Bosboom J, Stive MJF. 2023. Coastal Dynamics. Delft (Netherlands): TU Delft Open.This textbook on Coastal Dynamics focuses on the interrelation between physical wave, flow and sediment transport phenomena and the resulting morphodynamics of a wide variety of coastal systems. The textbook is unique in that it explicitly connects the dynamics of open coasts and tidal basins; not only is the interaction between open coasts and tidal basins of basic importance for the evolution of most coastal systems, but describing the similarities between their physical processes is highly instructive as well. This textbook emphasizes these similarities to the benefit of understanding shared processes such as nonlinearities in flow and sediment transport. Some prior knowledge with respect to the dynamics of flow, waves and sediment transport is recommended.
Cheung W. 2020. Earth, Space, and Environmental Science with ArcGIS Pro, 2nd ed..
I wrote this book to not only introduce students to the tools in ArcGIS Pro, but also to provide a glimpse into some of the topics that may be covered in an introductory course in Geography, Environmental Science, or related disciplines. I aimed to achieve a balance of technical instruction and information about Earth, Space, and Environmental Sciences, to make this publication helpful for new GIS learners, as well as students who may be interested in learning about the applications of GIS in the Earth, Space, and Environmental Sciences.
This textbook is written for an audience of introductory college students in a nonscience degree program. It is intended to provide a detailed comprehensive knowledge of Planet Earth, including basic aspects of physics, chemistry, geology, and biology. As a major scientific overview of the entirety of planet Earth, the intention is to only present key concepts that will enhance, enrich, and engage the readers interest in Earth sciences. It is intended to make any reader, such as yourself, at least a little more knowledgeable of the amazing place that we all live within. [PDF version]
Waldron J, Snyder M. 2020. Geological Structures: A Practical Introduction. Edmonton (AB): University of Alberta.This manual is about structures that occur within the Earth’s crust. Structures are the features that allow geologists to figure out how parts of the Earth have changed position, orientation, size and shape over time. This work requires careful observation and measurements of features at the surface of the Earth, and deductions about what’s below the surface. The practical skills you will learn in this course form the foundation for much of what is known about the history of the Earth, and are important tools for exploring the subsurface. They are essential for Earth scientists of all kinds.
The course that this document supports is about doing structural geology. It’s not possible to be a good geologist (or to pass the course) just by learning facts. You have to be able to solve problems. Do your lab work conscientiously and get as much as possible done during lab sessions when instructors are available to help you.
This manual consists of both readings and lab exercises, which alternate through the text. The readings are designed to be read and understood outside the lab sessions, whereas the labs contain specific instructions and questions to be completed. Before each lab, be sure you have covered the readings that come immediately before it.
Davies R. 2022. Geology Online Lab Activities: An Open Educational Resource for Community College Students and Instructors. New York (NY): Queensborough Community College.
The online geology lab for community college students was developed by Dr. Rondi Davies, a faculty member at Queensborough Community College, City University New York, during two years of forced online synchronous learning brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. This open educational resource collects many of Dr. Davies’ favorite open-access materials and supplements them with her own work within a single, cohesive laboratory manual intended for two-year, non-major college students from the New York area.
Dr. Davies wanted to develop labs that were fun, engaging, and that excited students about the subject, were relevant to their lives, helped them to grow as scientists, and even opened their minds to the possibility of a career in STEM and the geosciences. Strategies adopted to achieve these goals include collecting and interpreting data to simulate the scientific process and develop student confidence and self-efficacy, sketching, role-playing as a scientist, and reasoning by analogy to help students feel appreciated and valued.
Nesser L. 2023. Introduction to Earth Science. Blacksburg (VA): Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech Publishing.Introduction to Earth Science is a 530+ page open textbook designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to Earth Science that can be freely accessed online, read offline, printed, or purchased as a print-on-demand book. It is intended for a typical 1000-level university introductory course in the Geosciences, although its contents could be applied to many other related courses.
This text includes various important features designed to enhance the student learning experience in introductory Earth Science courses. These include a multitude of high-quality figures and images within each chapter that help to clarify key concepts and are optimized for viewing online. Self-test assessment questions are embedded in each online chapter that help students focus their learning. QR codes are provided for each assessment to allow students using print or PDF versions to easily access the quiz from an internet-capable device of their choice.
Adapted from openly-licensed works in geoscience, the sequence of the book differs from mainstream commercial texts in that it has been arranged to present elementary or foundational knowledge regarding rocks and minerals prior to discussion of more complex topics in Earth Science. Unlike prominent commercial texts for Earth Science, this book dedicates an individual chapter to each of the three major rock types, the processes of mass wasting, geological time, Earth history, and the origin of the universe and our solar system. Book content has been further customized to match the Pathways General Education Curriculum at Virginia Tech with a focus on Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for Pathways Concept 4, Reasoning in the Natural Sciences.
Webb P. 2021. Introduction to Oceanography. Bristol (RI): Roger Williams University.This book was originally written for my Principles of Oceanography course at Roger Williams University, a lower-level introductory course required for marine biology and environmental science majors. By design, this course does not go into great detail about marine biological topics, as our students will cover those topics in their other courses. For that reason, this book does not currently include sections on marine ecology, marine communities, or the diversity of marine life that are often found in other introductory texts. However, this book remains a work in progress, and it is hoped that over time, those sections may be added. I invite instructors who utilize this text to send suggestions, edits, updates, or sections you would like to see added to pwebb@rwu.edu. I especially encourage instructors who are willing to author additional sections in their areas of expertise to submit them for inclusion in future updates to this text.
Stewart RH. 2008. Introduction to Physical Oceanography. College Station (TX): Texas A&M University..This book is written for upper-division undergraduates and new graduate students in meteorology, ocean engineering, and oceanography. Because these students have a diverse background, I have emphasized ideas and concepts more than mathematical derivations.
Deline B, Harris R, Tefend K. 2022. Laboratory Manual for Introductory Geology. Dahlonega (GA): University of North Georgia Press.This textbook is a comprehensive lab manual for the core curriculum Introductory Geosciences classes with both informational content and laboratory exercises. Topics include basic laws and theories in Geology, the Earth's interior and plate tectonics, water and climate change, igneous rocks and volcanoes, and earthquakes.
Earle S, Panchuk K. 2019. Physical Geology, 2nd ed. Victoria (BC): BCcampus.Physical Geology is a comprehensive introductory text on the physical aspects of geology, including rocks and minerals, plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, glaciation, groundwater, streams, coasts, mass wasting, climate change, planetary geology and much more. It has a strong emphasis on examples from western Canada, especially British Columbia, and also includes a chapter devoted to the geological history of western Canada. The book is a collaboration of faculty from Earth Science departments at Universities and Colleges across British Columbia and elsewhere.
Cover image: “Mt. Meager (2019)” by Isaac Earle is under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Hauptvogel D, Sisson V. 2021. The Story of Earth: An Observational Guide. Houston (TX): University of Houston.Our goal in creating the material for this lab manual was to focus heavily on students making observations
of geologic data, whether rocks, minerals, fossils, maps, graphs, and other things. We want students
to look at things and wonder why, how, and when. The exercises and examples used in this book are
scattered throughout the world. We wanted to make sure that one region of the world was not the sole
focus of this work.
Tiberius C, van der Marel H, Reudink R, van Leijen F. 2022. Surveying and Mapping. Delft (Netherlands): TU Delft Open.This book provides an introduction, at academic level, into the field of surveying and mapping. The book has been compiled based on hand-outs and readers written for the third-year course Surveying and Mapping, in the bachelor program Civil Engineering at Delft University of Technology. This book covers a wide range of measurement techniques, from land surveying, GPS/GNSS and remote sensing to the associated data processing, the underlying coordinate reference systems, as well as the analysis and visualization of the acquired geospatial information.
