ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: This wide area of the Alpine–Himalayan belt evolved through a series of tectonic events related to the opening and closure of the Tethys Ocean. In doing so it produced the largest mountain belt of the world, which extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. The basins associated with this belt contain invaluable information related to mountain building processes and are the locus of rich hydrocarbon accumulations. However, knowledge about the geological evolution of the region is limited compared to what they offer. This has been mainly due to the difficulty and inaccessibility of cross-country studies. This Special Publication is dedicated to the part of the Alpine–Himalayan belt running from Bulgaria to Armenia, and from Ukraine to the Arabian Platform. It includes twenty multidisciplinary studies covering topics in structural geology/tectonics; geophysics; geochemistry; palaeontology; petrography; sedimentology; stratigraphy; and subsidence and lithospheric modelling. This volume reports results obtained during the MEBE (Middle East Basin Evolution) Programme and related projects in the circum Black Sea and peri-Arabian regions.

Description / Table of Contents: Our understanding of calcium carbonate precipitation within freshwater carbonate systems is being revolutionized by new quantitative approaches at both field and laboratory scale. These systems cover a diverse range of topical research areas including tufas, speleothems, stromatolites and microbial processes. Progress by various international research groups has been impressive, with major contributions to such areas as climate change, absolute dating, carbon sequestration, and biofilm construction and precipitation. A diverse sample of interrelated research is presented that provides a tantalizing glimpse of the interplay between microbial, geochemical and physical processes that control the development of tufas and speleothems. This volume will provide a cross-disciplinary platform that will stimulate further exchanges about new concepts, methodologies and interpretations associated with freshwater carbonates. In particular, it will help reinforce the importance of cross-discipline research: the driving force behind the new field of Geobiology.

Description / Table of Contents: This book presents a collection of papers that combines marine and terrestrial geological investigations valuable to hazard assessment in rocky coastal areas, including examples mostly coming from the Italian coasts. The hazardous processes that are discussed include: large slope failures, cliff recession and floods of steep coastal streams. It is assumed that coastal slopes operate as transfer zones of land-born geological processes, which deliver sediment to the coastal and open sea at intermittent time intervals, and therefore place coastal communities that are exposed or vulnerable to these events at high risk. Rocky coastal areas can be associated with regions of active or recent tectonics/volcanic activity, or can develop as low-relief cliffs along non-active margins. In all these settings, mass-wasting phenomena represent the most serious hazardous processes, and there is a need to characterize and model the factors causing them. It is stressed that proper comprehension of coastal mass-wasting hazard has to include shipboard acoustic surveys, historical source investigations and onshore geological features.

Description / Table of Contents: The detachment era (1977–1982) and its role in revolutionizing continental tectonics / B. Wernicke / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 1-8, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.1 --- The frictional strength of granular fault gouge: application of theory to the mechanics of low-angle normal faults / Carolyn Boulton, Tim Davies and Mauri McSaveney / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 9-31, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.2 --- Upper and lower crustal evolution during lithospheric extension: numerical modelling and natural footprints from the European Alps / Anna Maria Marotta, Maria Iole Spalla and Guido Gosso / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 33-72, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.3 --- Reconciling short- and long-term measures of extension in continental back arcs: heat flux, crustal structure and rotations within central North Island, New Zealand / T. A. Stern / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 73-87, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.4 --- Cretaceous felsic volcanism in New Zealand and Lord Howe Rise (Zealandia) as a precursor to final Gondwana break-up / A. J. Tulloch, J. Ramezani, N. Mortimer, J. Mortensen, P. van den Bogaard and R. Maas / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 89-118, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.5 --- Structure and evolution of the western Corinth Rift, through new field data from the Northern Peloponnesus / Emmanuel Skourtsos and Haralambos Kranis / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 119-138, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.6 --- Timing and nature of formation of the Ios metamorphic core complex, southern Cyclades, Greece / Stuart N. Thomson, Uwe Ring, Stephanie Brichau, Johannes Glodny and Thomas M. Will / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 139-167, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.7 --- Timing of the Amorgos detachment system and implications for detachment faulting in the southern Aegean Sea, Greece / Uwe Ring, Stuart N. Thomson and Gideon Rosenbaum / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 169-178, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.8 --- Cenozoic tectonic evolution of Naxos Island through a multi-faceted approach of fission-track analysis / Diane Seward, Olivier Vanderhaeghe, Luc Siebenaller, Stuart Thomson, Christian Hibsch, Anatol Zingg, Patrick Holzner, Uwe Ring and Stephanie Duchêne / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 179-196, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.9 --- Syn-extensional granitoids in the Menderes core complex and the late Cenozoic extensional tectonics of the Aegean province / Yildirim Dilek, Şafak Altunkaynak and Zeynep Öner / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 197-223, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.10 --- A case study of lateral spreading: the Precambrian Svecofennian Orogen / Annakaisa Korja, Paula Kosunen and Pekka Heikkinen / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 225-251, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.11

Description / Table of Contents: Accretionary orogens form at convergent plate boundaries and include the supra-subduction zone forearc, magmatic arc and backarc components. They can be broken into retreating and advancing types, based on their kinematic framework and resulting geological character. Accretionary systems have been active throughout Earth history, extending back until at least 3.2 Ga, and provide an important constraint on the initiation of horizontal motion of lithospheric plates on Earth. Accretionary orogens have been responsible for major growth of the continental lithosphere, through the addition of juvenile magmatic products, but are also major sites of consumption and reworking of continental crust through time. The aim of this volume is to provide a better understanding of accretionary processes and their role in the formation and evolution of the continental crust. Fourteen papers deal with general aspects of accretion and metamorphism and discuss examples of accretionary orogens and crustal growth through Earth history, from the Archaean to the Cenozoic.

Description / Table of Contents: Founded in 1807, the Geological Society of London became the world's first learned society devoted to the Earth sciences. In celebration of the Society's 200-year history, this book commemorates the lives of the Society's 13 founders and sets geology in its national and European context at the turn of the nineteenth century. In Britain, geology was emerging as a subject in its own right from three closely related disciplines - chemistry, mineralogy and medicine - disciplines that reflect the principal professions and interests of the founders. The tremendous energy and cooperation of these 13 men, about whom little was previously known, quickly mobilized like-minded men around the country and fuelled the nation's passion for geology; an enthusiasm that soon spread to America and Australia. Two previously unpublished works from this period, essential to understanding the founding of the Society, are reproduced here for the first time. The book closes with a review of the Society's 2007 Bicentenary celebrations.

Description / Table of Contents: Non-marine Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic formations are widespread in mainland SE Asia. Although the first reports on fossils from some of these formations were published as early as the 1890s, it is only since 1980 that floras and faunas from the Permian, Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous of SE Asia have received the attention they deserve. Fieldwork in various parts of Thailand and Laos has revealed a succession of fossil assemblages that now allows a reconstruction of the evolution of continental ecosystems in that part of the world during the Late Palaeozoic and the Mesozoic. The first papers in this book present the geological background of these floral and faunal successions, as well as historical aspects of their discovery. Descriptions of new taxa and review papers deal with plants, sharks, bony fishes, turtles, crocodilians, dinosaurs and mammal-like reptiles. Papers about the Mesozoic palaeobiogeography, environments and climates of Asia conclude the volume.

Description / Table of Contents: Given the tremendous toll in human lives and attendant economic losses, it is appropriate that scientists are working hard to understand better earthquakes, with the aim of forecasting and, ultimately, predicting them. In the last decades increasing attention has been paid to the coseismic effects on the natural environment, creating a solid base of empirical data for the estimation of source parameters of strong earthquakes based on geological observations. The recently introduced INQUA scale (Environmental Seismic Intensity–ESI 2007 Scale) of macroseismic intensity clearly shows how the systematic study of earthquake surface faulting, coseismic liquefaction, tsunami deposits and other primary and secondary ground effects can be integrated with ‘traditional’ seismological and tectonic information to provide a better understanding of the seismicity level of an area and the associated hazards. At the moment this is the only scientific means of equating the seismic records to the seismic cycle time-spans extending the seismic catalogues even to tens of thousands of years, improving future seismic hazard analyses. This Special Publication covers some of the latest multidisciplinary work undertaken to achieve that aim. Eighteen papers from research groups from all continents address a wide range of topics related both to palaeoseismological studies and assessment of macroseismic intensity based only on the natural phenomena associated with an earthquake.

Description / Table of Contents: The Devonian was a critical period with respect to the diversification of early terrestrial ecosystems. The geotectonic setting was characterized by the switch from the post-Caledonian to the pre-Variscan situation. Plant life on land evolved from tiny tracheophytes to trees of considerable size in combination with a global increase in terrestrial biomass, and vertebrates started to conquer the land. Extensive shallow-marine areas and continental lowlands with a wide range of different habitats existed. These are preserved in a large number of basins all around the world. Climate change finally led from greenhouse to icehouse conditions towards the end of the Devonian. Rapid evolution of terrestrial ecosystems and climate change had a pronounced influence on sedimentation and biodiversity, not only in the terrestrial, but also in the marine realm. This volume contains case studies from Australia, China, Europe, South America and North America, and individual palaeoecosystems and their components have been investigated in different palaeogeographic settings that contribute to a much better understanding of the Devonian Period. This is a contribution to the IGCP 499 project on "Devonian land-sea interaction: evolution of ecosystems and climate".

Description / Table of Contents: Geodynamics of collision and collapse at the Africa–Arabia–Eurasia subduction zone – an introduction / Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen, Michael A. Edwards and Rob Govers / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 1-7, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.1 --- Melange genesis and ophiolite emplacement related to subduction of the northern margin of the Tauride–Anatolide continent, central and western Turkey / Alastair H. F. Robertson, Osman Parlak and Tı̇mur Ustaömer / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 9-66, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.2 --- Tectono-stratigraphy of the Çankırı Basin: Late Cretaceous to early Miocene evolution of the Neotethyan Suture Zone in Turkey / Nuretdin Kaymakci, Yakup Özçelik, Stanley H. White and Paul M. Van Dijk / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 67-106, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.3 --- Oligocene–Miocene basin evolution in SE Anatolia, Turkey: constraints on the closure of the eastern Tethys gateway / Silja K. Hüsing, Willem-Jan Zachariasse, Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen, Wout Krijgsman, Murat Inceöz, Mathias Harzhauser, Oleg Mandic and Andreas Kroh / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 107-132, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.4 --- Long-term evolution of the North Anatolian Fault: new constraints from its eastern termination / Aurélia Hubert-Ferrari, Geoffrey King, Jérome van der Woerd, Igor Villa, Erhan Altunel and Rolando Armijo / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 133-154, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.5 --- Mediterranean snapshots of accelerated slab retreat: subduction instability in stalled continental collision / M. A. Edwards and B. Grasemann / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 155-192, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.6 --- Evolution of the southern Tyrrhenian slab tear and active tectonics along the western edge of the Tyrrhenian subducted slab / Andrea Argnani / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 193-212, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.7 --- Geochemical and temporal evolution of Cenozoic magmatism in western Turkey: mantle response to collision, slab break-off, and lithospheric tearing in an orogenic belt / Yildirim Dilek and Şafak Altunkaynak / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 213-233, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.8 --- Insights from the Apennines metamorphic complexes and their bearing on the kinematics evolution of the orogen / Gianluca Vignaroli, Claudio Faccenna, Federico Rossetti and Laurent Jolivet / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 235-256, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.9 --- Sequential development of interfering metamorphic core complexes: numerical experiments and comparison with the Cyclades, Greece / C. Tirel, P. Gautier, D. J. J. van Hinsbergen and M. J. R. Wortel / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 257-292, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.10 --- The Itea–Amfissa detachment: a pre-Corinth rift Miocene extensional structure in central Greece / Dimitrios Papanikolaou, Leonidas Gouliotis and Maria Triantaphyllou / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 293-310, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.11 --- Neogene brittle detachment faulting on Kos (E Greece): implications for a southern break-away fault of the Menderes metamorphic core complex (western Turkey) / Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen and Flora Boekhout / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 311-320, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.12 --- Magnetostratigraphy of early–middle Miocene deposits from east–west trending Alaşehir and Büyük Menderes grabens in western Turkey, and its tectonic implications / Sevket Sen and Gürol Seyitoğlu / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 321-342, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.13 --- The structure of the Kythira–Antikythira strait, offshore SW Greece (35.7°–36.6°N) / Eleni Kokinou and Evangelos Kamberis / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 343-360, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.14 --- Erratum --- Melange genesis and ophiolite emplacement related to subduction of the northern margin of the Tauride–Anatolide continent, central and western Turkey / Alastair H. F. Robertson, Osman Parlak and Tı̇mur Ustaömer / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 1, 29 July 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.Erratum