Читать книгу Engineering Physics of High-Temperature Materials - Nirmal K. Sinha - Страница 18

Geophysics and geology focus on the scientific study of the earth. These fields are in advanced stages of a huge subject dealing with various aspects of the earth. The environment we live in is ever changing as the surface of the earth and its interior are constantly shifting. Geological and geophysical studies are an integral part of physics, chemistry, and mathematics and use the scientific methods developed in general. As in most fields, it is natural that our hypotheses and beliefs are also ever changing. The theory of plate tectonics, for example, was not part of any conversations when the senior author of this book was born. The structure of Earth's interior, including its crustal membrane, was not well understood then. In not so unfamiliar way, one may question the relevance of this topic to the high‐temperature response of materials of this book, if no consideration is given to the fact now established that various plates move because they are floating on their melt and the driving forces are initiated within this melt. Lower parts of the plates are close to the melting point and thus at extremely high temperatures. We have discussed details of this topic in Chapter 11. Thermomechanical interactions of plates produced mountain ranges, and the interaction of the mountains with the atmosphere affects the movement of air masses, thus influencing the weather patterns and the cryosphere of the earth.