by Kerry Sieh and Simon LeVay
The Earth in Turmoil covers plate tectonics and its ramifications for earthquakes and volcanoes in a readable but thorough way. The events and locations explored are all in the United States, mainly the West coast, Basin and Range, and Hawai'i, but also chapters dedicated to Yellowstone, the New Madrid Fault, and the Northeast. They always remind readers of other places in the world with similar physical conditions and phenomena.
Through the course of the book, the authors explore the history of geology and earth science, describing theories proposed, experiments conducted, and papers from a variety of scientists around the world. They provide excellent diagrams, maps, and drawings to illustrate geological principles like the recycling of the lithosphere and how volcanoes are produced by a subducting slab, to name a few from the first two chapters.
This solemn, silent, sailless sea--this lonely tenant of the loneliest spot on Earth--is little graced with the picturesque. [Mark Twain in Roughing It, describing Mono Lake, quoted in The Earth in Turmoil]
All these descriptions and explanations are woven into the chapters through stories from people who experienced earthquakes or survived volcanic eruptions, stories which make the events come alive for the reader in a way the scientific descriptions alone never could. The authors also show how first person accounts and other primary source documents can allow the dedicated scientist to develop a more comprehensive picture of earthquakes or other events, even when modern scientific instruments were not around to measure anything at the time.
This book was published in 1998 and takes into account new research and events right up until their print deadline. A lot of time has passed since then in human terms, so there are some chapters for which I'd recommend searching recent events online to see if there's new information.
The book is out of print, but seems reasonably easy to find used. I'm probably going to assign it as our earth studies reading at some point in high school. I've been looking for one to cover plate tectonics and this one seems to be the best mix of stories of real people and essential geological information without being an actual (expensive and dense) college textbook.
One thing to note, if you have a sensitive student, the purpose of the book is to develop the relationship between knowledge of the earth's forces that results in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and how humans use the land and spaces affected by those forces. Someone anxious about the chances of massive eruptions or earthquakes may find some of the risks outlined upsetting. In fact, the authors often comment on the psychological ramifications of experiencing extended times of frequent earthquake activity.
On the other hand, the authors sometimes explore how those risks translate into public policy, laws, and insurance coverage, which can be useful and fascinating information for anyone interested in politics, environmental law, or urban development. Given the current conditions as I write this in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the discussions of the balance between scientific forecasts of risks and impacts of those forecasts on businesses and daily lives (especially in the chapter on Mammoth Lakes and Long Valley) were fascinating and relevant.
Sam Walker, who owns a brewery and a restaurant and has been chairman of the chamber of commerce, told us that relations between the townspeople and the USGS scientists had improved greatly in recent years. A lot of the misunderstanding, he told us, was caused by inaccurate reporting of what the USGS people had said. If the USGS said that an eruption was a possibility, some TV station or other would announce that lava was flowing down the street.
The last chapter explores these ideas of risk assessment and policy in the most detail.
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