The past few decades have witnessed the growth of the Earth Sciences in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the planet that we live on. This development addresses the challenging endeavor to enrich human lives with the bounties of Nature as well as to preserve the planet for the generations to come. Solid Earth Geophysics aspires to define and quantify the internal structure and processes of the Earth in terms of the principles of physics and forms the intrinsic framework, which other allied disciplines utilize for more specific investigations.
The first edition of the Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics was published in 1989 by Van Nostrand Reinhold publishing company. More than two decades later, this new volume, edited by Prof. Harsh K. Gupta, represents a thoroughly revised and expanded reference work. It brings together more than 200 articles covering established and new concepts of Geophysics across the various sub-disciplines such as Gravity, Geodesy, Geomagnetism, Seismology, Seismics, Deep Earth Processes, Plate Tectonics, Thermal Domains, Computational Methods, etc. in a systematic and consistent format and standard. It is an authoritative and current reference source with extraordinary width of scope. It draws its unique strength from the expert contributions of editors and authors across the globe. It is designed to serve as a valuable and cherished source of information for current and future generations of professionals.
Harsh K. Gupta currently holds the prestigious Panikkar Professorship at the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Hyderabad, India. Pursuing a luminous career in a variety of aspects of the Earth Sciences for over four decades, he is globally known for providing the first geophysical evidence of an enormously thick crust below the Himalaya and Tibet Plateau region, identifying the common characteristics of artificial water reservoir triggered earthquakes and discriminating them from normal earthquakes, setting up India’s first permanent station at Antarctica in a record time, and in recent years, spearheading the designing and commissioning of the Tsunami Warning System for India, after the disastrous tsunami caused by the 26th December 2004 Sumatra earthquake. He has published over 200 papers and written 4 pioneering books, published by Elsevier.
Dr. Gupta has occupied several important positions including the Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Ocean Development and Director of NGRI. He is the founder President of the Asian Seismological Commission, and currently the President of the Geological Society of India, President of Asia Oceania Geosciences Society and Vice President of IUGG. His many honors and accolades include the USSR Academy of Sciences ‘100 years of International Geophysics’ Memorial Medal; Waldo E. Smith Medal of American Geophysical Union as well as the highest scientific and civilian honors from India, such as the Bhatnagar Award and the Padmashri Award.
