本书以地球科学领域的前缘问题为基础，致力于培养学生对专业英语文献的理解能力，认识本专业的热点问题；通过典型例句的分析，了解地学类文章的特定表述方式；课后有笔译和写作练习，使学生们掌握科技文章的写作策略等。
本书具有较高的实用性和参考价值，适合于高等院校地球科学类专业的学生及相关专业人员参考使用。
前言
Unit 1 Paleoceanography
Supplementary reading material: Temporal Changes in Paleoceanography
Unit 2 "Hotspot" Volcanism and Plate Tectonics
Supplementary reading material: Volcanic Systems
Relative book review: Dynamic Earth-Plates, Plumes and Mantle Convection
Unit 3 Rapid Climate Change
Supplementary reading material: A Model for Rapid Climate Change in the
Greenhouse World: the Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum ( PETM)
Relative book review: Warm Climates in Earth History
Unit 4 Natural Hazards and People
Supplementary reading material: Volcanic Eruptions
Unit 5 Natural Resources
Relative book review : Earth System Analysis : Integrating Science for Sustainability
Unit 6 The Rodinia Jigsaw Puzzle
Supplementary reading material: Methods of Establishing Paleocontinental Configurations
Unit 7 Evolution of the Global Carbonate Cycle Through Earth History
Supplementary reading material: Global Carbonate Cycle
Relative book review: Earth Surface Systems: Complexity, Order, and Scale
Unit 8 Reconstructing the Physical Environment
Supplementary reading material: Ocean Circulation
Reconstructing the Carbon Cycle
References
Words and Expressions