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	ABOUT: [Introduction][History][Related areas][Subfields] POINTERS: [Texts][Software][Web links][Selected topics here] 86: Geophysics

Introduction

Geophysics: Applications typically involve material in sections 74: Mechanics of Solids and 76: Fluid Mechanics, but for large-scale problems (this subject deals with a very big solid and a large pool of fluid!) With the advent of Global Positioning Systems there has been a good deal of interest in geodesy and triangulation, which is included here.

History

Applications and related fields

See also 76U05, 76V05

Simple spherical geometry (and trigonometry) is treated in 52A55: Spherical Geometry.

This image slightly hand-edited for clarity.

Subfields

There is only one division (86A) but it is subdivided:

• 86A04: General
• 86A05: Hydrology, hydrography, oceanography, See also 76B15, 76B20, 76B25, 76C15, 76E20, 76Q05, 76Rxx, 76U05
• 86A10: Meteorology and atmospheric physics, See also 76Bxx, 76C15, 76C20, 76E20, 76N15, 76Q05, 76Rxx, 76U05, 76V05
• 86A15: Seismology
• 86A17: Global dynamics, earthquake problems
• 86A20: Potentials, prospecting, See also 76S05, 76W05
• 86A22: Inverse problems, See also 35R30
• 86A25: Geo-electricity and geomagnetism, See also 78A25
• 86A30: Geodesy, mapping problems
• 86A32: Geostatistics
• 86A40: Glaciology
• 86A60: Geological problems
• 86A99: Miscellaneous topics

This is one of the smallest areas in the Math Reviews database.

Browse all (old) classifications for this area at the AMS.

Textbooks, reference works, and tutorials

There is a sci.geo.* hierarchy of newsgroups (e.g. sci.geo.satellite-nav) which may be relevant in general. For geodesy there is an additional newsgroup comp.infosystems.gis.

Software and tables

Geology software.

Software and Data for Thermodynamics and Phase Equilibrium Calculations in Geology

Relevant packages from the Computer Physics Communications package library.

Other web sites with this focus

• A survey of standard methods of preparing flat maps of the globe is available at University of Texas at Austin. (A brief overview is available at the National Geographic Society.
• Inverse Problems pages
• Here are the AMS and Goettingen resource pages for area 86.
• The Net Advance of Physics

Selected topics at this site

• Distances and direction on a spherical earth: tutorial and QBASIC program.
• Another go: how to describe great circles with latitude and longitude.
• What bearing needed, knowing starting and ending locations?
• Triangulation: determining positions when only differences between distances are known.
• Citation for "proj.4" software for determining positions on a non-spherical earth
• A little background on the Global Positioning Systems
• Spherical geometry, pointers to earth-mapping
• Mercator projection -- formulae and pointers
• Pointer to model adjusting for magnetic field on earth