Summary
There are many different types of floods, ranging from slowly rising regional floods to dramatic flash floods and coastal floods. Floods have become increasingly hazardous over the last 200 years, as people have been moving onto floodplains and modifying rivers, streams, and entire river systems. Human modifications to rivers and floodplains have resulted in more frequent, stronger, and faster moving floods. Considered the most common natural hazard, floods affect more people and cause more damage than any other hazard including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and tsunamis.
Floods examines the processes that control the development and flow in stream and river systems and discusses how and when these processes become hazardous. Examples of flooding and other river disasters are presented throughout this accessible book. The merits of building on—versus preserving—floodplains are discussed, and strategies for preserving the remaining floodplain areas are examined. Black-and-white photographs and line illustrations, an index, a glossary, sidebars, and tables enhance this rich resource.
Chapters include:
- The Water Planet: Relationships Between Surface Water and Groundwater
- Streams and River Systems
- Effects of River Modifications and Urbanization on River Dynamics
- Examples of Flood Disasters
- The Groundwater System and Groundwater Contamination
- Geological Subsidence, Compaction, and Collapse.
Specifications
Black-and-white photographs and line illustrations. Index. Glossary. Further reading. Web sites. Sidebars. Tables.
About the Author(s)
Timothy Kusky holds a Ph.D. degree in Earth and planetary sciences from Johns Hopkins University, and is the Paul C. Reinert Professor of Natural Sciences at Saint Louis University in Missouri and the director of the Center for Environmental Sciences in St. Louis. He has published more than 600 research papers and articles in journals such as Science, Journal of Geophysical Research, and Tectonics, and more than 20 books including Geological Hazards. Kusky is also the author of Facts On File's acclaimed Encyclopedia of Earth Science.