Plummer - Physical Geology, 17e

page i

Seventeenth Edition

PHYSICAL GEOLOGY

Charles C. Plummer

Emeritus of California State University at Sacramento

Diane H. Carlson

Emeritus of California State University at Sacramento

Lisa Hammersley

California State University at Sacramento

page ii

PHYSICAL GEOLOGY, SEVENTEENTH EDITION

Published by McGraw Hill LLC, 1325 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10121. Copyright 2022 by McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Previous editions 2019, 2016, and 2013. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC, including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.

Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LWI 24 23 22 21

ISBN 978-1-260-72224-6 (bound edition)

MHID 1-260-72224-4 (bound edition)

ISBN 978-1-266-07356-4 (loose-leaf edition)

MHID 1-266-07356-6 (loose-leaf edition)

Portfolio Manager: Marah Bellegarde

Product Developer: Melisa Seegmiller

Marketing Manager: Kelly Brown

Content Project Managers: Kelly Hart, Rachael Hillebrand

Buyer: Susan K. Culbertson

Designer: Beth Blech

Content Licensing Specialist: Melissa Homer

Cover Image: J. Helgason/Shutterstock

Compositor: SPi Global

All credits appearing on page or at the end of the book are considered to be an extension of the copyright page.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Plummer, Charles C., 1937- author. | Carlson, Diane H., author. | Hammersley, Lisa, author.

Title: Physical geology / Charles C. Plummer, Diane H. Carlson, Lisa Hammersley.

Description: Seventeenth edition. | New York, NY : McGraw-Hill Education, 2021. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020022087 | ISBN 9781260722246 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Physical geologyTextbooks.

Classification: LCC QE28.2 .P58 2021 | DDC 551dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020022087

The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a website does not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw Hill LLC, and McGraw Hill LLC does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these sites.

mheducation.com/highered

page iii

About the Cover

The cover photo shows an effusive eruption of basaltic lava (see ) at Eyjafallajokull (pronounced ay-uh-fyat-luh-yoe-kuutl-ul) volcano in Iceland. The 2010 eruption at Eyjafallajokull lasted only a few months and was relatively small, but it still caused significant disruption to air travel. Ash from the eruption closed down airspace over much of Europe for a week, costing the airline industry more than $1 billion. Iceland owes its existence to a unique set of geologic circumstances. The volcanic island is located over a hotspot that coincides with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent plate boundary separating the North American tectonic plate from the Eurasian plate. It was hot spot volcanism that generated enough magma to build Iceland and raise the Mid-Atlantic Ridge above sea level, where you can visit it today.

page iv

BRIEF CONTENTS

page v

CONTENTS

Preface xiii

J. A. Kraulis/Masterfile

Dr. Parvinder Sethi

Dr. Parvinder Sethi

page vi

Carlos Gutierrez/UPI/Landov

Doug Sherman/Geofile

Doug Sherman/Geofile

page vii

John A. Karachewski

Craig Aurness/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images

Alessandro Della Valle/Associated Press

page viii

Bill Davis/Associated Press

Forcellini Danilo/Shutterstock

Sarah Aciego

page ix

Lee Frost/robertharding/Getty Images

Bogdan Bratosin/Moment/Getty Images

Marco Simoni/robertharding/Getty Images

page x

The Asahi Shimbun/Contributor/Getty Images

Nathan Simmons/LLNL

Richard Carey/Getty Images

page xi

Source: NOAA/NGDC