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2 Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics in an Energy-Rich Universe
Free energy, the ability to do work, is the most universal currency known in the natural sciences. In an expanding, non-equilibrated Universe, it is...
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13 The Free-Energy Transduction and Entropy Production in Initial Photosynthetic Reaction
Initial photosynthetic reactions in bacterial photosynthesis are modeled in this chapter as transitions among discrete states of integral membrane...
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9 Water Vapor and Entropy Production in the Earth’s Atmosphere
This chapter investigates the production of entropy by moist processes in the Earth’s climate system. The atmospheric circulation can be considered...
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Specific Examples of Critical Path Analysis
At the end of Chap. 1 the general technique of critical path analysis was introduced. This technique will actually form the basis of most of the...
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Basic Constitutive Relations for Unsaturated Media
The following sections describe how to find the hydraulic conductivity, air permeability, electrical conductivity, as well as solute and gas...
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7. Habitats of Life
There are four principal habitats in which life may exist – the surface of a planetary body, its subsurface, its atmosphere and space. From our own...
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9. Signatures of Life and the Question of Detection
In this chapter we will elaborate on how evidence for life on other worlds can be sought, and if present, possibly detected. The best evidence for...
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6. Life and the Need for a Solvent
Life as we know it consists of chemical interactions that take place in the liquid state, yet the requirement that life be liquid-based is not...
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Percolation Theory
Percolation describes properties related to the connectivity of large numbers of objects which individually have some spatial extent, and for which...
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Applications of the Cluster Statistics
This chapter presents a conceptually straightforward treatment of spatial correlations of “random” heterogeneous media, but does not intend to...
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Porous Media Primer for Physicists
During the 1980's physicists (and some geophysicists) devoted considerable efforts to understanding the physical (meaning here not hydraulic)...
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7 Entropy Production in Turbulent Mixing
We review the statement and application of a Maximum Entropy Production (MEP) principle for the modeling of turbulence. More specifically it applies...
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6 Cosmological and Biological Reproducibility: Limits on the Maximum Entropy Production Principle
The Maximum Entropy Production principle (MEP) seems to be restricted to reproducible dissipative structures. To apply it to cosmology and biology,...
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11 Entropy and the Sha** of the Landscape by Water
We explore applications of thermodynamics to hydrology, in particular the application of extremization principles to self-organized river networks....
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5 Using Ecology to Quantify Organization in Fluid Flows
Numerous applications of variational principles derived from physical thermodynamics have been made to the description of development in living...
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Seepage-related characteristics of weak interlayer suffering from a physically-chemically mediated erosion in grotto relics
The coexistence of the weak interlayer and groundwater could give rise to an undesirable geological condition, resulting in seepage-induced hazards,...
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Analysis of rock microstructure after CO2 breakthrough based on CT scanning
The alteration of mudstone’s microscopic properties within the caprock in CO 2 geological storage determines the effect of storage. One of the crucial...
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Performance of coupling agent-amended clay/sand mixture under vacuum suction
This paper presents a comprehensive investigation on anti-seepage/erosion performance of a hydroxypropyl starch (HPS)-based coupling agent (CA)...
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Improved Multi-objective Butterfly Optimization Algorithm and its Application in Cascade Reservoirs Optimal Operation Considering Ecological Flow
Traditional reservoir operations often take power production as the main purpose. However, blindly maximizing power production will prompt the...
