Evolution of the Earth and Planets

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 74. The past two decades have witnessed a revolution in our understanding of how planets evolve. Space exploration and observations on the Earth's interior, complemented by laboratory investigations and theoretical analyses, have led to entirely new concepts governing our science: giant late-stage impacts, magma oceans, dense primordial atmospheres, continental growth curves, mantle-core interactions, boundary-layer instabilities and the influence of tectonics on climate, among others. It is the purpose of this book to illustrate the role these new concepts play in defining current thinking about the origin, growth and subsequent evolution of the Earth and planets. The topics range from cosmogony and comparative planetary tectonics to seismic tomography, mineral physics and geodynamics of the Earth's mantle. The articles, based on a Union Symposium at the 1991 IUGG General Assembly in Vienna, Austria, offer a unique blend of geophysics, geochemistry and planetary science. Theoretical, observational and laboratory studies are well represented, and the reader can obtain a broad overview of the state of the art in current research on the internal evolution of planets. The editors wish to acknowledge contributions from the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI), the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI), the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), and NASA, which supported the Symposium and the production of this volume. More important, we thank our colleagues who helped prepare and review the articles: their expert advice and unselfish efforts were invaluable.