Author Description

The subsurface is often perceived as a mysterious, perhaps even threatening, realm. But it has always played a key role in fulfilling the needs of societies and in sustaining ecosystems, even though the public is mostly unaware of this. As affordable and sustainable options diminish for a growing, and increasingly urban, population the subsurface may provide challenging solutions to future generations. The focus of this book is the shallow subsurface, i.e. the first 250 metres below the Earth's surface. This book is aimed at engineers, urban developers, lawyers, policy makers, insurance professionals, geoscientists and others involved with subsurface construction; it provides an overview of technical aspects and also of legal, governmental and policy-making issues. It also aims to raise awareness of assets and threats of the last frontier for human development on the solid Earth, and to shed light on the sustainable use of the subsurface.