Announcing: The Second Edition of Open Textbook, Introduction to Earth Science

by Anita Walz, posted on February 25, 2025

The Open Education Initiative at Virginia Tech is pleased to announce the release of open textbook Introduction to Earth Science, Second Edition (2025), adapted by Laura Neser, Ph.D.

Introduction to Earth Science, Second Edition is an 548-page open textbook designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to Earth Science that can be freely accessed online, read offline, printed, or purchased as a print-on-demand book. It is intended for a typical university-level introductory course in the Geosciences, although its contents could be applied to many other related courses.

This text includes various important features designed to enhance the student learning experience in introductory Earth Science courses. These include a multitude of high-quality figures and images within each chapter that help to clarify key concepts. Self-test assessment questions are embedded in each online chapter that help students focus their learning. QR codes are provided for each assessment to allow students using print or PDF versions to easily access the quiz from an internet-capable device of their choice.

See the Version Notes at the end of the book for detailed information regarding changes between this and the first edition.

The book is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike 4.0 license (CC BY NC SA 4.0).

Instructors reviewing, adopting, or adapting this textbook are asked to please help us understand your use of the material by filling out this form https://bit.ly/interest_intro_earth_science.

Table of Contents

1. Understanding Science
2. Plate Tectonics
3. Minerals
4. Igneous Processes and Volcanoes
5. Weathering, Erosion, and Sedimentary Rocks
6. Metamorphic Rocks
7. Geologic Time
8. Earth History
9. Crustal Deformation and Earthquakes
10. Mass Wasting
11. Water
12. Earth’s Coastlines and Oceans
13. Deserts and Glaciers
14. Meteorology
15. Global Climate Change
16. Energy and Mineral Resources
17. Origin of the Universe and Our Solar System

How to Access the Book

PDF, epub, and other versions: https://doi.org/10.21061/introearthscience2e
ISBN (PDF): ISBN 978-1-962841-24-5
ISBN (HTML/Pressbooks): 978-1-962841-25-2 https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/introearthscience2e
ISBN (EPUB): 978-1-962841-23-8
ISBN (print): 978-1-962841-22-1 order print here

The book is also listed in the Open Textbook Library, OER Commons, VIVA Open, and Merlot.

New in the Second Edition

• – Chapter 9, Crustal Deformation and Earthquakes combines previously separate Deserts (formerly Chapter 13) and Glaciers (formerly Chapter 14)
• – Chapter 12, Renamed Earth’s Coastlines and Oceans
• – Chapter 14, New chapter on Meteorology 
• – New sections added to Chapters 12, 15, 16, and 17
• – Charts and data updated to reflect the most recently available
• – Edited / added glossary terms
• – Replaced selected figures in Chapters 1,3,4,5,6,7,8, and 11
• – Incorporated additional openly-licensed content from Introduction to Environmental Science, 2nd edition (CC BY-NC-SA) in Chapters 15 and 16; and Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Sustainability (CC BY) in Chapter 16.

See the Version Notes at the end of the book for detailed information regarding changes between this and the first edition.

Adapted and Updated by

Laura Neser, Ph.D. is an Instructor in the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech. Dr. Neser earned her B.S. in Geosciences at Virginia Tech in the spring of 2008 and completed her Ph.D. in Geological Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in 2014. Her doctoral research focused on the structural geology, sedimentology, and stratigraphy of formations that were deposited along the flanks of the Beartooth Mountains as they rose during late Paleocene-Eocene time. Dr. Neser has worked as an athletic tutor and online instructor at The University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC), in temporary positions as an Adjunct Instructor at Chowan University (Murfreesboro, NC) and Full-Time Lecturer at Indiana State University (Terre Haute, IN), and as a Professor at Seminole State College (Sanford, FL) before starting as an Instructor at Virginia Tech in the fall of 2021.

Although she is currently focused on teaching online sections of Introduction to Earth Science, Earth Resources, Society and the Environment, and Climate History, her teaching background is significantly broader and includes Environmental ‬Science, Astronomy, Environmental ‬Ethics, Earth History, Structural Geology, and Field Geology‬.

Project Manager: Anita Walz, Open Education Initiative of the University Libraries
Production Manager: Kindred Grey, Virginia Tech Publishing

Attributions

This second edition would not be possible without the generous contributions of authors who shared their content for adaptation under an open license. We thank the authors of the following works: 

Chris Johnson, Matthew D. Affolter, Paul Inkenbrandt, and Cam Mosher (2017). An Introduction to Geology, (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Salt Lake City Community College.

Adam Dastrup, MA, GISP (2020). Physical Geography and Natural Disasters. (CC BY-NC-SA). Salt Lake Community College..

Charlene Estrada, Carolina Londono Michel, Merry Wilson, Jeff Simpson, Mike Santoro, and Katherine J. Megivern (2021). Dynamic Planet: Exploring Geological Disasters and Environmental Change. (CC BY-NC-SA). Maricopa Community Colleges.

Katharine Solada and K. Sean Daniels (2021). Principles of Earth Science. (CC BY-NC-SA). Open Oregon Educational Resources.

Karla Panchuk (2019) “Starting with a Big Bang” in Steven Earle, ed., Physical Geology, 2nd edition. (CC BY 4.0) BC Campus.

“Climate Change” in Steven Earle (2019). Physical Geology, 2nd edition. (CC BY 4.0). BC Campus.

Andrew Fraknoi, David Morrison, and Sidney C. Wolff (2016). Astronomy. (CC BY 4.0). OpenStax.

Caralyn Zehnder, Kalina Manoylov, Samuel Mutiti, Christine Mutiti, Allison VandeVoort, and Donna Bennett (2018). Introduction to Environmental Science: 2nd edition. (CC BY-NC-SA). University System of Georgia.

Emily P. Harris (2023). Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Sustainability. (CC BY). University of West Florida. Adapted from Environmental Biology by Matthew R. Fisher, published using Pressbooks by Open Oregon Educational Resources (CC BY).

Suggested citation

Neser, Laura (2025). Introduction to Earth Science, Second Edition. Blacksburg: Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences. https://doi.org/10.21061/introearthscience2e. Licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Accessibility

Virginia Tech is committed to making its publications accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The Open Education Initiative is committed to continuous improvement regarding accessibility. The text, images, headings, and links in the PDF and HTML versions of this text are tagged structurally and include alternative text, which allows for machine readability. Please contact publishing@vt.edu if you are a person with a disability and have suggestions to make this book more accessible.

License

Unless otherwise noted, this work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike (CC BY NC-SA 4.0) license which allows adaptation and redistribution with attribution for uses which are not primarily commercial. See the license terms and recommended practices for attribution for additional information.