Earth Surface Processes, Landforms, and Sediment Deposits

Earth Surface Processes, Landform, and Sediment Deposits is a massive compendium by Bridge and Demicco and a must-have book for the engineering geologist because it so completely covers the full spectrum of surficial geologic issues with which we contend on most projects. Earth surface processes include landslides, debris flows, river floods, storm and tsunami surges, erosion and weathering, subsidence and uplift, neotectonics, and volcanism. All of these, and more, are richly covered in this book. However, in addition to just introducing processes as effects, Bridge and Demicco show how to recognize them in the geologic environment of landforms and in the sedimentary environment. Composed of 815 pages broken into twenty chapters, this book contains 52 pages of references and over 1800 citations, a 20 page index, and 572 figures, many of which are composite figures, and many of which are also original. The book is priced at only £45.00, an excellent value for the content of the book. From chapter 1, “Definitions, Rationale and Scope of the Book,” it is clear that the authors understand that knowledge of the interconnection of earth systems is critical to the engineering geologist in terms of site characterization and prediction, and also in site remediation and restoration. The authors intend the book for the undergraduate- or beginning graduate-level student, but the book is invaluable as a reference for any professional geologist. In my opinion, the book's text is too “geological” for most geotechnical engineers, but the profusion of illustrations make for a good skim …