Planetary Geology: An Introduction

Recent planetary missions by NASA, the European Space Agency and other national bodies have reaffirmed that geological processes familiar from our studies of the Earth operate on many solid planets and satellites. Common threads link the internal structure, thermal evolution and surface character of both rocky and icy worlds, and volcanoes, impact craters, ice caps, dunes, rift valleys, rivers and oceans emerge as features of extra-terrestrial worlds as diverse as Mercury and Titan. The new data also reveal that many supposedly inert planetary bodies currently experience eruptions, landslides and dust storms. Moreover our understanding of the Solar System has greatly benefited from the analysis of meteorites from Mars as well as rock samples collected on the Moon.

Combining extensive use of imagery, the results of laboratory experiments and theoretical modelling, this comprehensively updated second edition of Planetary Geology provides the student reader and the enthusiastic amateur with up-to-date coverage of these recent advances and confirms that, to quote from the first edition, planetary geology now embraces conventional geology and vice versa.

Note for Teachers using this book with students. The authors have prepared some ancillary materials for class use. To gain access to these materials please use the contact form and tell us where and when you will be using the book and with how many students.

Claudio Vita-Finzi taught planetary geology at University College London (UCL) for a dozen years before moving to the Natural History Museum as a scientific associate. He is working on solar history. Dominic Fortes studied the physical properties of planetary ices under the auspices of a UCL Graduate School Scholarship and two STFC-funded Research Fellowships over a ten-year period in the UCL Department of Earth Sciences. Currently working in the Institute for Earth and Planetary Sciences at UCL and Birkbeck College, he continues this work on planetary ices and the application to understanding the evolution of these fascinating objects, and lectures on the geology of planetary bodies.