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What are some good textbooks and online resources for learning about geophysics? That is, physics, as it relates to the earth's geology, shape, and internal structure.

Tom Au
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Kenshin
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    This strikes me as a "shopping list question" - perhaps not a good precedent to set on a new site. (see http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/158809/why-are-shopping-list-questions-bad) – Semidiurnal Simon Apr 16 '14 at 08:53
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    I disagree I think this question is good for a new site on the topic, and here is a precedent from another stackexchange site: http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/275/best-maths-books-for-non-mathematicians – Kenshin Apr 16 '14 at 10:47
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    That question is much more specific (for non-mathematicians). I like these kind of questions (Stats.SE has a few good ones), but I think you need to narrow it down to a more specific field (e.g. physical oceanography), or a specific type of resource (e.g. pop-science walk-through books). – naught101 Apr 17 '14 at 02:39
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    Or maybe the term geophysics is more specific than I thought... – naught101 Apr 17 '14 at 02:40
  • We talked about these types of questions (questions asking for a list of literary works) here on meta. – hichris123 Apr 17 '14 at 10:41
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    @naught101: I appended a "definition" to geophysics in order to make the term as specific as possible, and voted to open the question in its current form. – Tom Au Apr 21 '14 at 15:16
  • This website hosts applied geophysics courses http://geosci.xyz/. It was put together by University of British Columbia and several other entities. They go over the basics and delve into every traditional method. – Michael Wallace Sep 21 '16 at 14:09

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There are two universally loved geophysics texts : Turcotte and Shubert and Stein and Wyessesion. Both are upper division/lower graduate level texts. Fowler is great if you do not have a strong mathematical background (multivariate calculus). Beyond that, it might be difficult to get a a good understanding without an Introductory physics course, and a few semesters of calculus. A good way to learn about geophysics, is in fact, just learning about physics and mathematics in general. Hopefully this stack exchange will also become a good resource.

Neo
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  • +1 for Fowler. As well as geodynamics, geophysics can also include exploration geophysics, where it seemed each sub-discipline had its own book. – winwaed Apr 16 '14 at 12:57
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I also strongly suggest the courses available on the coursera platform under the category "Energy & Earth Sciences" here.

Matteo De Felice
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Geophysics has many flavors to it. Prof Claerbout's site has a lot of free stuff which are a good introduction to one part of it.

http://sepwww.stanford.edu/sep/prof/

Anu
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