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The Complete Illustrated Guide to Minerals, Rocks & Fossils of the World provides a comprehensive reference guide to over 700 minerals, rocks and plant and animal fossils from around the globe and how to identify them, with over 2000 color photographs and illustrations.
Rocks, minerals and fossils have a timeless fascination. Endlessly interesting and beautiful to look at, they also offer up all kinds of information about the origins and evolution of our planet. Rocks and minerals reveal the great earth shifts that have formed the globe’s mighty mountains and vast oceans. Fossils – plant and animal remains preserved in rock – give clues to the development of the diverse life forms that have flourished on Earth over millions of years, from simple mosses and giant dinosaurs to human beings.
This informative, highly illustrated book is a complete reference source for anyone interested in the earth sciences. Each section of The Complete Illustrated Guide to Minerals, Rocks & Fossils of the World begins with an introduction explaining how the phenomena have formed and their major defining characteristics, the habits in which they are typically found and where the best examples are located around the world.
How-to techniques for the amateur geologist and paleontologist show how to extract samples safely, and how to identify, date and classify them. There are step-by-step instructions on simple home testing methods to gauge rock and mineral hue, hardness, cleavage, luster, tenacity and transparency. Also included is practical guidance on the best ways to clean, preserve and then display the specimens to build a superb collection of your own.
This guide’s major feature is its two extensive visual directories – one on rocks and minerals and one on fossils – containing over 700 in-depth specimen profiles. Each profile features a superb photograph for easy identification. Handy information boxes give facts and figures such as type and location, and detailed diagrams and reconstructions show the structure-type of rocks, and how each fossil originally looked.
With more than 1200 clear photographs and over 800 illustrations, this impressive work provides all the facts any reader needs to know about these hugely absorbing subjects.
First Published: 2006 | ISBN-13: 978-0681185814
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