This book is a considerable outgrowth of lecture notes on Mechanics of
en- vironmentally related systems I, which I hold since more than ten
years in the Department of Mechanics at the Darmstadt University of
Technology for upper level students majoring in mechanics, mathematics,
physics and the classical engineering sciences. These lectures form a
canon of courses over three semesters in which I present the foundations
of continuum physics (first semester), those of physical oceanography
and limnology (second semester) and those of soil, snow and ice physics
in the geophysical context (third semester). The intention is to build
an understanding of the mathemati- cal foundations of the mentioned
geophysical research fields combined with a corresponding understanding
of the regional, but equally also the global, processes that govern the
climate dynamics of our globe. The present book contains the material
(and extensions of it) of the first semester; it gives an introduction
into continuum thermomechanics, the methods of dimensional analysis and
turbulence modeling. All these themes belong today to the every- day
working methods of not only environmental physicists but equally also
those engineers, who are confronted with continuous systems of solid and
fluid mechanics, soil mechanics and generally the mechanics and
thermody- namics of heterogeneous systems. The book addresses a broad
spectrum of researchers, both at Universities and Research Laboratories
who wish to fa- miliarize themselves with the methods of "rational"
continuum physics, and students from engineering and classical continuum
physics.