleum 415
Petroleum Deposits 415
Exploration and Production Wells 417
Petroleum Refining 420
Environmental Impacts of Petroleum 421
Current Energy Supply and Demand 422
Economic Development and Energy Demand 423
CASE STUDY 13.1 Controversy Over Hydraulic Fracturing and
Tight Oil and Gas Development 424
Types of Energy We Consume 426
Where Fossil Fuels Are Located 428
The Future Energy Crisis 428
Peak Oil Theory 429
Past the Oil Peak 431
Avoiding the Energy Crisis 434
© Neil Beer/Getty Images
Replacements for Conventional Oil 435
Increasing Supply by Reducing Demand 436
Strategy for Living Past Peak Oil 437
Summary Points 438
Key Words 439
Applications 439
Chapter 14
Alternative Energy
391
392 Resources 441
Introduction 442
Nonconventional Fossil Fuels 443 © George Hammerstein/Corbis/
395 Synthetic Fuels from Coal 443 Glow Images
Heavy Oils and Oil Sands 444
Oil Shale 446
Gas Hydrates 448
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Contents ix

Carbon-Free and Renewable Fuels 449 Summary Points 514

Biofuels 449 Key Words 514
Hydroelectric Power 451 Applications 514
Nuclear Power 452
CASE STUDY 14.1 Older Technology for the Next Generation
of Nuclear Reactors? 454
Solar Power 457
Chapter 16
Wind Power 462
Geothermal Power 465 Global Climate Change 517
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion 468 Introduction 518
Tidal Power 469 Earth’s Climate System 520
Conservation 471 Solar Energy 521 © James Jordan Photography/
Post-Petroleum World 472 The Greenhouse Effect 522 Getty Images

Transportation Systems 473 Variations in Earth’s Orbit 524

Generating Electricity in the Future 474 Feedback Mechanisms 525
Earth’s Past and Future Climate 531
Summary Points 478
Climate Models 532
Key Words 479
Ways of Studying Earth’s Past Climate 533
Applications 479 Lessons from the Past 535
Future of Our Climate System 537
PART FOUR Consequences of Global Warming 539
Changing Weather Patterns and Biomes 539
The Health of Our Environment Melting Ice and Permafrost 543
Acidification of Oceans 547
Chapter 15 CASE STUDY 16.1 Miami and South Florida: On a Collision
Course with Sea-Level Rise 548
Pollution and Waste Mitigation of Climate Change 550
Disposal 481 Strategy for Reducing Emissions 552
The Future 554
Introduction 482
Summary Points 555
Historical Waste Disposal 482 © Jason Hawkes/The Image
U.S. Environmental Laws 483 Bank/Getty Images Key Words 556
Pollution and Contamination 486 Applications 556
Movement of Pollutants in Water 488
Appendix A-1
Solid Waste Disposal 490
Glossary G-1
Municipal and Industrial Solid Waste 490
Solid Hazardous Waste 493 Index I-1
Scrap Tires 495
Liquid Waste Disposal 495
Liquid Hazardous Waste 496
Human Waste 497
Agricultural and Urban Activity 501
Agricultural Chemicals 501
Animal Wastes 502
Sediment Pollution 503
Radioactive Waste Disposal 504
Radiation Hazard 504
The Disposal Problem 505
CASE STUDY 15.1 Long-Term Storage of Nuclear Waste in the
United States 506
Air Pollutants and Fallout 507
Acid Rain 508
Mercury Fallout 510
Radon Gas 513

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Preface

Environmental Geology, 3e focuses on the fascinating interaction

between humans and the geologic processes that shape Earth’s environment.
Because this text emphasizes how human survival is highly dependent on the
natural environment, students should find the topics to be quite relevant to their
own lives and, therefore, more interesting. One of the key themes of this textbook
centers on a serious challenge facing modern society: the need to continue obtain-
ing large quantities of energy, and at the same time, make the transition from fossil
fuels to clean sources of energy that do not impact the climate system. Environ-
mental Geology provides extensive coverage of the problems associated with our
conventional fossil fuel supplies (Chapter 13), and an equally in-depth discussion
of alternative energy sources (Chapter 14). The two chapters on energy are inti-
mately linked to a comprehensive overview of global climate change (­Chapter 16),
which is arguably civilization’s most critical environmental challenge.
Another major theme in the third edition of Environmental Geology is that
humans are an integral part of a complex and interactive system scientists call the
Earth system. Throughout the text the author explains how the Earth system responds
to human activity, and how that response then affects the very environment in which
we live. A key point is that our activity often produces unintended and undesirable
consequences. An example from the text is how engineers have built dams and artifi-
cial levees to control flooding on the Mississippi River. This has caused unintended
changes in the geologic environment. For thousands of years, the rate at which the
river deposited sediment in the Mississippi Delta was approximately equal to the
rate that the sediment compacted under its own weight. The land surface remained
above sea level because the two rates had been similar. However, by using dams and
artificial levees to confine the Mississippi River to its channel, humans disrupted the
delicate balance between sediment deposition and compaction. Today large sections
of the Louisiana coast, including New Orleans, are sinking below sea level, and at
the same time sea level is rising due to global warming. This has not only caused
severe coastal erosion, but greatly increased the chance that New Orleans will be
inundated during a major hurricane.
Environmental Geology also includes a suf-
ficient amount of background material on physical
“ My overall impression after reading Chapter 16 “Global
geology for students who have never taken a geology
Climate Change” was that of an excellent coverage of a still
course. The author believes this additional coverage
very controversial topic. Reichard has managed to cover the
is critical. Without a basic understanding of physical
most fundamental societal and scientific issues related to
© Steve Cole/Getty Images geology, students would not be able to fully appre-
global climate change in a format accessible to undergraduate
ciate the interrelationships between humans and the
students with or without strong science background. Reichard
geologic environment. To meet the needs of courses
provides an unbiased representation of facts and does not
with a physical geology prerequisite, the book was
shy away from a critical discussion of opposing arguments
organized so that instructors could easily omit the
resulting from the interpretation of the facts.” few chapters that contain mostly background mate-
—Thomas Boving, University of Rhode Island rial. In addition, Environmental Geology does more
than provide a physical description of water, mineral,
and energy resources; it explores the difficult problems associated with extracting
the enormous quantities of resources needed to sustain modern societies. With
respect to geologic hazards (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods),
the textbook goes beyond the physical science and examines the societal impacts
as well as the ways humans can minimize the risks. The author also highlights the
x
 Preface xi

fact that as population continues to grow, the problems related to resource depletion and
hazards will become more severe.
Finally, this textbook includes learning tools designed
to make it easier for students to utilize information found in
the text. For example, it is unreasonable to expect students to
remember everything they read. For this reason, the text often
cross references topics between chapters as a reminder that
additional information can be found in other parts of the book.
It is hoped that cross-referencing will encourage students to
make better use of the index for locating additional information.
“
. . . I give the author credit for excelling in a very up-to-date assessment
of alternative technologies, with some delightful examples of innovative
systems that should interest the student reader. The author recognizes
the importance of portraying the subject within the modern world that
”
the student lives in.
—Lee Slater, Rutgers University–Newark

New for the Third Edition

Readers familiar with Environmental Geology should find that the
changes to the third edition have significantly improved the already
outstanding pedagogy and photo and art program of the previous edi-
tions. Perhaps the most significant improvement is the addition of six
new case studies, bringing the total to nineteen. Increasing the number
of case studies was a priority for the third edition because instructors
commonly have students use case studies to explore chapter concepts
in more detail. In addition to the new case studies, the chapter narra-
tives have been thoroughly revised to include recent geologic events
and scientific advances. Likewise, care was taken to ensure that all of
the graphs and tables include the most recently available data. Many
new photos and several new graphics were added to enhance the peda-
gogy and increase student interest. Finally, some of the existing graph-
ics were modified to improve student comprehension.
Although changes in the third edition are too numerous to be listed
individually, some of the more significant improvements are described
below. Note that the chapters with the most revisions are those on
energy resources (Chapters 13 and 14) and climate change (Chapter 16).
Chapter 1—In addition to updating the chapter content for recent events
and scientific advances, four of the existing photos (Figures 1.1, 1.2, 1.8,
and 1.18) have been replaced to help improve visual comprehension.
Chapter 2—The opening photo has been replaced with a dramatic
NASA image of Earth’s western hemisphere, which helps reinforce
the theme that Earth is part of a much larger system. Perhaps the
most significant change is that the case study on the search for life on
Mars has been completely rewritten and now includes five new high-­
resolution photos. In addition to the case study, the discussion in the
text on possible extraterrestrial life has been updated, and new graphics
of Saturn’s moon Enceladus (Figure 2.21) and the Kepler-62 planetary
system (2.23) have been added. Also, an improved graphic of Antarctic
ozone concentrations (2.25) illustrates how the ozone hole has changed
over time. Finally, new photos provide students with a close-up view
of the iridium-rich layer at the K/T boundary (2.31) and of comet 67P/
Churyumov-Gerasimenko (2.34) as it approached the Sun in 2014.
Chapter 3—The opening photo was replaced with a classic image of
a sandstone butte in Monument Valley that coincides with the chapter
theme of earth materials (rocks and minerals). With respect to the chap-
ter content, a new case study with photos and graphics (Figures B3.1
and B3.2) describes how ancient zircon crystals are providing geolo-
gists with important clues as to Earth’s early history, in a period just
160 million years after the planet formed. Three photos have also been
replaced (3.11, 3.17, and 3.24) to help improve student comprehension.
Chapter 4—A key graphic (Figure 4.16) showing the different types
of plate boundaries has been re-labeled to improve student comprehen-
sion. Similarly, the discussion on how the movement of tectonic plates
generates forces that cause buckling at convergent boundaries and rift-
ing at divergent boundaries has been rewritten to improve clarity.
Chapter 5—Discussion of the recent earthquake in Nepal is accom-
panied by a new photo (Figure 5.20) taken after the quake that illus-
trates the hazards associated with masonry buildings. The chapter also
includes the recently updated USGS seismic hazard map of the United
States (5.34) and the newly released USGS hazard probability map for
the San Francisco area (5.35). Finally, a new graphic (5.39) has been
added to the section on earthquake early warning systems to comple-
ment the revised discussion of Japan’s nationwide system and Califor-
nia’s new ShakeAlert system.
Chapter 6—The opening photo has been replaced with a new, dra-
matic image of Mount Fuji that helps illustrate the relationship
between humans and the geologic environment. Also, the discussion
on the early warning system for mudflow hazards near Mount Rainier
has been completely rewritten and updated.
Chapter 7—A new case study, including photos and graphics (Fig-
ures B7.3 and B7.4), describes the history behind the tragic 2014 mass
wasting event that killed 43 people in Oso, Washington. In addition,
the graphic that illustrates the different forces on a slope (7.4) has been
relabeled to improve student comprehension, and the graphic depicting
how reducing slope materials increases slope stability (7.29) has been
revised for accuracy.
Chapter 8—The opening photo has been replaced with an impressive
image of the Yellowstone River to help highlight the important role
that streams play in the Earth system. A discussion of the thousand-
year flood event in 2013 near Boulder, Colorado, has been included in
the section on flash floods to help illustrate the hazards associated with
these rare events.
Chapter 9—In addition to minor text changes to convey new informa-
tion, the histograms showing coastal population growth (Figure 9.1)
and Atlantic hurricane history (9.23) and the map of buoys and sensors
in the worldwide tsunami early warning system (9.26) have all been
redrawn based on the most currently available data.
Chapter 10—The opening photo has been replaced with a new image
to reinforce the chapter theme—how our food supply is inextricably
linked to soils. Most significant though is the addition of a new case
study, including graphics (Figures B10.1 and B10.2), that describes the
lessons learned regarding soil conservation practices in the aftermath
of the 1930s Dust Bowl in the United States.
xii Preface
Chapter 11—A new case study on the Aral Sea disaster, with pho-
tos (Figure B11.1), highlights the potential problems associated with
off-stream water usage. In addition, the graph showing total U.S.
water withdrawals (11.4) has been updated, and the graphic illustrat-
ing saltwater intrusion of coastal aquifers (11.21) has been revised
for accuracy.
Chapter 12—The opening photo has been replaced with an impressive
image of a spinning bucket excavator being used to remove overbur-
den material from a surface mine. Three data tables (Tables 12.1, 12.4,
and 12.5) have been updated based on recently released USGS mineral
reports. Similarly, new data from the USGS were used to update the
graphs showing U.S. mineral imports (12.24) and yearly mineral con-
sumption (12.25).
Chapter 13—Much of this chapter has undergone extensive revision
that reflects recent developments with respect to conventional oil and
gas resources. For example, the section on exploration and production
wells now includes a discussion on deep-water oil and gas deposits
along with a graphic (Figure 13.17) that includes a map of the world’s
deep-water fields and a diagram of a deep-water drilling operation.
This section also has a new, in-depth discussion on tight oil and gas
wells and a new graph (13.18) comparing depletion rates of conven-
tional and tight gas wells. The case study on hydraulic fracturing has
been updated and now includes a discussion on the significant increase
in earthquake activity related to the injection of greater volumes of
wastewater into deep aquifers. The map showing the location of tight
oil and gas deposits (B13.1) has been updated to include deposits in
Canada and Mexico. In addition, major revisions to the section on
the energy crisis reflect the current volatility in oil and gas markets
related to the interaction between changes in supply and demand and
economic activity. Likewise, the sections on peak oil and avoiding
the energy crisis have been updated based on the latest projections
concerning the increase of tight oil production and the depletion of
conventional oil fields. Finally, many of the graphs and charts (13.3,
13.22–13.27, 13.31, and 13.34–13.36) were updated using data from
newly released reports.
Chapter 14—To help illustrate how the world is transitioning from
fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy sources, the opening photo
has been replaced with one showing a new housing development with
rooftop solar panels. More importantly, the chapter has been thoroughly
revised to reflect both minor and major developments in a wide array
of alternative energy sources. Significant revisions include updates
on China’s increased use of coal liquefaction for transportation fuels,
changes in the EPA’s renewable fuel standard (RFS) and its effect on
U.S. ethanol production, new battery technology for storing electricity,
and home energy conservation. Perhaps the most important change is a
new case study on the next generation of nuclear power plants, which
can produce carbon-free electricity and eliminate the need for long-
term storage of nuclear waste. This case study complements a revised
discussion on how major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions could
be accomplished through a combination of increased use of nuclear
power and scaled-up production of electricity from wind and solar
resources. Other additions include an updated wind power map of the
United States (Figure 14.21) and a graphic showing the breakdown of
energy usage in the typical U.S. household (14.32). Finally, the most
recently available data were used to update the table listing the cost of
producing electricity from difference sources (14.1), the graph of U.S.
ethanol production (14.7), and the graph of world wind power generat-
ing capacity (14.36).
Chapter 15—A new graphic (Figure 15.3) in the section on U.S.
environmental laws shows the total number and status of EPA
­
­Superfund sites over time. In addition, six graphs (15.9, 15.15, 15.16,
15.17, and 15.39) were updated based on recently released EPA
reports, and a new version of the acid rain deposition map (15.37) has
been included. Four photos (15.6, 15.17, 15.25, and 15.32) have also
been replaced to help improve student comprehension. Finally, the sec-
tion on ­reducing anthropogenic mercury emissions underwent signifi-
cant revisions based on recent EPA data, and the potential health risk
from recycled tire material in athletic surfaces is described in the dis-
cussion of scrap tires.
Chapter 16—The opening photo has been replaced with an impressive
image of combustion gases being released from a coal-burning power
plant, highlighting the connection between society’s use of fossil fuels
and global climate change. In addition, numerous small changes have
been made throughout the chapter to reflect the results and conclu-
sions from the most recent United Nations report (IPCC) on climate
change. Perhaps the single most significant change is a new case study
describing how Miami and South Florida are at severe risk from accel-
erated sea level rise. Also new is a NASA image (Figure 16.1) show-
ing the dramatic loss of ice from Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier, a
graphic (16.11) illustrating the albedo effect, a photo (16.27) showing
the devastating effects of pine-beetle infestations on conifer forests, a
pair of photos (16.28) illustrating the effect of a long-term drought on
­California’s water supply, and a graph (16.39) of worldwide carbon
dioxide emissions over time. In addition, eight graphs (16.2, 16.19,
16.25, 16.26, 16.32, 16.37, 16.39 and 16.40) were updated based on
recently released data. Finally, a detailed discussion on the recent Paris
Climate Agreement has been included in the section on mitigation of
climate change.
 Preface xiii

Key Features
As with all college textbooks, there are differences among the various environmental geology books currently being offered. These are some of the
more significant and noticeable differences you will find in Environmental Geology:
First Pages

∙ Learning Outcomes. Each chapter is introduced with a list that provides valuable student
Conventional Fossil Fuel guidance by stating key chapter concepts. This encourages students to be “active” learners
Resources as they complete the tasks and activities that require them to use critical thinking skills.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Introduction
∙ Chapter 2 Is Unique. “Earth from a Larger Perspective” describes Earth’s relationship to
Human Use of Energy
Energy Conversions
Renewable versus Nonrenewable Energy
the solar system and universe, which helps give students the broadest possible perspective
Coal
Historical Energy Usage

Environmental Impacts of Mining Coal

on our environment. Here students learn how the Earth system is part of even larger
systems before moving on to the remaining chapters that focus on our planet. Chapter 2
Environmental Impacts of Using Coal
Petroleum
Origin of Petroleum

also gives instructors the opportunity to discuss some of the external forces that influence
Petroleum Deposits
Exploration and Production Wells
Petroleum Refining

Earth’s environment, such as solar radiation, asteroid impacts, and the effect of the Moon
Environmental Impacts of Petroleum
Current Energy Supply and Demand
Economic Development and Energy Demand
Types of Energy We Consume
Where Fossil Fuels Are Located
The Future Energy Crisis
Peak Oil Theory
on our tides and climate. In addition, this chapter helps explain why Earth supports a
Past the Oil Peak
Avoiding the Energy Crisis
Replacements for Conventional Oil
diverse array of complex life, and why humans are so dependent on its unique and fragile
environment. This sets the stage for a theme that is woven throughout the entire text—
Increasing Supply by Reducing Demand
Strategy for Living Past Peak Oil

On April 20, 2010, the drilling ship Deepwater Horizon lost control of an
oil well it was drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The result was a catastrophic
fire that destroyed the ship and took the lives of 11 crew members. After
the drilling ship sunk, the damaged well continued to spill crude oil from
the seafloor for 86 days, creating one of the worst oil spills in history.
This accident highlighted the fact that as world oil supplies continue to
be stretched, drilling technology pushed ahead of our ability to cap a
ruptured well in deep water.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to: that human survival is intimately linked to the environment. Students can then see how
being better stewards of the Earth is in our own best interest.
⊲ List the basic forms of energy, and describe some of the
common transformations between different energy forms.
⊲ Describe why petroleum was favored over coal and how
it eventually became the dominant resource it is today.
First Pages First Pages
⊲ Characterize how organic matter accumulates
geologically and is transformed into coal or petroleum.
⊲ Discuss the basic process by which petroleum migrates
from a source rock and accumulates in a reservoir rock.
⊲ Identify the locations of major fossil fuel reserves, and
discuss the impact on energy security.
⊲ Explain the peak oil theory, and describe how it may
affect the world economy.
⊲ Discuss why it will take years to scale up production of
nonconventional oil resources to make up for declining
supplies of conventional oil.
⊲ Explain why conservation and efficiency must play key

Earth from a Larger Perspective

roles in limiting the impact of future shortages.
403
Chapter

rei22967_ch13_402-439.indd 403 08/20/16 08:47 AM

CHAPTER OUTLINE
Introduction
Our Solar System
The Sun
The Planets
Comets and Asteroids
The Moon
Origin of the Solar System
The Nebular Hypothesis
How Reliable Is the Nebular Hypothesis?
Other Stars in the Universe
Does Life Exist Beyond Earth?
Life on Earth
Habitable Zones
Possible Intelligent Life
Solar System Hazards
Electromagnetic Radiation
Asteroid and Comet Impacts

LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
⊲ Understand how the nebular hypothesis explains the
formation of the solar system and how it accounts for
the orbital characteristics of the planets and moons.
⊲ Describe our solar system and the size of the Earth
relative to the size of the solar system as well as to the
size of our galaxy and the universe.
⊲ Explain how extremophile bacteria are related to
the origin of life on Earth and how they relate to the
extraterrestrial search for life.
⊲ Understand the concept of habitable zones and why
complex animal life that may exist elsewhere will likely
be restricted to such zones.
⊲ Explain what mass extinctions are and be able to name
some of their possible triggering mechanisms.
In modern times humans have sent machines into space in order
to study the Earth as well as the solar system and universe. This
⊲ Understand how scientists came to appreciate the
knowledge helps us to better understand the Earth system and gives us serious nature of comet and asteroid impacts, and
a larger perspective from which to view environmental problems. The describe the steps being taken to reduce the risk.
image shown here is centered over Mexico in North America and was
taken by NASA’s polar-orbiting satellite called VIIRS.

NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

34 35

First Pages First Pages

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∙ Case Studies. Nearly every chapter includes

a case study that is designed to give students a CASE STUDY

7.1 Recurrent Mass Wasting at La Conchita, California many thousands of years. In terms of human development, historical impossible to predict, with any degree of certainty, exactly where and

more in-depth look at an environmental issue. A

records as far back as 1865 note that a wagon trail along this section when movement will take place and whether it will be rapid or slow. The
of the coast was plagued by masses of earth falling down from the reason such predictions are difficult is because individual mass wasting

O n January 10, 2005, a debris flow crashed into the small resi-
dential community of La Conchita, California, taking the lives
in a known hazard zone, it is helpful to examine the geology of the
site and its historical human development.
bluffs. Later a railroad was built along the coastal strip, and it too expe-
rienced problems when earth movements buried the tracks in 1887
events are somewhat unique, often depending upon complex subsur-
face conditions that are difficult to determine in advance. Further com-

good example is Chapter 7, where the case study

of 10 people and completely destroying 23 homes and damaging La Conchita lies on a narrow strip of land located between the and 1889. In 1909 another event destroyed a work train, prompting the plicating any prediction is the knowledge that future movement could
13 others. This disaster drew national news coverage in the United Pacific Ocean and a steep hillside (Figure B7.1). These bluffs consist of railroad company to try to reduce the hazard by removing part of the be triggered by an earthquake, which unlike periods of heavy rainfall
States, and then took on an added dimension when reporters learned poorly consolidated layers of marine sediment that have recently been hillside using bulldozers. The idea was to create a relatively flat area provides absolutely no warning that movement may be imminent. What
that a similar event occurred at the same site 10 years earlier in 1995. uplifted by tectonic activity. Modern geologic studies have shown that would collect earth material moving down from the bluffs, thereby is known is that future mass wasting activity near La Conchita is almost

examines the recurring mass wasting problems

Questions naturally arose as to why people would continue to live at
the base of a hillside with a history of mass wasting. Other questions
centered on why the local government allowed people to build there
in the first place. Television interviews revealed that many of the local
that mass wasting has been taking place along these same bluffs for
minimizing the chance of any material reaching the railroad tracks. certain to occur and that people will likely find themselves in harm’s way.
However, this operation also created level ground that attracted the
attention of real-estate developers, who eventually purchased the Daily rainfall
200
property in 1924. A housing development soon emerged, with 330 lots

at La Conchita, California. Here students are

residents felt that living in a pleasant seaside community with easy with easy access to the ocean and an additional 47 lots located along 180
access to the beach and wonderful ocean views was simply worth the the base of the bluffs themselves (Figure B7.1). La Conchita was thus
160
risk. To understand why the local government allowed people to live born, but it was only a matter of time before earth materials would March 4, 1995
again start moving downslope, posing a threat to this new community. 140 landslide

asked to consider why some people willingly

Rainfall (millimeters)

FIGURE B7.1 Color infrared photo (vegetation in red) showing the town of La Small-scale earth movements took place along the bluffs above
La Conchita in 1988, 1991, and 1994; fortunately none were large 120
Conchita, California, located below bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The bluffs
consist of uplifted marine sediments that are weak and prone to mass wasting after enough to reach the town below. Then on March 4, 1995, a large sec- 100
periods of heavy rain. The inset shows the area where movement occurred in tion of the bluff moved several tens of meters downslope in a mat-

live in a hazardous area, even when the risk

1995, and then again in 2005. ter of minutes, taking the form of a combined slump and earth flow 80
© Robert A. Larson, (inset) USGS (Figure B7.1). Although this relatively slow-moving mass damaged or 60
destroyed a total of nine homes, no one was injured. Geologic stud-
ies later determined that the event was triggered by unusually heavy 40

is well understood. In Chapter 13, the case

rain that winter. For example, in the six-month period leading up to the
20
event, this coastal region received nearly 30 inches (761 mm) of rain,
which was nearly double the normal average of 15.4 inches (390 mm). 0
10/1/94
10/11/94
10/21/94
10/31/94
11/10/94
11/20/94
11/30/94
12/10/94
12/20/94
12/30/94
1/9/95
1/19/95
1/29/95
2/8/95
2/18/95
2/28/95
3/10/95
3/20/95
3/30/95

Also significant is the fact that 24.5 inches (623 mm) of rain fell in Janu-

study explores the controversy over hydraulic

ary alone, a month where only 4.3 inches (108 mm) normally falls. In
Scars from previous movement
the end, scientists concluded that the primary triggering mechanism of
the large slump and earth flow was a rise in pore pressure associated
with the infiltrating water during the exceptionally heavy January rains. Daily rainfall

fracturing and the development of tight oil and

100
A mere 10 years later a smaller event took place on January 10, January 10, 2005 landslide
2005, claiming the lives of 10 people. Unusually heavy winter rains 90
again served as the primary triggering mechanism, but in this case
the movement took on different and more deadly characteristics. In 80

gas. Students are given an objective overview of

Ranch Road 2005 the movement occurred at a much shallower depth and had 70
Rainfall (millimeters)

the form of a fairly rapid debris flow, leaving residents no time to flee.
Scientists later concluded that the differences in speed and volume 60
between the 1995 and 2005 events were related to the depth that 50

both the science and policy sides of the issue, and

water had been able to infiltrate into the slope. From the graphs in
Figure B7.2 one can see that the 2005 debris flow occurred right at 40
the end of a 15-day period of heavy rain, whereas the 1995 event took
30
place nearly a month after an extended period of heavy rain. This
La Conchita

are then expected to draw their own conclusion

timing implies that water did not infiltrate as deep in 2005 before ris- 20
ing pore pressure reduced the frictional resistance within the slope
10
materials to the point of failure; it also explains why the 2005 failure
occurred at a much shallower depth and involved a smaller volume of 0

as to which side of the policy debate they would

material. Finally, the fact that water accumulated closer to the surface
10/1/04

10/11/04

10/21/04

10/31/04

11/10/04

11/20/04

11/30/04

12/10/04

12/20/04

12/30/04

1/9/05

1/19/05

helps account for the 2005 debris flow being more fluid-like, giving it
greater speed and less time for people to get out of the way.
Based on the geologic history and the scientific studies of mass FIGURE B7.2 Graphs showing the different rainfall accumulation

support.
wasting near La Conchita, one can expect that future earth move- patterns that led up to the 1995 and 2005 mass wasting events at La
ments will be triggered by periods of heavy rainfall. However, it is nearly Conchita.

206 207

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onfused with undertows, which are floods the road to the mainland. Prior to modern communications and satellites,
rd along the sea floor as opposed to First Pages the only warning people had that a major hurricane was approaching was the
more common along beaches with a large waves that commonly arrived ahead of the storm. Since many of the peo-
andbars are lacking. Here the back- ple living on barrier islands back then were not familiar with this warning sign,
they never had the chance to flee before a hurricane arrived. They simply had no
r than being forced to flow through choice but to go to the top floor of a building or climb a sturdy tree, then hope for Mean sea level
ecause the current in an undertow is the best. Such was the case in 1900 for the 35,000 residents of Galveston, Texas,
xiv
ar less dangerous to swimmers than Preface when the barrier island they were living on was completely overwashed during a
CHAPTER 14 Alternative Energy Resources 445 category 4 hurricane. The storm surge progressively destroyed block after block
B
of the city, creating a pile of debris 30 feet (9 m) high (Figure 9.18) that helped
save the remaining buildings from the breaking waves. In the end, an estimated
the process is repeated. A more elaborate and efficient method involves using
FIGURE
separate9.27
wells Rip currents (A)
for injection andform when backwash
extraction fromcontinuously. With either
that operate ∙ Photos and Illustrations. It is well established in the field of education 6,000–10,000 people died, making this the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
A more recent example of a deadly storm surge is the one that occurred in
the surf zone funnels through a break in underwater sand 2008 when Cyclone Nargis made landfall on the densely populated Irrawaddy
etreat as the landward migration of
level rises or the land is lowered due
method, once the oil is extracted, it eventually cools down and becomes too thick
bars. Photo (B) showing a rip current flowing back out to sea
to transport to a refinery. To make the heavy oil transportable, its viscosity is that most people are predominantly visual learners. Therefore, the Delta in Myanmar (Burma). At landfall this cyclone had sustained winds of
First Pages
through the surf zone in the Monterey Bay area of California. 130 miles per hour (209 km/hr) and produced a storm surge that covered large
depends on the supply of sediment
wave energy. Recall
Notereduced byrip
that the mixing
lighterbreaking
current
crude bewaves
it can
available
withbelighter crude.by
recognized
nearby.
However,
how it this requires that a supply of author integrated very relevant photos and illustrations within the areas of the low-lying delta. Unfortunately, the government failed to evacuate
residents prior to the storm and even inhibited the relief effort of various inter-
disrupts within the surf zone.
ergy is transferred (b) WendyA different
Carey, form
Delaware Seaof heavy oil is sometimes found near the surface in what are
Grant
called tar pits—a famous example is the La Brea Tar Pits in California, where pre-
narrative so that abstract and complex concepts are easier to understand. national organizations in the aftermath of the storm. The result was a large death
toll, estimated at over 100,000 people. This tragedy is a grim reminder of the
d depositional pro- A
terial, the shoreline historic
Water trying to flow animal remains are preserved. The Riphydrocarbon
current substances in tar pits are The integrated use of visual examples within a narrative writing style risks associated with living9 inCoastal
CHAPTER low-lying coastal areas as275
Hazards well as of the impor-
tance of evacuating people to safety prior to a storm and providing adequate relief
wave energy is at its in a form called bitumen, Surffrom
zone which the lighter and more
Incoming waves volatile hydrocarbon
should not only help increase student comprehension, but it should also
away from the beach assistance afterward. May 21, 2009
FIGURE 9.16 Storm surge
rates are also at a molecules have been lost, leaving behind a highly viscous fluid that is more like forms in part because of the
Beach
asphalt than normal crude oil. Bitumen is also found in sand deposits close to the
matic changes along
ome instances large surface, which geologists call oil sands or tar sands. These deposits are gener- encourage students to read more of the text.
Inland Flooding decrease in air pressure toward
Atmospheric
the eye of a hurricane. This
air pressure
Hurricanes and ocean storms naturally remove vast amounts of water vapor from
Highest
Eye
(Lowest pressure)
Outer bands
(Highest pressure)
sea level allows the sea surface to rise,
s that society finds ally believed to have formed when crude oil from petroleum reservoirs migrated the oceans via evaporation; much of this
creating water of
a dome is water
eventually
that returned to the Earth’s
n in shipping chan- upward and then collected in sand layers near the surface. Here the crude oil was Onshore
surface in the form of heavy rain or snow.
follows theThis intense
storm inland.precipitation
Even commonly leads
broken down over time by bacteria, leaving behind bitumen. Two of the largest Low winds higher storm surge is generated
(draft) for heavily air on the northeastern side of
ent must ultimately oil sand deposits in the world are located Waterin exiting
Canada theand Venezuela, and together
pressure Dome of
the eye due to the storm’s
water FIGURE 9.17
Storm surge (A) not only inundates areas normally above high tide,
s. Sediment is also are estimated to contain enough bitumen surftozone
produce
throughthe
a equivalent of several tril- Sea level counterclockwise rotation and
but also brings breaking wavesintense
that demolish
winds. structures. Photo (B) of Mantoloking,
break in a submerged
lion barrels of conventional crude oil. However, only a fraction of this is consid- FIGURE 14.3 Synthetic crude oil is Path currently being
rms, covering roads sand bar
of New Jersey, showing the effects of storm surge and waves associated with
cleanup costs. ered recoverable. For comparison, about 1.3 trillion barrels of conventional crude produced from
0 miles sand300deposits (A) in hurricane
100oil 200 Alberta, Canada. Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Arrows mark the same house that appears in both images.
remain available in the world today. The hydrocarbons are in the form of bitumen, a highly Notice the destroyed houses and roads and extensive beach erosion. Also note the
erfere with human large volume of sand that was deposited on the back side of the island.
Presently most of the oil sands production occurs in Alberta, Canada viscous substance that is separated from the sand using November 5, 2012
lly cause far more B
(b) (both) USGS
(Figure 14.3). The estimated recoverable reserves of equivalent crude from these steam. Photo (B) shows a bitumen sample whose viscosity
est problem occurs feet lowered
has been above sea by level, the most
heating. serious threat is60%
Approximately that the
of island will be completely A
water’s edge, put- deposits is approximately 170 billion barrels (BBL), which ranks third behind the overwashed by the storm surge.
Canadian production involves strip Riding
miningout (C);the surge
the and its breaking waves,
remainder
he sea as the shore- even inby
is produced an steam
elevatedinjection
building, is a high-risk
and pumping andwells.
often fatal gamble. For those who
y related to the rate decideCanada
(B) © Syncrude not to evacuate,
Ltd; (C) © there is no escape
Photographic onceShell
Services, the leading edge of the storm surge
floods
International Ltd.the road to the mainland. Prior to modern communications and satellites,
ntrolled by the fre- the only warning people had that a major hurricane was approaching was the rei22967_ch09_260-293.indd 275

ng sections we will Rip current large waves that commonly arrived ahead of the storm. Since many of the peo-
shoreline retreat as Wood Buffalo ple living on barrier islands back then were not familiar with this warning sign,
sed to mitigate the National they never had the chance to flee before a hurricane arrived. They simply had no Storm surge
ALBERTA Park choice but to go to the top floor of a building or climb a sturdy tree, then hope for
n modifications to Mean sea level
the best. Such was the case in 1900 for the 35,000 residents of Galveston, Texas,
systems to respond . when the barrier island they were living on was completely overwashed during a
R
category 4 hurricane. The storm surge progressively destroyed block after block
e
Peac

B
of the city, creating a pile of debris 30 feet (9 m) high (Figure 9.18) that helped
save the remaining buildings from the breaking waves. In the end, an estimated
ms Fort McMurray 6,000–10,000 people died, making this the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
Peace River A more recent example of a deadly storm surge is the one that occurred in
re, coastal erosion
Oil Sands 2008 when Cyclone Nargis made landfall on the densely populated Irrawaddy
s. This means that Athabasca
Area Delta in Myanmar (Burma). At landfall this cyclone had sustained winds of
Oil Sands
elatively stationary Area 130 miles per hour (209 km/hr) and produced a storm surge that covered large
Grande Prairie areas of the low-lying delta. Unfortunately, the government failed to evacuate
Cold Lake residents prior to the storm and even inhibited the relief effort of various inter- First Pages

Oil Sands B national organizations in the aftermath of the storm. The result was a large death
Area toll, estimated at over 100,000 people. This tragedy is a grim reminder of the
risks associated with living in low-lying coastal areas as well as of the impor-
Edmonton
tance of evacuating people292to safety PART
prior to aHazardous
TWO stormEarth
andProcesses
providing adequate relief
a n R.
ew 08/20/16 09:10 AM assistance afterward. May 21, 2009
FIGURE 9.36 Aerial view showing the Cape Hatteras
katch

Lighthouse on the Outer Banks of North Carolina shortly

Jasper Inland Flooding after it was moved in 1999. The historic lighthouse was
Sas

National Park N. moved inland to a safer location as shoreline retreat

had progressed to where the structure was at the edge
Hurricanes and ocean storms naturally remove vast amounts of water vapor from of the active beach. Note the groin that had previously
the oceans via evaporation; much of this water is eventually returned to the Earth’s been installed to widen the beach in front of where the
lighthouse once stood.
Banff surface in the form of heavy rain or snow. This intense precipitation commonly leads Photo by Elizbeth Pendleton/Woods Hole Science Center, USGS

National Park Calgary

FIGURE 9.17 Storm surge (A) not only inundates areas normally above high tide,
but also brings breaking waves that demolish structures. Photo (B) of Mantoloking,
New Jersey, showing the effects of storm surge and waves associated with
Lethbridge Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Arrows mark the same house that appears in both images. hotels or condominiums, nor would it be popular
0 km 100 200 among investors who wish to continue developing our
Notice the destroyed houses and roads and extensive beach erosion. Also note the coastlines. However, as government budgets become
large volume of sand that was deposited on the back side of the island. tighter, property owners can no longer rely on receiv-
November 5, 2012
(b) (both) USGS ing federal tax dollars for erosion control and beach
A C Athabasca oil sands, Muskeg River mine nourishment projects. In many areas such projects are
now being funded by local property and user taxes. As
sea level continues to rise, society will ultimately have to decide where to spend
its limited financial resources on stopping shoreline retreat, and leave the rest to
retreat naturally.

First Pages
rei22967_ch09_260-293.indd 275 08/20/16 09:18 AM
SUMMARY POINTS

∙ Summary Points. Each chapter concludes with a list of

rei22967_ch14_440-479.indd 445
1. Shorelines are unique in that they are where Earth’s two most fundamen-
tal environments meet: the terrestrial 08/20/16 09:14
(land) and AM(ocean), forming
marine
a desirable habitat for humans. Because population growth is much higher
reduced the number of fatalities, but increased coastal development has
caused property losses to escalate.
7. Tsunamis most commonly form during subduction zone earthquakes as

Summary Points to provide students with a list of important

in coastal zones compared to inland areas, more people are exposed to water is displaced by movement of the seafloor. When a tsunami reaches
coastal erosion and hazards such as hurricanes and tsunamis. shallow water, the tremendous wave energy CHAPTER
translates 4into Earth’s
tall wavesStructure
that and Plate Tectonics 119
2. Ocean tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun on break far beyond the normal surf zone, causing death and destruction
Earth’s oceans, whereas ocean currents move in response to winds, differ- along developed coastlines.

concepts that should be reviewed in preparation for exams. ences in water density, and wave action along coastlines.
SUMMARY POINTS
3. Wave energy travels horizontally and causes water molecules to move
vertically in circular paths. As a wave enters shallow water, the moving
8. Rip currents pose a serious risk to swimmers as water from the surf
funnels back out to sea through breaks in shallow sand bars. People are
unable to swim back to shore against the strong currents, but can get out
water molecules begin to drag on the bottom, causing the wave to deceler- of the current by swimming parallel to shore.
1. Rocks deform elastically when they are subjected9.toThe
ate. This causes the wave to increase in height and to become more asym-
tension, compres- 6. The rising and sinking motion of convection cells explains how Earth obtained
interaction between waves and a landmass can cause a shoreline to
sion,over
metric, eventually falling or to
shear
formforces.
a breakingIf they
wave.deform beyond their elastic limit,retreat
naturally landward. The slowits
they either layered of
migration structure and can
a shoreline the also
movement of lithospheric plates. Spreading cen-
4. When waves crash onto failshore
by fracturing (i.e., isare
at an angle, water brittle)
pushed or flow
parallel plastically (i.e.,
to shore occurare there is a global rise inters
ductile).
when seadevelop
level or along
when rising
the land parts
itselfof convection cells, whereas subduction zones
in a longshore current. Grainsincreasing
2. With of sand in thedepth,
surf zonerocksmove inare
a zigzagging
exposed to greater becomes lower
levels ofdue to subsidence. Accelerated
tem- correspond shoreline
to areasretreat
where is occur-
cells descend down into the mantle.
pattern in the directionperature
of the longshore current in the process of beach drift. ring in many areas due to human 7.activity, increasing the hazards associ-

∙ Key Words. The study of geologic processes can be daunting

and pressure, making them more ductile and prone to plastic Seafloor and seismic studies have confirmed that new oceanic crust forms
5. Irregular shorelines with more isolated beaches are commonly found in tec- ated with ocean storms.
deformation.
tonically active areas and in places where sea level is rising relative to the land
at mid-oceanic ridges and is eventually destroyed along subduction zones
10. Humans attempt to protect their property and reduce shoreline retreat
Earth’s internal
3. deposition
surface. Erosion and from wavestructure
action slowly is causes
known through
shorelines to the study through
of howengineering
earthquake techniques such to form continental
as seawalls, groins, and crust. This explains why ocean crust is younger than
beach nour-

due to the proliferation of unfamiliar terms. Each chapter

(seismic)
evolve into ones with longer waves
and wider refract
beaches. At the and reflect
same at boundaries between
time, weathering ishment.materials with
Jetties are continental
used to keep navigational crust.
channels free of sediment,
different
and erosion of the landscape tend properties.
to produce moreThe planetterrain.
low-lying has a layered structure andconsisting
breakwatersofprovide 8. The
the quiet areas three basic
by keeping waves types of plate boundaries are defined by the dominant
from impacting
6. Hurricanes are a serious coastal
crust, hazard
mantle, as they
outer core,generate powerful
and inner winds,
core. on the
Density of these shoreline.
layers Some of these techniques
increases forcesresult
that inexist
beach starvation
along and
boundaries: divergent (tension), convergent (com-
storm surge, and heavy rains. Satellite early warning systems have greatly accelerated retreat in down-drift areas.

includes a list of important terms with page references, so that

going downward, reflecting an increase in iron content. pression), and transform (shear).
4. Oceanic crust is relatively thin and composed of basalt, whereas conti- 9. Major surface features develop along plate boundaries and include ocean
nental crust is thicker and composed of granitic rock. The crust and upper ridges, ocean trenches, rift valleys, island arcs, volcanic arcs, and complex

terms can be viewed within the context of their use. Complete

mantle act as a single rigid layer and together are called the lithosphere. mountain belts. The majority of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions also
The lithosphere is broken up into rigid plates that move over the weak, occur along plate boundaries.
semimolten layer called the asthenosphere. 10. In addition to geologic processes, plate tectonics plays a central role in the

definitions are also provided in the Glossary at the back of the text.
5. Decay of radioactive elements within the Earth generates heat and helps
create a large temperature difference between the core and the crust. This
sets in motion large convection cells that transport both heat and plastic
rei22967_ch09_260-293.indd 292
mantle material toward the surface.
Earth system by affecting the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.
For humans, plate tectonics is important because it creates hazards (earth-
quakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides), regulates our climate, distributes
natural resources, and was important in the development of life.
08/20/16 09:23 AM

KEY WORDS
asthenosphere 97 elastic limit 95 mid-oceanic ridges 101 tectonic plates 98
compression 95 fault 96 ocean trenches 101 tension 95
continental arc 112 geothermal gradient 99 outer core 97 theory of plate tectonics 94
convection cells 99 inner core 97 rift valley 109 transform boundary 106
convergent boundary 106 island arc 111 seafloor spreading 102
crust 98 lithosphere 98 shear 95
divergent boundary 106 mantle 97 subduction 103

APPLICATIONS
Student Activity Go to the website of a major news organization, such as the New York Times, theWall Street Journal, or the
BBC, and make a list of all the stories you can find that are in some way related to plate tectonics. Then,
briefly state how the topic relates to plate tectonics. For example, earthquakes and volcanoes are easy to
relate, but if you think about it, mineral, energy, and water resources and even climate change can be linked
to plate tectonics.

Critical Thinking Questions
1. Rocks that are brittle will deform by fracturing when they exceed their elastic limit, but if they become
ductile, they will deform by flowing plastically. Can you think of an everyday material that can go
from being brittle to being ductile, and thus go from fracturing to flowing plastically when deformed?
2. Large-scale convection cells develop in the mantle due to differences in density caused by Earth’s
internal heat. Can you think of an example of density-driven convection circulation that takes place in
Earth’s surface environment?
3. Some disaster movies have shown lava erupting in downtown Los Angeles, California. Given the fact that
Los Angeles is situated along a transform plate boundary, is a volcanic eruption there very likely? Explain.

Your Environment: YOU Decide In this Chapter you learned how the theory of plate tectonics was finally developed in the 1960s, based on
data gathered from numerous geologic studies over many years. These data include maps of the seafloor,
magnetic studies, earthquake locations, and similar rock and fossil sequences on the continents.
Describe the piece of evidence you found to be most convincing in showing that tectonic plates are indeed
moving on top of the asthenosphere. Be sure to explain why.

Amante, C. and B. W. Eakins, ETOPO1 1 Arc-Minute Global Relief Model: Procedures, Data Sources and Analysis,
National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce, Boulder, CO, August 2008.

rei22967_ch04_092-119.indd 119 08/20/16 09:26 AM

 First Pages Preface xv

∙ Applications. At the end of each chapter, sections called Student Activity and Critical Thinking Questions and Your Environment: YOU
CHAPTER 10 Soil Resources 329

Decide encourage students to think about how their own lifestyles may be playing a role in environmental issues. For example, in Chapter 12
KEY WORDS

(“Mineral and Rock Resources”) they are asked to think about the social implications of buying a diamond that comes from a part of the
compressibility 310
essential nutrients 314
parent material 302
permafrost 327
soil 297
soil erosion 317

world where illegal proceeds support violent uprisings and civil war. In Chapter 15 (“Pollution and Waste Disposal”) students are asked to
expanding clays 311 permeability 309 soil fertility 314
fertilizers 315 plasticity 310 soil horizons 299
hardpan 326 porosity 308 First Pages
soil loss 318

contact their local government to determine the location of the landfill where their trash is being sent. They are then asked to investigate
ion exchange 313
paleosol 305
salinization 326
sensitivity 310
strength 310
swelling clays 311

whether the landfill has any reported pollution problems, and if so, to describe
556
what impacts the landfill might be having on local residents. PART FOUR The Health of Our Environment

APPLICATIONS KEY WORDS ∙ Laboratory Manual. Twelve comprehensive laboratory exercises are
Student Activity albedo 526
Find a spot in a wooded area with lots of trees where you can dig a small hole. Using a shovel, preferably
cap-and-trade
one with a flat blade (not curved and pointed), carefully dig a 2-by-2-foot pit with vertical sides about 2 system 554
available on the text website. These include a list of materials needed,
climate threshold 537
El Niño 530
Milankovitch cycles 524
ocean acidification 549

questions for students to complete, and corresponding answer keys on the

Critical Thinking Questions
Your Environment: YOU Decide
feet deep. Describe what happens to the layer of leaves or pine needles as you get deeper. How thick is the capture and storage 554
carbon general circulation models (GCMs) 532 paleoclimatology 533
underlying topsoil? How do you think the overlying organic material actually gets into the topsoil? When it
carbon cycle 527
rains, what percentage of the water do you think is going to move as overland flow compared to infiltrating? glacial surge 544 stabilization triangle 552
carbon sequestration 527 global warming 518 thermohaline circulation 529
instructor resource website.
Now, imagine that the trees are all cut down and the land becomes an open farm field. How much rainwater
do you think will now move as overland flow compared to infiltrating? How will the change in land covercarbon tax 553 greenhouse effect 522 weather 520
affect the topsoil? When finished, be sure to fill the hole back in and cover it with leaves.
climate 520 heat balance 522
climate feedbacks
1. Climate is one of the five soil-forming factors. All other things being equal, what differences would 525 La Niña 530
you expect to see in a soil that forms in a very humid climate compared to one that forms in a drier,
semiarid climate?
2. How does aluminum ore, called bauxite, become concentrated in tropical soils? Does infiltrating water
carry aluminum deeper into soil, or is it simply left behind? Explain.
3. To grow properly, plants need to extract certain elements, called nutrients, from the soil. Nitrogen-
based nutrients ultimately come from nitrogen gas (N2) that is in the atmosphere. However, nutrients
APPLICATIONS
such as calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) are derived from the soil itself. Where exactly do these
types of nutrients come from, and how do they become available to plants? Student Activity Scientists have predicted that there will be undesirable consequences associated with climate change. Make
a list of those most likely to affect your community. Has anything happened recently in the local news that is
In this chapter you learned that excessive soil erosion leads to soil loss and sediment pollution. Soil loss is
a problem because it affects our ability to increase food production, whereas sediment pollution fills stream
consistent with the predicted changes? Include these events in your list. Are any local efforts being made to
channels with sediment, which results in more severe and frequent flooding and destroys the natural ecol- mitigate the effects of climate change? If so, add those to your list also. Describe the actions you personally
ogy of streams. could take to limit your contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

Clearly, everyone in society must ultimately bear the consequences of excessive soil erosion, namely higher
food prices, greater insurance premiums for flooding, and loss of recreational fishing. Most farmers are
Critical Thinking Questions
already making a serious effort to reduce soil erosion because it affects their livelihoods. However, other
than existing federal regulations, development and construction companies have little incentive to prevent
sediment pollution. Explain whether these companies should be required to install temporary silt fences
or the regulations should be abolished in order to make their businesses more profitable, and hence more
likely to grow.
© Glow Images
1. Solar energy is the primary energy source that drives Earth’s climate system and the hydrologic
cycle. Why then do scientists believe that changes in solar output are not responsible for the current
global warming trend?
2. Carbon dioxide makes up only about 0.04% of the gases in Earth’s atmosphere. How does it play such
a large role in global warming?
3. Along with atmospheric temperatures, carbon dioxide and methane concentrations have fluctuated
during glacial cycles over the past 3 million years. Why then are scientists concerned about the release
of these gases by human activity?

Your Environment: YOU Decide Explain whether or not you think it is urgent for the world to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Should
the emission reduction targets be binding or voluntary? Would you be willing to pay more for electricity
that is made by non-carbon-based energy sources? Explain?

rei22967_ch10_294-329.indd 329 08/20/16 09:37 AM

© James Jordan Photography/Getty Images

Organization
In most environmental geology courses the list of topics includes some combination of geologic hazards and resources along with waste disposal
and pollution. Consequently, this book is conveniently organized so instructors can pick and choose the chapters that coincide with their particular rei22967_ch16_516-556.indd 556 09/09/16 07:32 PM

course objectives. The chapters are organized as follows:

Part One Fundamentals of Environmental Geology Part Three Earth Resources
Chapter 1 Humans and the Geologic Environment Chapter 10 Soil Resources
Chapter 2 Earth from a Larger Perspective Chapter 11 Water Resources
Chapter 3 Earth Materials Chapter 12 Mineral and Rock Resources
Chapter 4 Earth’s Structure and Plate Tectonics Chapter 13 Conventional Fossil Fuel Resources
Chapter 14 Alternative Energy Resources
Part Two Hazardous Earth Processes
Chapter 5 Earthquakes and Related Hazards Part Four The Health of Our Environment
Chapter 6 Volcanoes and Related Hazards Chapter 15 Pollution and Waste Disposal
Chapter 7 Mass Wasting and Related Hazards Chapter 16 Global Climate Change
Chapter 8 Streams and Flooding
Chapter 9 Coastal Hazards
“I found the chapter [16] to overall be very well written, very interesting, and
logically organized. I am especially impressed by the thorough summary the
author provides on the Earth’s climate system.”
—John C. White, Eastern Kentucky University
 Required=Results
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xviii Preface
Acknowledgments
The third edition of Environmental Geology allowed me to improve
upon the outstanding features of the original text. This required the
help of many different people. In particular, I would like to thank
the McGraw-Hill team that worked on this project, including Jodi
Rhomberg (Senior Product Developer), Sherry Kane (Content Project
Manager), Matt Backhaus (designer), Lori Hancock (Lead Content
Licensing Specialist), Noah Evans (Associate Marketing Manager),
Michael Ivanov Ph.D. (Brand Manager) and Thomas Timp (Manag-
ing Director). In addition to the publishing team, a special thanks goes
to my wife, Linda. The demands placed on me by publishing dead-
lines, teaching schedules, and research commitments were at times
overwhelming. Linda not only took on nearly all of the family respon-
sibilities, giving me the time I needed, but her unwavering support
and encouragement helped me get through it all. I can never thank
her enough.
I would also like to thank the many individuals, companies, and
government agencies who generously supplied the noncommercial
photos. In many cases, this involved people taking time from their busy
schedules to search photo archives and retrieve the high-resolution
photos that I wanted to use. Because far too many people contributed
to this effort for me to acknowledge here, their contributions are listed
in the photo credits within the book. However, I do want to recognize
the following individuals for producing special photos and graphics for
this textbook:
James Bunn National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Eleanor Camann Red Rocks Community College
Chris Daly Oregon State University
Carolyn Donlin U.S. Geological Survey
Lundy Gammon IntraSearch
Robert Gilliom U.S. Geological Survey
Bob Larson University of Illinois
Jake Crouch National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Naomi Nakagaki U.S. Geological Survey
Matt Sares Colorado Geological Survey
Christie St. Clair U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Cindy Starr National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Jeremy Weiss University of Arizona
I would also like to acknowledge different government agencies
for supporting programs that address important environmental issues
around the globe. This textbook made use of publically available
reports, data, and photographs from the following agencies:
Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization
Environment Canada
Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),
U.S. Government
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
U.S. Department of Commerce
Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Energy
United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior
United States Geological Survey, Department of the Interior
I would also like to thank Trent McDowell, who wrote and
reviewed learning goal oriented content for LearnSmart.
Finally, I would like to thank all those who reviewed various parts
of the manuscript during the course of this project. Their insightful
comments, suggestions, and criticisms were of immense value.
Lewis Abrams University of North Carolina–Wilmington
Christine N. Aide Southeast Missouri State University
Michael T. Aide Southeast Missouri State University
Erin P. Argyilan Indiana University Northwest
Richard W. Aurisano Wharton County Junior College
Dirk Baron California State University—Bakersfield
Jessica Barone Monroe Community College
Mark Baskaran Wayne State University
Robert E. Behling West Virginia University
Prajukti Bhattacharyya University of Wisconsin–Whitewater
Thomas Boving University of Rhode Island
David A. Braaten University of Kansas
Eric C. Brevik Dickinson State University
Charles Brown George Washington University
Patrick Burkhart Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Ernest H. Carlson Kent State University
James R. Carr University of Nevada–Reno
Patricia H. Cashman University of Nevada–Reno
Elizabeth Catlos Oklahoma State University
Robert Cicerone Bridgewater State College
Gary Cwick Southeast Missouri State University
Katherine Folk Clancy University of Maryland
Jim Constantopoulos Eastern New Mexico University
Geoffrey W. Cook University of Rhode Island
Heather M. Cook University of Rhode Island
Raymond Coveney University of Missouri–Kansas City
Ellen A. Cowan Appalachian State University
Anna M. Cruse Oklahoma State University
Gary J. Cwick Southeast Missouri State University
George E. Davis California State University–Northridge
Hailang Dong Miami University of Ohio
Yoram Eckstein Kent State University
Dori J. Farthing SUNY–Geneseo
Larry A. Fegel Grand Valley State University
James R. Fleming Colby College
Christine A. M. France University of Maryland–College Park
Tony Foyle Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Alan Fryar University of Kentucky
Heather L. Gallacher Cleveland State University
Alexander E. Gates Rutgers University–Newark
David H. Griffing Hartwick College
John R. Griffin University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Syed E. Hasan University of Missouri–Kansas City
Chad Heinzel Minot State University
Donald L. Hoff Valley City State University
Brad Johnson Davidson College
Neil E. Johnson Appalachian State University
Steven Kadel Glendale Community College
Chris R. Kelson University of Georgia
John Keyantash California State University–Dominguez Hills

Karin Kirk Carleton College
Christopher Kofp Mansfield University
Gerald H. Krockover Purdue University
Glenn C. Kroeger Trinity University
Michael A. Krol Bridgewater State College
Jennifer Latimer Indiana State University
Liliana Lefticariu Southern Illinois University
Adrianne A. Leinbach Wake Technical Community College
Gene W. Lené St. Mary’s University of San Antonio
Nathaniel Lorentz California State University–Northridge
James B. Maynard University of Cincinnati
Richard V. McGehee Austin Community College
Gretchen L. Miller Wake Technical Community College
Barry E. Muller ERG Consult, LLC
Klaus Neumann Ball State University
Barry E. Muller ERG Consult, LLC
Suzanne O’Brien Stonehill College
Duke Ophori Montclair State University
David L. Ozsvath University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point
Evangelos K. Paleologos University of South Carolina–Columbia
Alyson Ponomarenko San Diego City College
Libby Prueher University of Northern Colorado
Preface xix
Fredrick J. Rich Georgia Southern University
Paul Robbins University of Arizona
Michael Roden University of Georgia
Lee D. Slater Rutgers University–Newark
Edgar W. Spencer Washington and Lee University
Michelle Stoklosa Boise State University
Eric C. Straffin Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Christiane Stidham Stony Brook University
Benjamin Surpless Trinity University
Sam Swanson University of Georgia
Gina Seegers Szablewski University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
James V. Taranik University of Nevada–Reno
J. Robert Thompson Glendale Community College
Jody Tinsley Clemson University
Daniel L. Vaughn Southern Illinois University
Adil M. Wadia University of Akron, Wayne College
Miriam Weber California State University–Monterey Bay
David B. Wenner University of Georgia
John C. White Eastern Kentucky University
David Wilkins Boise State University
Ken Windom Iowa State University
xx PART ONE Fundamentals of Environmental Geology
Meet the Author
James Reichard James Reichard is a Professor in the Depart-
ment of Geology and Geography at Georgia Southern University. He
obtained his Ph.D. in Geology (1995) from Purdue University, special-
izing in hydrogeology, and his M.S. (1984) and B.S. (1981) degrees
from the University of Toledo, where he focused on structural and
petroleum geology. Prior to earning his Ph.D., he worked as an envi-
ronmental consultant in Cleveland, Ohio, and as a photogeologist in
Denver, Colorado.
James (Jim) grew up in the flat glacial terrain of northwestern
Ohio. Each summer, he went on an extended road trip with his fam-
ily and traveled the American West. It was during this time that Jim
was exposed to a variety of scenic landscapes. Although he had no idea
how the landscapes formed, he was fascinated nonetheless. It was not
until college, when Jim had to satisfy a science requirement, that he
finally came across the field of geology. Here, he discovered a science
that could explain how different landscapes actually form. From that
© Jim Reichard
moment on, he was hooked on geology. This eventually led Jim to a
graduate degree in geology, after which he was able to fulfill his dream
of living and working in Colorado. Then, due to one of life’s many
unexpected opportunities, he accepted a position with an environmental
firm back in Ohio. This ultimately led to a Ph.D. from Purdue and a fac-
ulty position at Georgia Southern University, where he currently enjoys
teaching and doing research in environmental geology and hydrogeol-
ogy. His personal interests include hiking, camping, and sightseeing.
It is through this textbook that Professor Reichard hopes to excite
students about how geology shapes the environment in which we live,
similar to the way he became excited about geology in his youth. To
help meet this goal, he has tried to write this book with the student’s
perspective in mind in order keep it more interesting and relevant.
Hopefully, students who read the text will begin to share some of Pro-
fessor Reichard’s fascination with how geology plays an integral role
in our everyday lives.
Crater Lake National Park, Oregon.
 PART ONE Fundamentals of Environmental Geology

Chapter

US Dept of Agriculture, National Resources Conservation Service, Lynn Betts

2
 Humans and the
Geologic Environment
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Introduction
What Is Geology?
Scientific Inquiry
How Science Operates
Science and Society
Environmental Geology
Environmental Problems and Time Scales
Geologic Time
Environmental Risk and Human Reaction
Earth as a System
The Earth and Human Population
Population Growth
Limits to Growth
Sustainability
Ecological Footprint
Environmentalism

Aerial photo showing extensive urban sprawl in the desert environment
of Las Vegas, Nevada. Modern humans have been able to thrive in
such harsh environments because of our ability to generate electrical
power to run air conditioners and to bring in water from reservoirs and
underground aquifers. However, population growth is threatening to
outstrip Earth’s ability to provide the resources needed to sustain our
population. Humans therefore must find a way to stabilize population
growth and limit our consumption of resources.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
⊲ Describe the major focus of the discipline called
environmental geology.
⊲ Characterize how scientists develop hypotheses and
theories as a means of understanding the natural
world.
⊲ Describe the concept of geologic time and how the
geologic time scale was constructed.
⊲ Explain how geologic time and the rate at which
natural processes operate affect how humans respond
to environmental issues.
⊲ Describe how Earth operates as a system and why
humans are an integral part of the system.
⊲ Explain the concept of exponential population growth
and how it relates to geologic hazards and resource
depletion.
⊲ Define the concept of sustainability in terms of the
living standard of developed nations and also in terms
of the human impact on the biosphere.

3
4 PART ONE Fundamentals of Environmental Geology

Introduction Earth is unique among the other planets in the solar system in that it
has an environment where life has been able to thrive, evolving over billions of
years from single-cell bacteria to complex plants and animals. There have been
three critical factors that have led to the diversity of life we see today. One is
that Earth’s surface temperatures are in the range where water can exist in both
the liquid and vapor states. The second is that our planet was able to retain its
atmosphere, which in turn allows the water to move between the liquid and vapor
states in a cyclic manner. Last, Earth has a natural mechanism for removing
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, namely, the formation of carbonate rocks
(e.g., limestone). This has prevented a buildup of carbon dioxide and a runaway
greenhouse effect, similar to what happened on Venus, where surface tempera-
tures today exceed 800°F (425°C). With respect to humans (Homo sapiens),
our most direct ancestors have been part of Earth’s biosphere for only the past
200,000 years, whereas other hominid species go back as far as 6 to 7 million
© StockTrek/Getty Images years. Compared to Earth’s 4.6-billion-year history, humans have existed for a
very brief period of time. However, rapid population growth combined with the
Industrial Revolution has resulted in profound changes in Earth’s surface environ-
ment. The focus of this textbook will be on the interaction between humans and
Earth’s geologic environment. We will pay particular attention to how people use
resources such as soils, minerals, and fossil fuels and how we interact with natural
processes, including floods, earthquakes, landslides, and so forth.
One of the key reasons humans have been able to thrive is our ability to
understand and modify the environment in which we live. For example, consider
that for most of history people lived directly off the land. To survive they had
to be keenly aware of the environment in order to find food, water, and shelter.
This forced some people to travel with migrating herds of wild animals, who
in turn were following seasonal changes in their own food and water supplies.
Eventually we learned to clear the land and grow crops in organized settlements.
As they practiced agriculture, humans became skilled at recognizing those parts
of the landscape with the most productive soils. The best soils, however, were
commonly found in low-lying areas along rivers and periodically inundated by
floodwaters. To reduce the risk of floods, people learned to seek out farmland
on higher ground and place their homes even higher, thereby avoiding all but
the most extreme floods. In addition to reducing the risk of floods and other nat-
ural hazards, we learned how to take advantage of Earth’s mineral and energy
resources. This led directly to the Industrial Revolution and the modern consumer
societies of today.
Although humans have benefited greatly by modifying the environment and
using Earth’s resources, this activity has also resulted in unintended and undesir-
able consequences. For example, in order to grow crops and build cities it was
necessary to remove forests and grasslands that once covered the natural land-
scape. This reduced the land’s ability to absorb water, thereby increasing the fre-
quency and severity of floods. Also, the use of mineral and energy resources by
modern societies creates waste by-products that can poison our streams and foul
the air we breathe. The prolific use of fossil fuels is even altering the planet’s
climate system and contributing to the problem of global warming. It has become
abundantly clear that the human race is an integral part of the Earth system and
that our actions affect the very environment upon which we depend.
While the link between environmental degradation and human activity may
be clear to scientists, it is not always so obvious to large segments of the popu-
lation. A well-established concept with respect to environmental degradation is
known as the tragedy of the commons, which is where the self-interest of indi-
viduals results in the destruction of a common or shared resource. A common
resource includes such things as a river used for water supply, wood in a for-
est, grassland for grazing animals, and fish in the sea. Consider a coastal village
whose primary source of food is the local fishing grounds offshore. This resource
 CHAPTER 1 Humans and the Geologic Environment  5

is renewable as long as the fish are not harvested at a faster rate than they can
reproduce; hence, everyone in the village benefits. However, if the village grows
too large, the increased demand can make the fishing unsustainable. As the fish
become scarcer, the competition for the remaining fish gets more intense as the
individual fisherman try to feed their families. The fisherman’s self-interest cre-
ates a downward spiral where all members of society ultimately suffer as the fish-
ery becomes so depleted that it collapses and is unable to recover.
Another phenomenon that can contribute to environmental degradation is
when citizens in consumer societies become disconnected from the natural envi-
ronment. An example is the United States, where many people now live and
work in climate-controlled buildings and get their food from grocery stores as
opposed to growing their own (Figure 1.1). People then tend to lose their sense
of being connected with the natural world, despite the fact they remain dependent
upon the environment as were our ancient ancestors. As with the tragedy of the
commons, a lack of environmental awareness can lead to serious problems and
hardships for society.

FIGURE 1.1 In modern consumer societies few

people live directly off the land, but instead buy most
of their food in stores. This trend has led to a greater
disconnection between people and the natural
environment upon which they still depend.
(Left) © Glowimages/Punchstock; (Right) © The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc./Andrew Resek, photographer
6 PART ONE Fundamentals of Environmental Geology
A B
FIGURE 1.2 Rock and mineral deposits (A) provide the raw materials used for building (B) and operating our modern societies. The geologic
resources known as fossil fuels provide the bulk of the energy used for powering (C) the industrial, transportation, and residential sectors of society.
(a) © Dr. Parvinder Sethi; (b) © Skip Nall/Getty Images; (c) © PhotoLink/Getty Images
A and the like. Because geologists study how minerals form, mining companies hire
B geology, whereby geologic information is used to address problems arising
FIGURE 1.3 In addition to locating resources, geologists
study hazardous earth processes and use this knowledge to help
society avoid or minimize the loss of life and property damage.
Photo (A) shows a building that was destroyed during the 1995
earthquake in Kobe, Japan, and (B) shows the results of an
earthquake-induced landslide in Las Colinas, El Salvador, in 2001.
(a) Roger Hutchinson/NOAA; (b) USGS
C
What Is Geology?
The science of geology is the study of the solid earth, which includes the
materials that make up the planet and the various processes that shape it. Many
students who are unfamiliar with geology tend to think it is just a study of rocks,
and therefore must not be very interesting. However, this perception commonly
changes once students realize how intertwined their own lives are with the
geologic environment. For example, the success of our high-tech society is directly
tied to certain minerals whose physical properties are used to perform vital tasks.
Perhaps the most important are minerals containing the element copper, a metal
whose ability to conduct electricity is absolutely essential to our modern way of
life. Imagine doing without electric lights, refrigerators, televisions, cell phones,
geologists to look for places where valuable minerals have become concentrated
(Figure 1.2). Equally important is the ability of geologists to locate deposits of
oil, gas, and coal, as these serve as society’s primary source of energy. Geologists
also provide valuable information as to how society can minimize the risk from
hazardous Earth processes such as floods, landslides, earthquakes, and volcanic
eruptions (Figure 1.3).
Geology has traditionally been divided into two main subdisciplines: physi-
cal geology and historical geology. Physical geology involves the study of
the solid earth and the processes that shape and modify the planet, whereas
historical geology interprets Earth’s past by unraveling the information held in
rocks. The most important geologic tool in both disciplines is Earth’s 4-billion-
year-old collection of rocks known as the geologic rock record. This vast record
contains a wealth of information on topics ranging from the evolution of life-forms
to the rise and fall of mountain ranges to changes in climate and sea level. Over
the past 30 years or so a new subdiscipline has emerged called environmental
from the interaction between humans and the geologic environment. Environ-
mental geology is becoming increasingly important as population continues to
expand, which in turn is leading to widespread pollution and shortages of certain
resources, particularly water and energy. Population growth has also resulted in
greater numbers of people living in areas where floods, earthquakes, volcanic
eruptions, and landslides pose a serious risk to life and property.
 CHAPTER 1 Humans and the Geologic Environment  7

The first step in solving our environmental problems is to understand the way
in which various Earth processes operate and how humans interact with these
processes. Once this interaction is understood, appropriate action can be taken
to reduce or minimize the problems. The most effective way of accomplishing
this is through science, which is the methodical approach developed by humans
for learning about the natural world. Because science is critical to addressing our
environmental problems, we will begin by taking a brief look at how science
operates.

Scientific Inquiry
By our very nature, humans are curious about our surroundings. This natural curi-
osity has ultimately led to the development of a systematic and logical process
that tries to explain how the physical world operates. We call this process science,
which comes from the Latin word scientia, meaning “knowledge.” Over the past
several thousand years the human race has accumulated a staggering amount of
scientific knowledge. Although we now understand certain aspects of the natu-
ral world in great detail, there is still a lot we do not understand. Throughout
this period of discovery the public has generally remained fascinated with what
scientists have learned about the physical world. Evidence for this fascination is
the continued popularity of science programs currently available on television. It
seems rather odd then that one of the common complaints in science courses is
that nonscience majors find the subject boring. This raises the question of what is
it about science courses that tends to cause students to lose their natural interest
in science?
One reason, perhaps, for the loss of interest is that students are often required
to memorize trivial facts and terminology. The problem is compounded when it
is not made clear how this information is relevant to our own lives. Focusing on
just the facts is unfortunate because it is the explanation of the facts that makes
science interesting, not necessarily the facts themselves. Take, for example, the
fact that coal is found on the continent of Antarctica, which sits directly over the
South Pole (Figure 1.4). Because coal forms only in swamps where vegetation
and liquid water are abundant, we can logically conclude that Antarctica at one
time must have been relatively ice-free. This means that either the climate was
much warmer in the past, or Antarctica was once located much closer to the equa-
tor. This leads us to ask the obvious: What could have caused the global climate
to change so dramatically? Conversely, how could this giant landmass actually
move to its present position? To answer these questions scientists must gather
additional data (i.e., facts). This data will likely result in even more questions that
need to be answered.
Science therefore can be thought of as a method by which people use data to
discover how the natural world operates. Unlocking the secrets of nature is truly
exciting, which is why most scientists love what they do. Anyone who has found
a fossil or an old coin, for example, can relate to the thrill of discovery. A key
point here is that nearly everyone practices science each and every day. When
we observe dark clouds moving toward us we process this information (i.e., data)
along with past observations, and logically conclude that a storm is approaching
and that it is wise to seek shelter. A fisherman who keeps changing lures until FIGURE 1.4 The basic goal of science is to use facts
he or she finds one that attracts a certain type of fish is also practicing science. or data to explain different aspects of our natural world.
Because science is fundamental to the topics discussed in this textbook, we will For example, the coal beds shown here in Antarctica are
explore the actual process in more detail in the next section. a scientific fact. It’s also a fact that coal forms only in lush
swamps, which means Antarctica must have been ice-free
at some point in the geologic past. The best explanation for
How Science Operates this is that Earth’s climate was much warmer in the past, or
that Antarctica was once much closer to the equator.
Modern scientific studies of the physical world are based on the premise that the Dr. Barrie McKelvey and N.C.N. Stephenson, Dept of Geophysics,
entire universe, not just planet Earth, behaves in a consistent and often predictable University of New England
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 CHAPTER XI

AFTER THE EXPULSION

Twelve thousand of Spanish fugitives sought shelter in Navarre,

where, after a few years’ peace, they were again confronted with the
alternatives of baptism or banishment. Most of them, worn out with
distress and disappointment, adopted Christianity, and some of
these converts returned to Spain.
Eighty thousand of the exiles crossed into Portugal and
purchased permission to tarry in that kingdom for eight months,
preparatory to their departure for Africa. King John II. even connived
at the permanent settlement of some of them in the country. But the
King’s tolerance was not shared by his subjects. John
1481
had already been beset with complaints of Jewish
cavaliers being suffered to parade the streets mounted on richly
caparisoned horses and mules, arrayed in fine cloaks and velvet
doublets, and dangling gilt swords at their sides. Under his
successor popular hatred obtained the satisfaction which had
hitherto been denied to it. King Emanuel, a liberal but deeply
enamoured prince, was forced to yield to the wishes of his
superstitious betrothed,—the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella,—
who made the banishment of the Jews a condition of her acceptance
of his suit; and he ordered the hapless people to quit his dominions.
But, as though the measure of Israel’s woes were not
1495
yet full, the same King, yielding again to the pressure
of love, caused all Jewish children of fourteen years of age and
under to be torn from their parents in order to be kept in Portugal,
and be reared in the Catholic faith. The scenes of agony which
followed this diabolical edict would be revolting beyond endurance,
but for their occurrence directly after the autos-da-fé. Many Jewish
mothers, mad with grief and despair, slew their darlings with their
own hands and then destroyed themselves. A contemporary writer
concludes his description of these ghastly events with the
characteristic comment: “It was a great mistake in King Emanuel to
think of converting to Christianity any Jew old enough to pronounce
the name of Moses.” In the writer’s opinion the age limit ought to
have been three years.
Many Jews, afraid to face the perils of the unknown, shielded
themselves from the storm under the cloak of conversion, and either
remained in Portugal or returned to Spain to join the pseudo-
converts left there, and for ages after supplied the hounds of the
Inquisition with a healthy occupation. The State, of course, aided the
Church in her lethal work; for dissent in religion is close akin to
dissent in politics, and domestic discord is incompatible with
vigorous expansion abroad.
1498 Meanwhile Torquemada’s successor, Deza,
surpassed the great Inquisitor in ferocity and energy.
One of his confederates, called Lucero, was nicknamed even by his
own associates Tenebrero, on account of the darkness and cruelty of
his temper, which drove the people of Cordova to revolt. Immediately
after Cardinal Ximenes became Grand Inquisitor, and,
1506
with his predecessor’s fate before his eyes, proved
less savage. But what the Inquisition lost in height of iniquity was
amply compensated by the extension of its activity over a new field—
the vanquished Mohammedans—who were also permitted to choose
between baptism and banishment; while the Morescoes, or Moorish
converts, were treated in the same manner as the Jewish Marranos.
There were no fewer than thirty-four tracks by which the “foxes”
could be run to earth. One of these was the eating of bitter herbs and
lettuces at the time of the Passover. Every Christian was virtually a
spy and an informer, sometimes unintentionally, more often with
deliberate eagerness. Pedigrees were strictly examined, and those
found tainted with Jewish blood were cruelly persecuted, or at least
treated as social outcasts. Neither moral excellence nor even high
position in the Church, accompanied by sincere devotion, was
accepted as an expiation for the sin of birth. Detected heretics were
punished by imprisonment, by exile, by ruinous fines, and by fire.
And yet the pestilent sect, too clever to be convinced by theological
reasoning or to betray its want of conviction, survived and flourished
in secret—a vast freemasonry of passive unbelievers spreading its
crooked subterranean passages in every direction under the very
foundations of the Holy Office. Neither the penalties inflicted by the
State, nor the tortures, even more terrible, of the Church availed
against the treacherous tenacity of the eternal people. Persecution,
which goads the brave to heroism, makes hypocrites of the timid;
and these Marranos, compelled to pit their cunning against that of
the Holy Office, developed all the unlovely qualities of those who
lead a double life; who live a daily lie. They were forced to be false
either to their God or to themselves. They chose the latter course.
They aped their Christian neighbours in demeanour and dialect,
participated in religious rites and sacraments which they abhorred,
ate food which nauseated them, kissed relics which inspired them
with repugnance, and sprinkled themselves with holy water which
made them inwardly feel polluted. But the sad and sordid comedy
could not always be maintained. The voice of conscience
occasionally proved too strong even for the instinct of self-
preservation, and many a Marrano ended a miserable life by a noble
martyrdom. Again, the power of the blood, sometimes in the second
or third generation, asserted itself, and the child or the grandchild of
a convert, though he might be a priest or a monk, reverted to the
faith of his fathers.
The pseudo-converts of Portugal fared no better. In 1506 they
were massacred, and their women were dishonoured in great
numbers at Lisbon and in the open country. In the
About 1524
midst of these tribulations they heard of David
Reubeni, who had arisen in the East to fulfil the ancient prophecies,
and to bring about the ever-expected and ever-deferred liberation of
Israel. David came over to Europe, declaring himself to be the
brother of a Jewish prince reigning in Arabia, sent to solicit the
Pope’s assistance for a holy war against the Mohammedans.
Clement VII., a Pontiff too mediocre to excel in virtue or in
fanaticism, yet an adroit diplomat, received the envoy in audience,
and treated him with great distinction. David was acclaimed by the
Roman and other Jews with enthusiasm, and was finally invited by
the King of Portugal to his Court, whither he set sail in a ship flying a
Jewish flag. At Lisbon David met with a magnificent reception on the
part of the King and with frenetic applause on the part of the
Marranos, who saw in him the promised Redeemer and the future
King of Israel. But he was soon after expelled from Portugal, owing
to the relapse into Judaism of a young Marrano visionary, Diogo
Pires by name.
This “new-Christian,” excited by David’s mission, underwent
circumcision and received mysterious and wonderful messages from
heaven. He assumed the name of Solomon Molcho and fled to
Turkey, where he was welcomed with open arms by his co-
religionists at Salonica and Adrianople, communicated his
Cabbalistic hallucinations through Eastern and Central Europe,
preached the pleasures of martyrdom, visited Rome, in
1530
obedience to a divine vision, and made himself
supremely ridiculous by prophesying multifarious calamities to the
Eternal City. After an unsuccessful effort to win over the King of
Portugal and Charles V., Solomon proceeded to Venice in order to
secure the favour of that Republic, and there he narrowly escaped
the effects of a poisoned draught administered to him by a brother-
Jew. In the meantime some of his predictions, strangely enough, had
come true. Rome was sacked by the Imperial troops and devastated
by a flood, Lisbon was ruined by earthquakes, and a brilliant comet
announced the approaching end of the world. Thereupon Solomon
returned to Rome, where the Pope honoured him as a true, if
mournful, prophet. But, whilst in Rome, he had another narrow
escape—this time from the claws of the Inquisition—and was spirited
away by the friendly Pope in the dead of night, only to fall into them
next year at Mantua. There at last the poor self-
1532
deluded Messiah was accorded the crown of
martyrdom which he had so ardently coveted. He was burnt alive.
Solomon’s followers long refused to believe that he was dead;
cherishing hopes of his miraculous escape and re-appearance. But
he was dead in earnest.
 David Reubeni was denied even this last honour. The Emperor
Charles handed him over to the Spanish Holy Office, in the vaults of
which he languished for three years and was finally killed in an
obscure manner. An uncharitable and uncritical world has branded
Solomon as a fool and David as a rogue. Nothing fails like failure. If
an unsuccessful patriot is called an adventurer and an unsuccessful
financier a swindler, an unsuccessful Messiah must submit to be
stigmatised as an impostor.
Not many years afterwards the Inquisition was erected in
Portugal at the instigation of Ignatius Loyola, and at the beginning of
the seventeenth century there occurred at Lisbon an event which
supplied it with a fresh excuse for persecution. A Franciscan monk of
noble descent, Diogo by name, declared that by reading the Bible he
came to the conclusion that Judaism and not Christianity was the
true religion. Diogo was thrown into a dungeon; but, as he freely
confessed his guilt, there seemed to be no occasion for torture.
However, monks have seldom been governed by lay logic. Diogo
was put to the rack in order to betray his accomplices.
1603
After two years of torture, varied with theological
discussion, he was burnt at the stake in the presence of a large
concourse of people, including the Regent. Diogo’s example
invigorated the courage of the Portuguese crypto-Jews and caused
many to denounce Christianity openly, regardless of consequences.
Diogo’s martyrdom was celebrated by a young Jewish poet who,
however, escaped the crown which his enthusiasm deserved by
fleeing to Amsterdam. Another young Marrano poet also was
induced by Diogo’s constancy to revert to Judaism. This revival of
zeal for the old faith spurred the Holy Office to greater
strenuousness on its part. At one time one hundred and fifty
Marranos were arrested, tortured and threatened with cremation.
The multitude of victims, however, was embarrassing to the
Government. Moreover the Court lay under heavy pecuniary
obligations to the Marranos, and the latter exerted themselves by
might and money to procure the release of their brethren. They
offered to Philip III. not only a gift of the sums due to them but, in
addition, 1,200,000 cruzados (£120,000), and they also spent
150,000 cruzados among the King’s councillors in order to convince
them of the justice of their cause. Philip III. was not deaf to a plea for
mercy supported by so powerful an array of arguments, and he
induced Pope Clement VIII. to pardon the prisoners.
1604
The Inquisition was reluctantly obliged to content itself
with the semblance of an execution. The captives, clad as penitents,
were led to the auto-da-fé in Lisbon, where they publicly expressed a
hypocritical contrition for their sin and were rewarded with loss of all
civic rights.
1609 Five years later the Morescoes, or Moorish
converts, were finally expelled by Philip III., while the
Marranos endured and supplied victims for the grim altar of the Holy
Office. Granada, Cordova, Lisbon, and other cities in both Spain and
Portugal continued to be illuminated with the funereal flames of the
autos-da-fé. As late as 1652 we find a distinguished Portuguese
diplomatist of Jewish origin, Emanuel Fernando de Villa-Real, on his
return from Paris, where he acted as consul of the Portuguese Court,
seized, tortured, and burnt at the stake. Three years
1655
later fifty-seven crypto-Jews were on one day
sentenced at Cuenca; the majority to corporal punishment and loss
of property, ten to death by fire. In the same year twelve more
wretches were roasted in Granada, and in 1660 sixty Marranos at
Seville were led to the auto-da-fé, where four of them were strangled
and burnt, and three burnt alive, while the effigies of those who had
fled were solemnly cremated. Amongst the latter was the picture of
Antonio Enriquez de Gomez, the popular soldier and dramatist,
contemporary of Calderon, and author of twenty-two comedies which
earned great applause in Madrid. The original of the picture had
fortunately escaped to France, where he died five years after at the
age of sixty.
Another large contingent of Spanish emigrants repaired to the
ports of Santa Maria and Cadiz, and was conveyed by a Spanish
fleet to the Barbary coast. They landed at Ercilla, a Christian colony,
on their way to Morocco. But, long before they reached their
destination, the desert tribes attacked them, plucked them of the little
money which they had contrived to conceal on their persons before
leaving Spain, massacred many of the men, violated many of the
women; and the survivors, after untold hardships, and almost
starving, retraced their steps to Ercilla and sought repose in baptism.
Many Spanish Jews found refuge in Turkey. Bayezid II., on
hearing of their expulsion from Spain, is said to have exclaimed: “Do
they call this Ferdinand a politic prince, who thus impoverishes his
own kingdom and enriches ours?” The Turkish monarch’s speech
may be apocryphal. It sounds far too modern and occidental for a
Turk of the fifteenth century. Bayezid was probably swayed by
religious rather than by economic considerations. The Jews are
regarded by the Mohammedans as a “People of the Book,” and they
have much more in common with them than with the Christians. Both
sects believe in one only God, and reject the doctrine of the Trinity
as polytheistic; they both practise circumcision; they both indulge in
ceremonial ablutions and similar forms of external symbolism. Hence
there has always existed a certain degree of sympathy between the
followers of the Mohammedan and those of the Mosaic law. It is also
probable that the Sultan was glad to emphasise Moslem
benevolence by harbouring the victims of Christian barbarity.
But, be the Sultan’s motives what they may, his action is certain,
and highly creditable to his humanity. He welcomed the immigrants
into his dominions, where they throve as long as the Ottoman
Empire. In the golden age of the Osmanli the Jews of the Levant
eclipsed their Greek fellow-subjects in wealth and rivalled their
Turkish masters in display. All the physicians of
1566
Constantinople were Jews. A Jew became Duke of
Naxos and lord of other islands in the Aegean, while another Jew
was sent as envoy extraordinary to Venice. So great
1574
was Jewish influence over the Sultans Solyman and
Selim II. that the Christian ambassadors were compelled to disguise
their mortification, to court the favour and to solicit the mediation of
the Jews of Stamboul. Under the circumstances the light of Zion,
which had shone so bright through the clouds of adversity, was
dimmed by the glare of prosperity.
But the harmonic curve of the woes of Israel was not to be
broken. The Osmanli, who had filled Europe with the fame and the
terror of their arms a few generations before, began to decay as
soon as they ceased to conquer. An essentially nomad race, the
Turkish found a sedentary life pernicious to its vigour. The Sultans
sank into the soft dissipations of the harem, leaving women and
eunuchs to rule the Empire and Janissaries to defend it. The Jews
had reason to lament the decline of their lords. The yoke of tyranny
began to weigh heavily upon their necks. Their opulence attracted
the rapacity of the Pashas, and their impotence encouraged it.
Fanaticism followed greed, and the Jews, among other forms of
oppression to which they were subjected, were marked off from the
true believers by a black turban—a badge which may still be seen in
Turkey, as a survival of a necessity that exists no longer.
In that age of darkness and tribulation the hope of the Messiah
flamed up again. In the middle of the seventeenth century the
promised Redeemer made his appearance among the Turkish Jews
in the person of Sabbataï Zebi, born at Smyrna in 1626. Sabbataï’s
boyhood was spent in solitude and prayer; his early youth in
Cabbalistic mysticism, in self-mortification and in a self-denial all the
easier because Sabbataï was one of those happy, or unhappy,
mortals who are born blind to the temptations of the flesh and to its
joys. His strange life and even stranger ideas soon excited attention.
Some pronounced the young man mad and others inspired. He
regarded himself as the Messiah, and revealed himself as such in
the year 1648, which, mystics had foretold, was to see the first dawn
of the Redemption. The Synagogue excommunicated Sabbataï for
his presumption. But many believed in the handsome and eccentric
youth. Sabbataï’s belief in his own Messianic mission and the
devotion of his disciples were confirmed by persecution. Banished
from Smyrna, the prophet wandered to Stamboul and Salonica,
gaining adherents, and he took care that the year 1666, which had
been fixed as that of the Messianic era, should find him in
Jerusalem. That city both by virtue of its traditions and owing to the
condition of its Jewish inhabitants—impoverished by extortion and
ground down by oppression—afforded an environment eminently
favourable to miraculous display. Thence Sabbataï journeyed forth in
triumph to Aleppo, and finally returned to his native city, where his
new glory made the Synagogue forget his earlier condemnation and
disgrace. At Smyrna the enthusiasm of Sabbataï’s followers reached
the height of frenzy. The Messiah’s fame and the madness of his
disciples spread to the furthest corners of the earth—Venice,
Leghorn, Avignon, Amsterdam, London. The Rabbis of Prague and
Hamburg were suspected by the Orthodox of being secret adherents
of the Prophet of Smyrna, and excommunicated each other as
heartily as if they were Christian sectarians. In all these centres of
Judaism the Kingdom of Heaven was believed to have come, the
belief being shared by Christian Millennarians, and the Western
Jews abandoned themselves to an extravagance of excitement
scarcely compatible with elementary sanity. At Hamburg the
synagogue was converted into a theatre of corybantic exaltation,
wherein stately Spanish cavaliers and grey-bearded men of business
might be seen hopping, jumping and twirling solemnly about with the
scroll of the Law in their arms. Not less remarkable was the
behaviour of believers in the East. In Persia the Jews refused to till
their fields or to pay tribute, for, they said, the Messiah had come.
From all these quarters homage and treasure poured into the court
of Sabbataï, who now was universally hailed as King of Kings, and
signed himself, or allowed his scribes to do so, “I, the Lord, your
God, Sabbataï Zebi.”
But the Messiah’s reign was brief and his end inglorious.
Sabbataï resolved to repair to Constantinople that he might proclaim
his advent from the very capital of the East. He was not unexpected.
In the Straits of the Dardanelles Turkish officers arrested him, and
took him fettered to Stamboul. The landing-place was crowded with
a multitude of believers and others, all eager to behold the man who
had filled the world with so singular an epidemic. Among the latter
class of spectators was a pasha who welcomed the Redeemer with
a vigorous slap in the face. The treatment subsequently meted out to
poor Sabbataï was in harmony with this reception. He was thrown
into prison, and nothing but the Grand Vizier’s unwillingness to
create a new martyr saved him from death. Finally he was
summoned before the Sultan. After a short audience, the Messiah
issued forth from the Padishah’s presence a turbaned
Mohammedan, and his name was Mehmed Effendi.
 But even this catastrophe failed to break the spell which
Sabbataï’s personality had cast over the minds of men. The masses
clung to the hope which he had raised for ages after his death. Some
of his adherents, including his wife, imitated his example and
embraced Islam. The sect of these Hebrew Mohammedans, under
the name of Dunmehs, or Converts, still endures at Salonica and
other cities of the Ottoman Empire, and among them the belief
prevails that Sabbataï is not really dead. They form a body apart, knit
together by ties of consanguinity, detested by their former brethren in
the faith as a sect of apostates and suspected by their new brethren
as a sect of hypocrites.
The further decay of the Ottoman Empire, which brought
humiliation to the conquerors and kindled the desire for national
rehabilitation among their Christian subjects, however, brought
peace and commercial prosperity to the Jews. Lady
1717
Mary Wortley Montague, in her account of the policy
and the manners of the Turks in the eighteenth century, gives a
glowing description of the Jewish colony of Adrianople.
“I observed,” she says, “that most of the rich tradespeople are
Jews. That people are in incredible power in this country. They have
many privileges above all the natural Turks themselves, and have
formed a very comfortable commonwealth here, being judged by
their own laws. They have drawn the whole trade of the empire into
their hands, partly by the firm union amongst themselves, partly by
the idle temper and want of industry of the Turk. Every Bassa has his
Jew, who is his homme d’affaires; he is let into all his secrets and
does all his business. No bargain is made, no bribes received, no
merchandizes disposed of, but what passes through his hands. They
are the physicians, the stewards, and the interpreters of all the great
men. You may judge how advantageous this is to a people who
never fail to make use of the smallest advantages. They have found
the secret of making themselves so necessary that they are certain
of the protection of the Court whatever Ministry is in power. Even the
English, French, and Italian merchants, who are sensible of their
artifices, are, however, forced to trust their affairs to their negotiation,
nothing of trade being managed without them, and the meanest
among them being too important to be disobliged, since the whole
body take care of his interests with as much vigour as they would
those of the most considerable of their members. They are, many of
them, vastly rich.”
At the present moment the Jews, thanks to the profound
incompetence and sloth of the Turks, the unpopularity, disunion and
unrest of the Christian rayahs, and their own superior ability and
concord, thrive in many parts of the Sultan’s dominions, still
preserving the speech of their Spanish persecutors.
A few of the refugees from Spain found their way into France
and England, while some of those who were subsequently
persecuted in Portugal drifted to Holland. But a large number of
Spanish Jews set sail for Italy.
 CHAPTER XII

THE RENAISSANCE

While Popes and Emperors waged a fierce warfare against each

other for the heritage of the Roman Caesars, the democratic spirit of
the Italian people grew in safe obscurity, deriving fresh vitality from
the feud between those two great enemies of freedom. The
Emperor’s defeat saved Italy from political servitude, and the Pope’s
victory came too late to endanger intellectual liberty. The people who
claimed the right to act as they pleased were a fortiori ready to
vindicate their right to think what they pleased. Thus free thought,
which was stunted by the Popes of Rome in the far-off lands of the
North, flourished under the very shadow of St. Peter’s throne. It was
natural that it should be so. They who sit nearest the stage are least
liable to be duped by scenic devices. The Italians were too near the
Holy See to be impressed by its tricks or to be terrified by its
theatrical thunder. They had seen Gregory VII. as an illiterate Tuscan
lad playing in his father’s workshop, and they had known Innocent
III. as plain Signor Lothario, son of the Count of Segni. No one is a
demigod to his own parishioners.
Hence the lofty pretensions of the Popes were nowhere less
respected than in their immediate neighbourhood. The spiritual
autocrats, whose anathemas made foreign princes and peoples
tremble with superstitious terror, found many severe critics among
their own countrymen. The Italian chronicler Salimbene (1221–
1288), though himself a monk, in his vivid and varied picture of
thirteenth century life, does not hesitate to comment freely on the
greed, profligacy, gluttony, heresy and other sins of many a
contemporary pope, cardinal and bishop. Even more significant is
the attitude of the author of the Divina Commedia. There the judges
are judged, and they who doomed others to everlasting torture are
themselves consigned to a similar fate by the stern Florentine poet,
the spokesman of the Middle Ages. Celestine V., who, yielding to
base fear, abdicated St. Peter’s chair in 1294, is sentenced by Dante
to wander in hell naked, his face bedewed with blood and tears, and
beset by wasps and hornets; one of the dolorous tribe of trimmers
—“Wretches who never lived”; sinners whose very disembodied
74
shades are “both to God displeasing and to His foes.” Pope
Anastasius is condemned to an even worse plight, as a heretic.
Nicholas III. is found planted with his heels upwards, waiting to be
succeeded in that uncomfortable position by Boniface VIII., “the chief
of the new Pharisees,” who, in his turn, is to be followed by Clement
V., “the lawless pastor,” who, besides many other sins of omission
and commission, abetted Philip the Fair in the suppression of the
Templars, and with him divided the guilt, if he were defrauded of the
fruits, of the atrocious crime. To an equally sad eternity are doomed
popes and cardinals “over whom Avarice dominion absolute
maintains”; the monks of Cologne; and the “Joyous Friars” (Frati
Godenti), notorious for things worse than joyousness.
Nor did the great religious upheavals of the Middle Ages which
helped to tighten the Papal grip on the European mind produce any
injurious effects in Italy. Far otherwise. The most serious of those
movements, the Crusades, proved of signal benefit to the Italian
republics. The campaigns that drained other countries of men and
money, opened new sources of profit and power to Venice and
Genoa, Florence, Milan and Pisa; they invigorated their maritime
trade, and increased their knowledge of foreign lands. While the
kings and knights of Northern and Central Europe dreamed dreams
of military glory, of victory for the Cross, and of conquest for
themselves, the commonwealths of Italy realised the more solid, if
less splendid, boons of extensive commerce, and even more
extensive credit. When Bayezid, surnamed the Lightning, towards
the end of the fourteenth century, threatened to carry war into the
heart of holy Christendom and boasted that his horse should eat his
oats on the altar of St. Peter at Rome, it was not the Romans who
resented the impious insolence of the infidel. Nor were they moved
when the King of Hungary, Sigismund, panic-stricken, sent a bishop
and two knights with letters to King Charles VI. of France, the eldest
son of the Church, imploring him to ward off the evils that menaced
it. The Italians saw with calm unconcern the young Count de Nevers,
heir of the Duke of Burgundy, and cousin of the French monarch,
accompanied by four other princes, lead his brilliant host of knights
and squires against the “enemies of God.” It was the villeins of
Burgundy and the burgesses of Flanders who paid the expenses of
the ruinous campaign undertaken to save Rome from the Turk. And
if the honest, but credulous, Froissart is to be believed, the Italians,
so far from sympathizing with the aim of the expedition, actually
assisted the infidels by information and advice. Bayezid, on hearing
that the Christian forces had crossed the Danube, is reported by the
Chronicler to have said: “My wishes are now accomplished. It is now
four months since I heard of the expedition from my good friend the
Duke of Milan, who advised me to draw up my men with prudence.”
1396 Sept. 28 Furthermore, when the champions of the Cross
met those of the Crescent on the fatal field of
Nicopolis, and left upon it the flower of their chivalry,
the Italians were the only people who had no reason to mourn the
disaster. All useless prisoners were put to death; but the young
Count de Nevers, and a score other princes and barons of France,
were held by Bayezid to ransom. After a long and painful captivity
the survivors obtained their liberty for 200,000 florins. But, while this
immense sum and the costs of the negotiations and embassies, as
well as the means for the prisoners’ return home in a manner
befitting their high estate, were laboriously raised by extraordinary
taxes levied by the Duke of Burgundy upon all towns under his
obedience, and more especially upon those of Flanders—Ghent,
Bruges, Mechlin, and Antwerp—the merchants of Genoa showed
their enterprising genius, no less than their prosperity, by giving
prompt security to the Sultan for five times the amount stipulated.
Lastly, when the French lords, on their arrival at Venice, found
themselves hardly able to defray the expenses of their sojourn in
“one of the dearest towns in the world for strangers,” as Sir John
sensibly observes, they met with scant courtesy at the hands of the
Venetians. The King of Hungary, though the revenues of his realm
were “ruined for this and the ensuing year,” volunteered to assist the
princes by “offering for sale to the rulers of Venice the rents he
received from that town, which amounted to 7000 ducats yearly”; but
the Venetians, on hearing of the proposal, “coldly replied that they
would consider the matter,” and after a fortnight’s consideration
answered, “as I was told by one who heard it,” that “if the King of
Hungary was disposed to sell his whole kingdom, the Venetians
would willingly make the purchase, and pay the money down; but as
for such a trifle as 7000 ducats of yearly revenue, which he
possessed in the city of Venice, it was of so little value that they
could not set a price on it either to buy or sell, and that they would
not trouble themselves about so small an object.”
The narrative brings into vivid, if somewhat unpleasant,
prominence the contrast between the Italians and their neighbours
over the Alps: their wealth, their pride, their eagerness to draw profit
from other people’s enthusiasms, and their utter want of interest in
the questions which agitated so deeply the rest of mediaeval
Christendom. The sons of Italy were too much engrossed in the
affairs of this world to make any sacrifices to the next. Already
sensuous bliss was all the bliss they knew or cared for. Undistracted
by celestial chimeras, they would gladly have exchanged all the
dreams of eternity for one day’s enjoyment of earthly realities. But, if
their worldly prosperity and their practical wisdom made the Italians
selfish, they also made them tolerant. To them the prejudice of
feudalism was as unprofitable as its idealism.
The Jews reaped the fruit of Italian tolerance. By one of those
wonderful paradoxes with which history loves to surprise the student,
the people that had crucified Christ, the people that was held guilty
of the sufferings of His disciples at the hands of the Pagans, the
people that was execrated as a perpetual source of heresy, had from
the first dwelt and prospered in the very city which had witnessed the
most terrible of those sufferings, and which had early claimed to be
revered as the capital of Christendom and the Supreme Court of
orthodoxy. While their brethren in France, Germany, and England
underwent martyrdom, the Jews of Rome enjoyed comparative, if not
uninterrupted, peace. The fury of the Crusades, which stained the
waters of the Rhine and the Moselle with Hebrew blood, found no
parallel on the banks of the Tiber. The calumnies which stirred up a
tempest against the Jews in Norwich, aroused no responsive echo in
Rome. The Bulls which doomed the “accursed people” to
persecution in those distant realms remained unheeded in the very
place where they were framed and signed. The Popes, who
denounced and proscribed the “unclean and perfidious race” abroad,
with few exceptions, cherished, protected, and trusted individual
members of it at home.
1162–1165 Pope Alexander III., the great antagonist of the
German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and of Henry
II. of England, had a Jewish Minister of Finance, or treasurer of the
household, and on his return to Rome, after his voluntary exile in
France, he was met by a jubilant procession of Jewish Rabbis. The
Roman Jews were not subject to any special tax, nor was their
evidence against Christians considered invalid. Even greater was the
liberty enjoyed by the Jews of Southern Italy and Sicily, where they
chiefly abounded. The Norman Kings confirmed to them the ancient
privilege of trial according to their own laws. In Sicily,
1198–1250
under Frederick II., there were Jewish administrators
and Jewish landowners. A favourite minister of King Roger of Sicily
frequented the Jewish synagogues and contributed to the expenses
of the Jewish community. Broadly speaking, until the end of the
fifteenth century, such ill-feeling as existed towards the Jews in Italy
proceeded entirely from their own aloofness and eccentricity, and
was in no way fostered by priests or pontiffs. Nothing is more
eloquent of the general prosperity of the Italian Jews in those days
than the silence of history concerning any religious activity amongst
them.
Besides the absence of ecclesiastical fanaticism, there were
other reasons to account for the Jew’s normal immunity from
persecution in mediaeval Italy. The Italians had no cause to envy the
Jew his commercial success. In Italy the sons of Israel found keen
competitors in the native Christians. The financial genius of the
Florentine and the Venetian was more than a match for that of the
Jew. The Italians, therefore, did not exclude the Jews from their
municipal and industrial organizations, but, by making the entrance
to their Guilds less difficult for non-Christians, enabled the latter to
engage in various trades elsewhere closed to them. Nor was the
Holy See strong enough to ban usury in Italy and to fan the
superstitious antipathy towards money-lenders as it did in other
countries. Among the Italians the interests of the market counted for
more than the interests of the Church, and canonical prohibitions
were easily set at naught for the sake of convenience. Furthermore,
the division of the peninsula into a number of States politically
sundered, and often hostile to each other, but geographically
connected, enabled the Jews to seek refuge in one place from
persecution in another, and as soon as the tempest was over to
return to their homes.
For all these reasons we find the relations between Jews and
Christians in Italy more cordial than in any other part of mediaeval
Europe. The foreign origin and foreign connections of the Jew, far
from being a source of prejudice, proved an attraction to the
educated Italian. It is easy to imagine those old schoolmen, with their
alert curiosity and unquenchable thirst for knowledge—in an age
when books were rare, travel perilous, and all that was distant in
space or time a desert, dimly known or utterly unknown—eagerly
seizing at every chance of enlarging their mental horizon and of
enriching their intellectual stores. A chance of this kind offered itself
in the Jewish Rabbis, physicians, and scholars, and the Italians did
not neglect it. Friendships between learned Hebrews and Christian
75
divines were not uncommon. In the tenth century we hear of a
Jewish doctor Donnolo being on intimate terms with the Lord Abbot
Nilus. One of the fruits of such friendships was the indirect
transmission to the West of a few rays of Hellenic light long before
the dawn of the Renaissance, through translations of the Arabic
versions of the Greek classics into Hebrew, and from Hebrew into
Latin. The most illustrious of these literary connections between
followers of the new and the old Hebrew prophet was the tender
affection which, towards the end of the thirteenth century, bound
Immanuel, “the Heine of the Middle Ages,” with Dante, the poet of
old Catholicism, and the embodiment of all that was true and pure
and truly noble in mediaeval Christianity. The two friends must have
formed a pair of extraordinary incongruity. Dante, grand, stern, and
sombre, couching the gloomiest conceptions in the light and graceful
language of Italy; Immanuel, witty and caustic, venting his frolicsome
sarcasms in the solemn tongue of the Hebrew prophets. The
contrast is brought home to us with almost deliberate vividness by
the works of the two friends. They both wrote visits to the land of the
dead. Dante’s is a tragedy; Immanuel’s a satirical comedy—almost a
parody. But in one respect the Jew shows himself superior to the
Christian. His paradise includes the great shades of the pagan world.
And yet it would be an error to imagine that the Jew, even in
those halcyon days of Italian freedom, was wholly exempt from the
penalty which pursues dissent. Whatever the feelings of the cultured
and the thoughtful might be, to the populace of Italy the Jew was a
pestilent heretic. As early as 1016 we hear of a massacre of the
Jews in Rome owing to an earthquake which wrought great havoc in
the city. The calamity occurred on Good Friday, and it was
ascertained that at the time of its occurrence the Jews were
worshipping in their synagogue. A coincidence to the mediaeval
mind was tantamount to conclusive proof of cause and effect. The
Roman rabble, under the influence of panic and superstition,
wreaked a terrible vengeance on the supposed authors of the
misfortune, and Pope Benedict VIII. sanctioned a crime which he
was probably unable to prevent. Innocent III. proved his consistency
by oppressing the “enemies of Christ” in Italy as scrupulously as
elsewhere, and the Jews were also expelled from Bologna in 1171.
In 1278—when Dante was a precocious youth of twelve years of
age, already devoted to his mystic adoration of Beatrice; when
Thomas Aquinas, the tolerant of Judaism, had been dead only four
years; and two years after the birth of the great painter Giotto, to
whom we owe the one portrait of Dante that has escaped the deluge
of the centuries—at that period at which the rosy morn of the
Renaissance was faintly gilding the eastern firmament, we find the
Jews compelled to attend Christian services and to submit to
sermons preached against their own religion. But, with few
exceptions, no bloody persecution soiled the canvas of Italian
history. In the ensuing century synagogues, plain, gaunt, and
ungainly, might still be seen in close proximity to gorgeous Christian
churches in Rome, and the congregations which thronged the latter
on Sundays had not yet discovered that it was their duty to punish
their neighbours for worshipping their god on Saturday. But the
discovery was not far distant.
In 1321 the Jews of Rome were charged with insulting the
crucifix as it was carried through the streets in a procession. The
accuser is said to have been a sister of John XXII., a pope among
whose principal claims to distinction love of gold ranked high.
Several priests corroborated the charge, and the Pope decided to
drive the Jews out of the Roman state. The details of the occurrence
are uncertain; but the reality of the danger to which the Jews found
themselves exposed is proved by the extraordinary fast instituted
that year. While fervent prayers were offered up in the synagogues,
messengers were despatched to the Pope at Avignon and to King
Robert of Naples, his patron, who also was a great friend of the
Jews, imploring that the decision might be cancelled. King Robert
pleaded their cause successfully, for, it is said, his eloquence was
supported by twenty thousand ducats presented by the Roman Jews
to the Pope’s sister.
In the middle of the same century we find the Jews of Rome
obliged to contribute towards the expenses of the popular
amusements in the Roman circus—a form of entertainment which
was an abomination unto the Lord of the Jews—12 gold pieces a
year; a small matter in itself, yet indicative of the direction in which
the current flowed. But a new power came to stem for a while this
current.
We are in the heart of the fourteenth century. Dante died in 1321,
and his obsequies were sumptuously performed at Ravenna. The
tomb which closed over Dante’s remains on that July day received
more than the spokesman of Mediaeval Faith. In it was buried
Mediaeval Faith itself. Catholicism, and all that it had meant to
Dante, was already a thing of the past. “One Church and one Empire
for all men,” the idols of the Middle Age, were to be deposed by the
ideal of “A Church and an Empire for each race of men,” gradually to
develop into “No Church and no Empire for any man.” The last of the
Catholics was carried to his grave, as the first of the Humanists
appears on the scene. Dante’s censures of popes and cardinals
were the rebukes of a brother; Petrarch’s denunciations are the
assaults of an enemy. Dante, while condemning individual
churchmen, sincerely reveres the Church which their malpractices
disgraced. To him the Papal Court may be a home of hypocrisy, a
nursery of shame, a cradle of crime, and he will have nothing to do
with it; but that does not lead him to question the spiritual authority of
that Court. His hero still is Gregory Hildebrand, della fede cristiana il
76
santo atleta—the saintly athlete of the Christian Faith. To Petrarch
the Papal Court is all that and more. It is the mother of human
slavery and the fount of human misery—a “Western Babylon,” as he
calls it in one of his sonnets. It fills him with unutterable abhorrence.
Petrarch died in 1374, but the new spirit of which he was the
exponent did not die with him. It was transmitted to his disciple
Boccaccio, in whose hands the keen weapon of indignation was
replaced by the keener one of ridicule. Boccaccio’s popular tales
spread the infamy of the monasteries and nunneries, and the hatred
towards their inmates, far and wide. Henceforth contempt shall be
the portion of the Church which had inspired his predecessors with
mere horror. Poggio, Pulci, Franco, and others followed in the
footsteps of the master, and though they could not rival Boccaccio in
wit, they surpassed him in virulence.
The real importance of these attacks lies in the circumstance
that they were levelled not at persons but at institutions. The warfare
was not waged so much against the body as against the soul of
Catholicism. It is true that Italian Christianity had very early divested
itself of some of the Oriental austerity of the cult, and that great part
of its original colour had been toned down, or touched up, in
accordance with Occidental taste. After twelve centuries of Roman
practice very little, indeed, was left of the gospel preached on the
shores of the Sea of Galilee. The self-sacrifice of the prophet had
been replaced by the self-indulgence of the priest, the simplicity and
humility of the saint by the purple splendour of the ecclesiastical
prince, and the spirit of the Word had long been stifled beneath the
mummeries and pageants of Roman ritual. But still there remained