This unique book presents an overview of isostasy a simple concept offundamental importance to the Earth Sciences that students have traditionallyfound difficul... » 

This unique book presents an overview of isostasy a simple concept offundamental importance to the Earth Sciences that students have traditionallyfound difficult to grasp. With this in mind the author has used a simplifiedmathematical treatment numerous geological examples and an extensivebibliography to make the subject more accessible and easytounderstand.Beginning by tracing the ideas behind local and regional models of isostasy andarguing that only flexure is in accord with geological observations the bookproceeds to describe the theoretical background the observational evidence andthe constraints that flexure has provided on physical properties of thelithosphere. The book concludes with a discussion of flexures role inunderstanding the evolution of the surface features of the Earth and itsneighboring planets. Ideal for graduate students of geophysics geodesy andgeoscience it will also be of interest to researchers in gravity and geodesytectonics and basin analysis. «