ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: This is the first textbook to address all the components of the Earth's cryosphere - all forms of snow and ice, both terrestrial and marine. It provides a concise but comprehensive summary of snow cover, glaciers, ice sheets, lake and river ice, permafrost, sea ice and icebergs - their past history and projected future state. It is designed for courses at upper undergraduate and graduate level in environmental science, geography, geology, glaciology, hydrology, water resource engineering and ocean sciences. It also provides a superb up-to-date summary for researchers of the cryosphere. The book includes an extensive bibliography, numerous figures and color plates, thematic boxes on selected topics and a glossary. The book builds on courses taught by the authors for many decades at the University of Colorado and the University of Alberta. Whilst there are many existing texts on individual components of the cryosphere, no other textbook covers the whole cryosphere.

Description / Table of Contents: During the last decades, the monitoring and modelling of various geodynamic processes have gained ever increasing importance. In particular, temporal variations of the deformation and gravity fields recorded by new types of geodetic measuring techniques and reflecting isostatic, tectonic or volcanic processes in the earth's interior as well as climatologically induced changes on its surface have opened new avenues. The present volume succeeds a similar topical volume published in 2007 and reflects the most recent developments in these fields of research. Part of the papers in this book were presented at the second workshop on 'Deformation and Gravity Change: Indicators of Isostasy, Tectonics, Volcanism and Climate Change' that took place at the Casa de los Volcanes on Lanzarote, Spain, during March 27-30, 2007. It was jointly organized and supported by the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, the Spanish Council for Scientific Research and the Cabildo Insular de Lanzarote. The workshop also served as the second meeting of the members of the IAG Working Group ICCT2 on 'Dynamic Theories of Deformation and Gravity Fields'.

Description / Table of Contents: Stress re-distribution as a result of exploitation of mineral, hydrocarbon, geothermal, and water resources cannot be eliminated. The effort must be directed to a better understanding of the underlying processes for the management of the hazard and risk associated with these operations. The study of induced seismicity has continually evolved over the past couple of decades, as underlined by both the number and complexity of applied studies required to satisfy the increased economic demands, assure the safety of the workforce and equipment, and protect the environment. A considerable effort has been put into the development of passive monitoring technology, specialized products and services being available for a wide range of applications. The recording of substantial high quality seismic data has stimulated the work on theoretical and practical aspects related to these applications, involving not only seismological knowledge, but also elements of rock mechanics, and an understanding of mining, geotechnical, and petroleum engineering. Pure and Applied Geophysics has largely contributed to raising the profile of induced seismicity research and its credibility. The range of specific analyses included in the present collection of studies expresses how powerful and resourceful passive seismic monitoring has become to so many applications. Seismic data are routinely evaluated for a series of development activities specific to each application. Engineering practice is continually improved based on trials and analyses of the ground response and stress levels, confirmed through the monitoring of seismicity. We are better equipped than ever to provide management decisions based on formalized, quantitative, and thus objective assessment.

Description / Table of Contents: This topical volume focuses on the most recent advances that have been achieved in relevant fields of research of nuclear test ban monitoring, including seismology, infrasound- and hydro-acoustics, as well as nuclear physics and atmospheric backtracking. This research has been presented during the special sessions on "Research and Development in Nuclear Explosion Monitoring" convened during the 2007 and 2008 General Assemblies of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The special sessions were introduced after the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO Prepcom) had convened a scientific symposium in 2006 on "CTBT: Synergies with Science 1996-2006 and beyond" marking the tenth anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the CTBT Treaty. With regard to the seismo-acoustic fields several papers provide important updates on advances made in these fields since publication of ‘Monitoring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty’ (see PAGEOPH topical volumes 158-159, 2001-2002). Moreover, this topical volume expands on these publications by including radionuclide and noble gas monitoring, as well as atmospheric transport modeling. In these two areas, significant progress has been made in recent years. Two papers studying the 2006 North Korean nuclear test elucidate how progress made in the relevant fields has allowed for a good understanding on the characteristics of this underground nuclear test.

Description / Table of Contents: Energy is intrinsic to urban settlements, embedded in the built environment, and directly used to power socio-economic activity, transport and communications, and enable the provision of municipal services. In response to the crucial role of urban energy efficiency for environmentally sustainable and inclusive development processes, ESMAP’s Energy Efficient Cities Initiative (EECI) was launched in October 2008 to facilitate the implementation of practical energy solutions that meet the development priorities of cities, and simultaneously build their climate resilience. Chapter 1 begins with a contextual background on the inter-related associations between energy, socio-economic progress and urbanization. This edited volume compiles seven topical papers presented at the two EECI sponsored sessions during the World Bank’s fifth Urban Research Symposium, held at Marseille, France, June 28-30, 2009. Chapters 2–8 comprise the papers presented at these sessions: i) tools and assessment approaches on energy efficient urban development, and ii) good practices that promote low carbon sectoral interventions. The analytical tools and policy insights offered in this volume extend from integrated assessments of new cities to the impacts of socio-economic, climate and demographic changes on existing cities. Sector-specific interventions are discussed in the context of tools to ‘green’ buildings in Australia, the transformation to efficient lighting systems in the Philippines, and Demand Responsive Transport Systems in France. In addition, the documentation and benchmarking of a variety of low-carbon and carbon neutral good practices provides a range of practical insights on plausible energy efficient interventions in urban sectors. Thus the chapters in this publication comprise significant contributions to the ESMAP objective of mainstreaming and leveraging knowledge and initiatives on urban energy efficiency. Following from them, the last chapter 9 provides a contextual overview of ESMAP’s programmatic priorities to support energy efficient urban growth, to be effected through EECI.

Description / Table of Contents: The Mesozoic Era begins with the approximately 50-million-year-long Triassic Period, a major juncture in Earth history when the vast Pangaean supercontinent completed its assembly and began its fragmentation, and the global biota diversified and modernized after the end-Permian mass extinction, the most extensive biotic decimation of the Phanerozoic. The temporal ordering of geological and biotic events during Triassic time thus is critical to the interpretation of some unique and pivotal events in Earth history. This temporal ordering is mostly based on the Triassic timescale, which has been developed and refined for nearly two centuries. This book reviews the state of the art of the Triassic timescale and includes comprehensive analyses of Triassic radio-isotopic ages, magnetostratigraphy, isotope-based and cyclostratigraphic correlations and timescale -relevant marine and non-marine biostratigraphy.

Description / Table of Contents: Natural stone is considered to be a versatile, durable and aesthetically pleasing building material. From the beginning of civilization, important structures and monuments have been built from, or based on, natural stone. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the use of local stone resources was mostly in balance with the local environment. Strict environmental legislation has resulted in the closing of many long-standing quarries in industrialized countries, which has led to a shortage of traditional stone varieties. This has caused problems for restoration practice. Cheap, imported stone from less industrialized countries has become more widely available in recent years. Some of the issues related to built stone conservation and restoration covered by this volume are: the establishment of inventories of possible replacement stones; understanding the decay mechanism and use of preventive conservation methods for slowing down decay processes; evaluation of the properties of natural stone; and assessing the risks of using replacement stones of different qualities.

Description / Table of Contents: Limestone is a highly successful and widely used building material, found in many important historic buildings and new monuments around the world. Whilst its success reflects its durability under a wide range of environmental conditions, there are still important questions surrounding the selection, use and conservation of building limestones. In order to make best use of new limestone today, and to conserve old limestone most effectively, we need to bring modern research methods to bear on understanding the characteristics of different limestones, what mortars to use, and how key limestones have responded to polluted atmospheres. This volume brings together recent inter-disciplinary research on these issues, illustrating the diversity of innovative techniques that are now being applied to furthering our understanding of building limestones.

Description / Table of Contents: The Zagros fold-thrust belt (ZFTB) extends from Turkey to the Hormuz Strait, resulting from the collision of the Arabian and Eurasian plates during Cenozoic times, and separates the Arabian platform from the large plateaux of central Iran. To the east a pronounced syntaxis marks the transition between the Zagros collision belt and the Makran accretionary wedge. In the ZFTB, the Proterozoic to Recent stratigraphic succession pile is involved in huge folds, and offers the opportunity to study the stratigraphic and tectonic evolution of the Palaeo-Tethyan margin. Few recent data were widely available on the southern Tethys margin preserved in the Zagros Mountains. The Middle East Basins Evolution (MEBE) program was an excellent opportunity to go back to the field and to collect new data to better constrain the evolution of this margin. In this volume the structure of the Zagros Mountains is explored through different scales and using different methodologies.

Description / Table of Contents: Several different databases and models have been developed over many years of petrological study carried out by several European and non-European groups on mantle xenoliths, peridotite massifs, ophiolites and mafic magmas spanning in age from Archaean to Recent times. This volume aims to bring together these different approaches and to integrate the geochemical perceptions of the European upper mantle. The papers include regional petrological studies of the European lithospheric mantle, from Spain to the Pannonian Basin, from Corsica and Serbia as far north as Svalbard. Six contributions are based on studies of mantle xenoliths, while the remaining three deal with ophiolitic and peridotitic complexes. A further article provides an update on the textural classification of mantle rocks using a computer-aided approach and there is an introductory overview.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume contains a collection of stratigraphic and diagenetic case studies of Mesozoic and Cenozoic carbonate sequences from the Tethyan realm. High levels of industry and academic interest in the region have generated numerous multi-disciplinary studies of these sequences, a selection of which are presented in this volume. The studies presented are based on both comprehensive subsurface datasets from important hydrocarbon-bearing strata of the Middle East and the excellent surface exposures in the region of interest. The studies presented in this volume may serve as suitable starting points in the development of age and architecture specific carbonate reference models. Such models can form the basis of internally consistent models for carbonate deposition, sequence development and reservoir performance. Ideally such models, suitably scaled, will be equally applicable to academic studies, the exploration and development phases of the field life cycle and in the prediction of future reservoir performance.

Description / Table of Contents: During the last three decades geosciences and geo-engineering were influenced by two essential scenarios: First, the technological progress has changed completely the observational and measurement techniques. Modern high speed computers and satellite based techniques are entering more and more all geodisciplines. Second, there is a growing public concern about the future of our planet, its climate, its environment, and about an expected shortage of natural resources. Mathematics concerned with geoscientific problems, i.e., Geomathematics, is becoming increasingly important. The "Handbook of Geomathematics" as a central reference work in this area comprises the following scientific fields: (I) observational and measurement key technologies; (II) modelling of the system Earth (geosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere); (III) analytic, algebraic, and operator-theoretic methods; (IV) statistical and stochastic methods; (V) computational and numerical analysis methods; (VI) historical background and future perspectives.

Description / Table of Contents: Fold-and-thrust belts occur worldwide, have formed in all eras of geological time, and are widely recognized as the most common mode in which the crust accommodates shortening. Much current research on the structure of fold-and-thrust belts is focused on structural studies of regions or individual structures and on the geometry and evolution of these regions employing kinematic, mechanical and experimental modelling. In keeping with the main trends of current research, this title is devoted to the kinematic evolution and structural styles of a number of fold-and-thrust belts formed from Palaeozoic to Recent times. The papers included in this book cover a broad range of different topics, from modelling approaches to predict internal deformation of single structures, 3D reconstructions to decipher the structural evolution of groups of structures, palaeomagnetic studies of portions of fold-and-thrust belts, geometrical and kinematical aspects of Coulomb thrust wedges and structural analyses of fold-and-thrust belts to unravel their sequence of deformations.

Description / Table of Contents: Human impact on our environment is not a new phenomenon. For millennia, humans have been coping with – or provoking – environmental change. We have exploited, extracted, over-used, but also in many cases nurtured, the resources that the geosphere offers. Geoarchaeology studies the traces of human interactions with the geosphere and provides the key to recognizing landscape and environmental change, human impacts and the effects of environmental change on human societies. This collection of papers from around the world includes case studies and broader reviews covering the time period since before modern human beings came into existence up until the present day. To understand ourselves, we need to understand that our world is constantly changing, and that change is dynamic and complex. Geoarchaeology provides an inclusive and long-term view of human–geosphere interactions and serves as a valuable aid to those who try to determine sustainable policies for the future.

Description / Table of Contents: The past few decades have witnessed the growth of the Earth Sciences in the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the planet that we live on. This development addresses the challenging endeavor to enrich human lives with the bounties of Nature as well as to preserve the planet for the generations to come. Solid Earth Geophysics aspires to define and quantify the internal structure and processes of the Earth in terms of the principles of physics and forms the intrinsic framework, which other allied disciplines utilize for more specific investigations. The first edition of the Encyclopedia of Solid Earth Geophysics was published in 1989 by Van Nostrand Reinhold publishing company. More than two decades later, this new volume, edited by Prof. Harsh K. Gupta, represents a thoroughly revised and expanded reference work. It brings together more than 200 articles covering established and new concepts of Geophysics across the various sub-disciplines such as Gravity, Geodesy, Geomagnetism, Seismology, Seismics, Deep Earth Processes, Plate Tectonics, Thermal Domains, Computational Methods, etc. in a systematic and consistent format and standard. It is an authoritative and current reference source with extraordinary width of scope. It draws its unique strength from the expert contributions of editors and authors across the globe. It is designed to serve as a valuable and cherished source of information for current and future generations of professionals.

Description / Table of Contents: Collision between Australia and SE Asia began in the Early Miocene and reduced the former wide ocean between them to a complex passage which connects the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Today, the Indonesian Throughflow passes through this gateway and plays an important role in global thermohaline flow. The surrounding region contains the maximum global diversity for many marine and terrestrial organisms. Reconstruction of this geologically complex region is essential for understanding its role in oceanic and atmospheric circulation, climate impacts, and the origin of its biodiversity. The papers in this volume discuss the Palaeozoic to Cenozoic geological background to Australia and SE Asia collision. They provide the background for accounts of the modern Indonesian Throughflow and oceanographic changes since the Neogene, and consider aspects of the region's climate history.

Description / Table of Contents: As the hubs of economic activity, cities drive the vast majority of the world’s energy use and are major contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions. Because they are home to major infrastructure and highly concentrated populations, cities are also vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as rising sea levels, warmer temperatures and fiercer storms. At the same time, better urban planning and policies can reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions and improve the resilience of urban infrastructure to climate change, thus shaping future trends. This book shows how city and metropolitan regional governments working in tandem with national governments can change the way we think about responding to climate change. The chapters analyse: trends in urbanisation, economic growth, energy use and climate change; the economic benefits of climate action; the role of urban policies in reducing energy demand, improving resilience to climate change and complementing global climate policies; frameworks for multilevel governance of climate change including engagement with relevant stakeholders; and the contribution of cities to “green growth”, including the “greening” of fiscal policies, innovation and jobs. The book also explores policy tools and best practices from both OECD and some non-member countries. Cities and Climate Change reveals the importance of addressing climate change across all levels of government. Local involvement through “climate-conscious” urban planning and management can help achieve national climate goals and minimise tradeoffs between environmental and economic priorities at local levels. The book will be relevant to policy makers, researchers, and others with an interest in learning more about urbanisation and climate change policy.

Description / Table of Contents: The earth’s cryosphere, which includes snow, glaciers and ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, sea ice, river and lake ice, and frozen ground, contains about 75% of the earth’s fresh water. It exists at almost all latitudes, from the tropics to the poles, and plays a vital role in controlling the global climate system. It also provides direct visible evidence of the effect of climate change, and, therefore, requires proper understanding of the complex dynamics. This encyclopedia mainly focuses on the various aspects of snow, ice and glaciers, but also covers other cryospheric branches, and provides an up-to-date information and basic concepts on relevant topics. It includes alphabetically arranged and professionally written, comprehensive and authoritative academic articles by well-known international experts in individual fields. The encyclopedia contains a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from the atmospheric processes responsible for snow formation; transformation of snow to ice and changes in their properties; classification of ice and glaciers and their worldwide distribution; glaciation and ice ages; glacier dynamics; glacier surface and subsurface characteristics; geomorphic processes and landscape formation; hydrology and sedimentary systems; permafrost degradation; hazards caused by cryospheric changes; and trends of glacier retreat on the global scale along with the impact of climate change. This book can serve as a source of reference at the undergraduate and graduate level and help better understand snow, ice and glaciers. This will also be an indispensable tool containing specialized literature for geologists, geographers, climatologists, hydrologists, and water resources engineers; as well as to those who are engaged in the practice of agricultural and civil engineering, earth sciences, environmental sciences and engineering, ecosystem management, and other relevant subjects.

Description / Table of Contents: This book is intended to introduce the reader to examples of the range of practical problems posed by "Global Warming". It includes 11 chapters split into 5 sections. Section 1 outlines the recent changes in the Indian Monsoon, the importance of greenhouse gases to life, and the relative importance of changes in solar radiation in causing the changes. Section 2 discusses the changes to natural hazards such as floods, retreating glaciers and potential sea level changes. Section 3 examines planning cities and transportation systems in the light of the changes, while section 4 looks at alternative energy sources. Section 5 estimates the changes to the carbon pool in the alpine meadows of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The 11 authors come from 9 different countries, so the examples are taken from a truly international set of problems.

Description / Table of Contents: This book aims to strengthen the knowledge base dealing with Air Pollution. The book consists of 21 chapters dealing with Air Pollution and its effects in the fields of Health, Environment, Economy and Agricultural Sources. It is divided into four sections. The first one deals with effect of air pollution on health and human body organs. The second section includes the Impact of air pollution on plants and agricultural sources and methods of resistance. The third section includes environmental changes, geographic and climatic conditions due to air pollution. The fourth section includes case studies concerning of the impact of air pollution in the economy and development goals, such as, indoor air pollution in México, indoor air pollution and millennium development goals in Bangladesh, epidemiologic and economic impact of natural gas on indoor air pollution in Colombia and economic growth and air pollution in Iran during development programs. In this book the authors explain the definition of air pollution, the most important pollutants and their different sources and effects on humans and various fields of life. The authors offer different solutions to the problems resulting from air pollution.

Description / Table of Contents: The atmosphere may be our most precious resource. Accordingly, the balance between its use and protection is a high priority for our civilization. While many of us would consider air pollution to be an issue that the modern world has resolved to a greater extent, it still appears to have considerable influence on the global environment. In many countries with ambitious economic growth targets the acceptable levels of air pollution have been transgressed. Serious respiratory disease related problems have been identified with both indoor and outdoor pollution throughout the world. The 25 chapters of this book deal with several air pollution issues grouped into the following sections: a) air pollution chemistry; b) air pollutant emission control; c) radioactive pollution and d) indoor air quality.

Description / Table of Contents: Air pollution is about five decades or so old field and continues to be a global concern. Therefore, the governments around the world are involved in managing air quality in their countries for the welfare of their citizens. The management of air pollution involves understanding air pollution sources, monitoring of contaminants, modeling air quality, performing laboratory experiments, the use of satellite images for quantifying air quality levels, indoor air pollution, and elimination of contaminants through control. Research activities are being performed on every aspect of air pollution throughout the world, in order to respond to public concerns. The book is grouped in five different sections. Some topics are more detailed than others. The readers should be aware that multi-authored books have difficulty maintaining consistency. A reader will find, however, that each chapter is intellectually stimulating. Our goal was to provide current information and present a reasonable analysis of air quality data compiled by knowledgeable professionals in the field of air pollution.

Description / Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Plates Amalgamation and Plate Destruction, the Western Gondwana History by Ngako Vincent and Njonfang Emmanuel --- Chapter 2: Lithospheric Structure and Tectonics of the Eastern Alps – Evidence from New Seismic Data by Ewald Brückl --- Chapter 3: Structure and Plate Tectonic Evolution of the Northern Outer Carpathians by Jan Golonka, Kaja Pietsch and Paweł Marzec --- Chapter 4: Tectonic Model of the Sinai Peninsula Based on Geophysical Investigations by Taha Rabeh --- Chapter 5: Siberia - From Rodinia to Eurasia by Dmitry V. Metelkin, Valery A. Vernikovsky and Alexey Yu. Kazansky --- Chapter 6: Proto-Basin Types of North China Craton (NCC) in Late Triassic and Its Implication for Regional Tectonics of Initial Craton Destruction by Yang Minghui, Liu Chiyang, Zeng Peng, Bai Hua and Zhou Jin --- Chapter 7: Tectonic Implications of Stratigraphy Architecture in Distal Part of Foreland Basin, Southwestern Taiwan by Jong-Chang Wu, Kenn-Ming Yang, Yi-Ru Chen and Wen-Rong Chi --- Chapter 8: Seismic Hazard in Tien Shan: Basement Structure Control Over the Deformation Induced by Indo-Eurasia Collision by Buslov, Mikhail M. and De Grave, Johan --- Chapter 9: Lithosphere as a Nonlinear System: Geodynamic Consequences by E. G. Mirlin --- Chapter 10: Layer-Block Tectonics, a New Concept of Plate Tectonics - An Example from Nansha Micro-Plate, Southern South China Sea by Hai-ling Liu, Hong-bo Zheng, Yan-Lin Wang, Chao-Hua Wu, Mei-Song Zhao and Yun-Kong Du --- Chapter 11: The Role of Geoelectrical DC Methods in Determining the Subsurface Tectonics Features. Case Studies from Syria by Jamal Asfahani --- Chapter 12: Salt Tectonics of the Lisan Diapir Revealed by Synthetic Aperture Radar Images by Damien Closson, Najib Abou Karaki, Nada Milisavljević, Frédéric Hallot, and Marc Acheroy --- Chapter 13: Mantle-like Trace Element Composition of Petroleum – Contributions from Serpentinizing Peridotites by Peter Szatmari, Teresa Cristina O. da Fonseca and Norbert F. Miekeley

Description / Table of Contents: One of the aims of the Living Books About Life series is to provide a 'bridge' or point of connection, translation, even interrogation and contestation, between the humanities and the sciences. Accordingly, this introduction to Digitize Me, Visualize Me, Search Me takes as its starting point the so-called ‘computational turn’ to data-intensive scholarship in the humanities. The phrase ‘the computational turn’ has been adopted to refer to the process whereby techniques and methodologies drawn from (in this case) computer science and related fields – including science visualization, interactive information visualization, image processing, network analysis, statistical data analysis, and the management, manipulation and mining of data – are being used to produce new ways of approaching and understanding texts in the humanities; what is sometimes thought of as ‘the digital humanities’. The concern in the main has been with either digitizing ‘born analog’ humanities texts and artifacts (e.g. making annotated editions of the art and writing of William Blake available to scholars and researchers online), or gathering together ‘born digital’ humanities texts and artifacts (videos, websites, games, photography, sound recordings, 3D data), and then taking complex and often extremely large-scale data analysis techniques from computing science and related fields and applying them to these humanities texts and artifacts - to this ‘big data’, as it has been called. Witness Lev Manovich and the Software Studies Initiative’s use of ‘digital image analysis and new visualization techniques’ to study ‘20,000 pages of Science and Popular Science magazines… published between 1872-1922, 780 paintings by van Gogh, 4535 covers of Time magazine (1923-2009) and one million manga pages’ (Manovich, 2011), or Dan Cohen and Fred Gibbs’s text mining of ‘the 1,681,161 books that were published in English in the UK in the long nineteenth century’ (Cohen, 2010). What Digitize Me, Visualize Me, Search Me endeavours to show is that such data-focused transformations in research can be seen as part of a major alteration in the status and nature of knowledge. It is an alteration that, according to the philosopher Jean-François Lyotard, has been taking place since at least the 1950s, and involves nothing less than a shift away from a concern with questions of what is right and just, and toward a concern with legitimating power by optimizing the social system’s performance in instrumental, functional terms. This shift has significant consequences for our idea of knowledge.

Description / Table of Contents: Different species, interacting in a symbiotic fashion, living together over a prolonged period of time, eventually co-evolving into new species: this vision of the biological phenomenon of symbiosis has created a strong impression—both of symbiosis as a metaphor and a material reality—of species in an intimate relationship together, cooperating in spite of differences, of becoming something else and transgressing boundaries. This idea has turned the concept of symbiosis, in its many guises and definitions,[1] into a breading ground for a posthuman, biologically and ecologically informed critique. Less focused on the biological process of symbiosis as such, our focus in Symbiosis: Ecologies, Assemblages and Evolution is more on how symbiosis can be used as a means to argue for an alternative worldview and even a better world. Interestingly, Angela Elizabeth Douglas notices a similar effect in her book The Symbiotic Habit (2010), where she talks about the growing importance of ‘applied symbiosis research’. Douglas refers above all to how research into symbiotic processes has the potential to help solve some of the practical problems mankind is facing through anthropogenically induced effects, such as climate change and environmental disasters; and in this way influence and improve (our) ecosystem(s) and make the world in which we live much healthier (Douglas, 2010: viii). This living book consists of a number of examples of how symbiosis has been deployed. For instance, as a critique of the mainstream Darwinian idea of evolution as struggle; of the anthropocentric worldview that operates within the sciences and society at large; and of the idea of organisms or objects as static and isolated entities. Given the way in which symbiotic processes offer seeds for alternative worldviews, research on symbiosis has been taken-up as providing evidence for becoming as an infinite creative process, for the (animal, microbal, machinic, and/or virtual) other as an integral part of the multiple I, and for the integrated cooperation of living and non-living affects as one interconnected mesh.

Description / Table of Contents: Soil erosion affects a large part of the Earth surface, and accelerated soil erosion is recognized as one of the main soil threats, compromising soil productive and protective functions. The land management in areas affected by soil erosion is a relevant issue for landscape and ecosystems preservation. In this book we collected a series of papers on erosion, not focusing on agronomic implications, but on a variety of other relevant aspects of the erosion phenomena. The book is divided into three sections: i) various implications of land management in arid and semiarid ecosystems, ii) erosion modeling and experimental studies; iii) other applications (e.g. geoscience, engineering). The book covers a wide range of erosion-related themes from a variety of points of view (assessment, modeling, mitigation, best practices etc.).

Description / Table of Contents: Worldwide attention to environmental issues combined with the energy crisis force us to reduce greenhouse emissions and increase the usage of renewable energy sources as a solution to providing an efficient environment. This book addresses the current issues of sustainable growth and applications in renewable energy sources. The fifteen chapters of the book have been divided into two sections to organize the information accessible to readers. The book provides a variety of material, for instance on policies aiming at the promotion of sustainable development and implementation aspects of RES.

Description / Table of Contents: This book entitled "Biodiesel: Quality, Emissions and By-products" covers topics related to biodiesel quality, performance of combustion engines that use biodiesel and the emissions they generate. New routes to determinate biodiesel properties are proposed and the process how the raw material source, impurities and production practices can affect the quality of the biodiesel is analyzed. In relation to the utilization of biofuel, the performance of combustion engines fuelled by biodiesel and biodiesels blends are evaluated. The applications of glycerol, a byproduct of the biodiesel production process as a feedstock for biotechnological processes, and a key compound of the biorefinery of the future is also emphasized.

Description / Table of Contents: The fourth book of the four-volume edition of 'Solar cells' consists chapters that are general in nature and not related specifically to the so-called photovoltaic generations, novel scientific ideas and technical solutions, which has not properly approved. General issues of the efficiency of solar cell and through hydrogen production in photoelectrochemical solar cell are discussed. Considerable attention is paid to the quantum-size effects in solar cells both in general and on specific examples of super-lattices, quantum dots, etc. New materials, such as cuprous oxide as an active material for solar cells, AlSb for use as an absorber layer in p-i-n junction solar cells, InGaAsN as a promising material for multi-junction tandem solar cells, InP in solar cells with MIS structures are discussed. Several chapters are devoted to the analysis of both status and perspective of organic photovoltaics such as polymer/fullerene solar cells, poly(p-phenylene-vinylene) derivatives, photovoltaic textiles, photovoltaic fibers, etc.

Description / Table of Contents: The past decade has witnessed a major revival in attempts to separate biodiversity signals from biases imposed by sampling and the architecture of the rock record. How large a problem this poses to our understanding of biodiversity patterns remains debatable, and new approaches are being developed to investigate this question. Here palaeobiologists with widely differing approaches and interests explore the problems of extracting reliable information on biodiversity change from an imperfect geological record. Topics covered range from the application of information-theoretic approaches that identify directional causal relationships to an in-depth study of how geological biases could influence our understanding of dinosaur evolution. A wide range of new insights into the links between the land, shallow-marine and deep-sea rock and fossil records are presented, making this volume invaluable to anyone in the Earth or life sciences who wishes to remain abreast of this dynamic and rapidly evolving research area.

Description / Table of Contents: To better understand the contemporary world, the world of innovation and technology, science should try to synthesize and assimilate social science in the development of our civilization. Does the new era require new knowledge? Does the age of globalization demand new education, new human attitudes? This books tries to clarify these questions. The book New Knowledge in a New Era of Globalization consists of 16 chapters divided into three sections: Globalization and Education; Globalization and Human Being; Globalization and Space. The Authors of respective chapters represent a great diversity of disciplines and methodological approaches as well as a variety of academic culture. This book is a valuable contribution and it will certainly be appreciated by a global community of scholars.

Description / Table of Contents: Crop production depends on the successful implementation of the soil, water, and nutrient management technologies. Food production by the year 2020 needs to be increased by 50 percent more than the present levels to satisfy the needs of around 8 billion people. Much of the increase would have to come from intensification of agricultural production. Importance of wise usage of water, nutrient management, and tillage in the agricultural sector for sustaining agricultural growth and slowing down environmental degradation calls for urgent attention of researchers, planners, and policy makers. Crop models enable researchers to promptly speculate on the long-term consequences of changes in agricultural practices. In addition, cropping systems, under different conditions, are making it possible to identify the adaptations required to respond to changes. This book adopts an interdisciplinary approach and contributes to this new vision. Leading authors analyze topics related to crop production technologies. The efforts have been made to keep the language as simple as possible, keeping in mind the readers of different language origins. The emphasis has been on general descriptions and principles of each topic, technical details, original research work, and modeling aspects. However, the comprehensive journal references in each area should enable the reader to pursue further studies of special interest. The subject has been presented through fifteen chapters to clearly specify different topics for convenience of the readers.

Description / Table of Contents: Living with natural hazards in the Asia–Pacific region / James R. Goff and James P. Terry / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 1-2, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.1 --- The special vulnerability of Asia–Pacific islands to natural hazards / James P. Terry and James R. Goff / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 3-5, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.2 --- Flood generation during the SW monsoon season in northern Thailand / Han She Lim and Kanokporn Boochabun / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 7-20, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.3 --- Marine inundation hazards in French Polynesia: geomorphic impacts of Tropical Cyclone Oli in February 2010 / Samuel Etienne / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 21-39, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.4 --- Records of submarine natural hazards off SW Taiwan / Chih-Chieh Su, Jing-Yi Tseng, Ho-Han Hsu, Cheng-Shing Chiang, Ho-Shing Yu, Saulwood Lin and James T. Liu / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 41-60, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.5 --- Bedding structures in Indian tsunami deposits that provide clues to the dynamics of tsunami inundation / Adam D. Switzer, S. Srinivasalu, N. Thangadurai and V. Ram Mohan / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 61-77, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.6 --- Tsunami hazard related to a flank collapse of Anak Krakatau Volcano, Sunda Strait, Indonesia / T. Giachetti, R. Paris, K. Kelfoun and B. Ontowirjo / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 79-90, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.7 --- An examination of hazard communication logs and public response during the 1946 and 1960 tsunamis that impacted Hilo, Hawaii / Jeanne B. Johnston, Deanne K. Bird, James R. Goff and Walter C. Dudley / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 91-105, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.8 --- Towards better design and management of tsunami evacuation routes: a case study of Ao Jak Beach Road / Alan D. Ziegler, Roy C. Sidle, Mandy S. Song, Zuo Jin Ang and Decha Duangnamon / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 107-114, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.9 --- GIS-based techniques for assessing the vulnerability of buildings to tsunami: current approaches and future steps / C. Tarbotton, D. Dominey-Howes, J. R. Goff, M. Papathoma-Kohle, F. Dall'Osso and I. L. Turner / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 115-125, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.10 --- Impacts, recovery and resilience of Thai tourist coasts to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami / Poh Poh Wong / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 127-138, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.11 --- Earthquake catastrophe models in disaster response planning, risk mitigation and financing in developing countries in Asia / Nigel Winspear, Rade Musulin and Mohan Sharma / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 139-150, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.12 --- Geological hazards of SW Natib Volcano, site of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, the Philippines / A. M. F. Lagmay, R. Rodolfo, H. Cabria, J. Soria, P. Zamora, C. Abon, C. Lit, M. R. T. Lapus, E. Paguican, M. G. Bato, G. Tiu, E. Obille, N. E. Pellejera, P. C. Francisco, R. N. Eco and J. Aviso / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 151-169, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.13 --- Influence of the institutional and socio-economic context for responding to disasters: case study of the 1994 and 2006 eruptions of the Merapi Volcano, Indonesia / Estuning Tyas Wulan Mei and Franck Lavigne / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 171-186, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.14 --- Exploratory spatial analysis of typhoon characteristics in the North Pacific basin / Chen-Chieh Feng and James P. Terry / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 187-194, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.15 --- Geovisualization of tropical cyclone behaviour in the South Pacific / Gennady A. Gienko and James P. Terry / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 195-208, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.16 --- The value of a Pacific-wide tsunami database to risk reduction: putting theory into practice / James R. Goff, Catherine Chagué-Goff and James P. Terry / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 361, 209-220, 1 January 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP361.17

Description / Table of Contents: Ecosystems can be considered as dynamic and interactive clusters made up of plants, animals and micro-organism communities. Inevitably, mankind is an integral part of each ecosystem and as such enjoys all its provided benefits. Driven by the increasing necessity to preserve the ecosystem productivity, several ecological studies have been conducted in the last few years, highlighting the current state in which our planet is, and focusing on future perspectives. This book contains comprehensive overviews and original studies focused on hazard analysis and evaluation of ecological variables affecting species diversity, richness and distribution, in order to identify the best management strategies to face and solve the conservation problems.

Description / Table of Contents: Given that the essence of the invisible lies in our inability to see it, the large number of cultural attempts to represent and mobilise it as metaphor presents an irony. The use of invisibility as a trope dates back at least to the legend of Gyges, discussed in Plato's Republic, written around 360 BC. Gyges discovers a ring that makes him invisible; the advantage this bestows helps him to win a kingdom. Ancient etymology indicates that the name of Hades, Greek god of the underworld, means ‘invisible’ and in mythology, a helmet, rather than a ring, enables Hades to escape detection (Roman & Roman, 2009: 182). More recently, H.G. Wells warned of its dangers, exploring the suspicion and havoc invisibility can wreak; Queen have sung about its appeal; and Harry Potter dons an invisibility cloak to vanquish dark forces in the first book. In philosophy, at least for Merleau-Ponty and Derrida, albeit in different ways, the possibility of perception relies on the difference between the visible and invisible (see Reynolds, 2004). After Adam Smith, economists refer to the ‘invisible hand’ of the market: indicating a supposedly self-regulating entity. In terms of identity politics the invisible is used as a marker of the marginalised and voiceless – unrecognised by the state or society and without power, they are effectively invisible. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, for example, begins: ‘I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fibre and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me’ (1952: 1). As a result of all this cultural activity around the invisible, the strangeness, the absence, the alterity that attracts us, and encourages us to find ways to represent invisibility through existing paradigms, is undoubtedly domesticated.

Description / Table of Contents: Professor Richard (Rick) Sibson revolutionized structural geology by illustrating that fault rocks contain an integrated record of earthquakes. Fault-rock textures develop in response to geological and physical variables such as composition, environmental conditions (e.g. temperature and pressure), fluid presence and strain rate. These parameters also determine the rate- and state-variable frictional stability of a fault, the dominant mineral deformation mechanism and shear strength, and ultimately control the partitioning between seismic and aseismic deformation. This volume contains a collection of papers that address the geological record of earthquake faulting from field-based or theoretical perspectives. The papers cover observations in active fault zones, the relationships between fault rocks and fault-slip styles, interpretation of fault-rock textures from the base of the seismogenic zone, consideration of the effects of fluids on faulting, discussion of fault reactivation v. initiation, and a review of future directions in geological earthquake research by Professor Sibson.

Description / Table of Contents: Over the years, environmental change has sharpened significant dynamic evolution and knowledge in organizational structures of organisms, from cellular/molecular to macro-organism level including our society. Changes in social and ecological systems due to environmental change will hopefully result in a shift towards sustainability, with legislative and government entities responding to diverse policy and management issues concerning the building, management and restoration of social-ecological systems on a regional and global scale. Solutions are particularly needed at the regional level, where physical features of the landscape, biological systems and human institutions interact. The purpose of this book is to disseminate both theoretical and applied studies on interactions between human and natural systems from multidisciplinary research perspectives on global environmental change. It combines interdisciplinary approaches, long-term research and a practical solution to the increasing intensity of problems related to environmental change, and is intended for a broad target audience ranging from students to specialists.

Description / Table of Contents: Aquaculture is the art, science and business of cultivating aquatic animals and plants in fresh or marine waters. It is the extension of fishing, resulted from the fact that harvests of wild sources of fish and other aquatic species cannot keep up with the increased demand of a growing human population. Expansion of aquaculture can result with less care for the environment. The first pre-requisite to sustainable aquaculture is clean wate, but bad management of aquatic species production can alter or even destroy existing wild habitat, increase local pollution levels or negatively impact local species. Aquatic managers are aware of this and together with scientists are looking for modern and more effective solutions to many issues regarding fish farming. This book presents recent research results on the interaction between aquaculture and environment, and includes several case studies all over the world with the aim of improving and performing sustainable aquaculture.

Description / Table of Contents: Urban flooding is a significant challenge which today increasingly confronts the residents of the expanding cities and towns of developing countries, as well as policymakers and national, regional and local government officials. The Global Handbook presents the state-of-the art in urban flood risk management in a thorough and user-friendly way. It serves as a primer in integrated urban flood risk management for technical specialists, decision-makers and other concerned stakeholders in the private and community sectors. It covers the causes, probability and impacts of floods; the measures that can be used to manage flood risk, balancing structural and non-structural solutions in an integrated fashion; and the means by which these measures can be financed and implemented, and their progress monitored and evaluated. The Handbook provides an operational guide on how most effectively to manage the risk of floods in rapidly urbanizing settings – and within the context of a changing climate.

Description / Table of Contents: The continuing rapid growth and development of China’s cities brings many complex challenges. Tasked with supporting strong economic development that provides jobs and a good quality of life for its growing number of residents, China’s cities also must ensure sustainable development in line with national efforts to transition to a less carbon-intensive economy, as outlined in China’s 12th Five-Year Plan. Sustainable Low-Carbon City Development in China summarizes, through the specific lens of low-carbon development, the lessons of the World Bank’s activities related to sustainable urban development in China. The various chapters present overall approaches and achievements in low-carbon city developments and highlight specific experiences across all urban sectors, including energy, transport, solid waste, water, and waste water. The book also explores cities’ role in climate adaptation and opportunities presented by carbon finance and other global mechanisms to finance low-carbon city development. The World Bank project data and experience combined with the national and international experience presented in this edited book deliver both a broad picture and actionable steps for China’s urban development. The chapters argue that China’s cities not only need to, but also have an opportunity and the ability to integrate sustainable low-carbon development in their urban development. Low-carbon efforts align closely with the sustainable urbanization agenda and the book points to multiple benefits, such as improved air quality and urban livability, that can be derived from implementing this urgent agenda. The intended audience of this edited book is government officials of municipalities, cities, and townships in China who will be defining policies and programs to achieve the targets of economic growth and carbon emission reductions emerging from the 12th Five-Year Plan. The lessons presented may also be of interest to other countries and development partners supporting low-carbon urban programs.

Description / Table of Contents: Geologists have long grappled with understanding the mechanical origins of rock deformation. Stress regimes control the nucleation, growth and reactivation of faults and fractures; induce seismic activity; affect the transport of magma; and modulate structural permeability, thereby influencing the redistribution of hydrothermal and hydrocarbon fluids. Experimentalists endeavour to recreate deformation structures observed in nature under controlled stress conditions. Earth scientists studying earthquakes will attempt to monitor or deduce stress changes in the Earth as it actively deforms. All are building upon the pioneering research and concepts of Ernest Masson Anderson, dating back to the start of the twentieth century. This volume celebrates Anderson's legacy, with 14 original research papers that examine faulting and seismic hazard; structural inheritance; the role of local and regional stress fields; low angle faults and the role of pore fluids; supplemented by reviews of Andersonian approaches and a reprint of his classic paper of 1905.

Description / Table of Contents: The terrestrial space is the place of interaction of natural and social systems. The cartography is an essential tool to understand the complexity of these systems, their interaction and evolution. This brings the cartography to an important place in the modern world. The book presents several contributions at different areas and activities showing the importance of the cartography to the perception and organization of the territory. Learning with the past or understanding the present the use of cartography is presented as a way of looking to almost all themes of the knowledge.

Description / Table of Contents: Global Warming has become perhaps the most complicated issue being faced by world leaders. Thus, it requires field of attention for many modern societies, power and energy engineers, academicians, researchers and stakeholders. The so-called consensus in the past century anthropogenically induced Global Warming, has recently been disputed by rising number of climate change panelists. Whatever the uncertainties of climate models are, mankind has to strive towards reduction in the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere in order to preserve natural resources and living organisms by introducing new advances on alternative fuels and other related technologies. This book presents the state-of-the-science fundamentals on the origin of Global Warming and other related technologies that can be implemented to reduce human impact as well as to present novel policies that world leader should adopt. In this book, chapters received from various authors are placed in three sub- sections in a sequential and easy manner so as to strive an appropriate balance between breadth and depth of coverage of various topics.

Description / Table of Contents: Industry and government decision makers and others with a stake in the energy sector all need WEO-2012. It presents authoritative projections of energy trends through to 2035 and insights into what they mean for energy security, environmental sustainability and economic development. Oil, coal, natural gas, renewables and nuclear power are all covered, together with an update on climate change issues. Global energy demand, production, trade, investment and carbon-dioxide emissions are broken down by region or country, by fuel and by sector. Special strategic analyses cover: - What unlocking the purely economic potential for energy efficiency could do, country-by-country and sector-by-sector, for energy markets, the economy and the environment. - The Iraqi energy sector, examining both its importance in satisfying the country’s own needs and its crucial role in meeting global oil and gas demand. - The water-energy nexus, as water resources become increasingly stressed and access more contentious. - Measures of progress towards providing universal access to modern energy services. There are many uncertainties; but many decisions cannot wait. The insights of WEO-2012 are invaluable to those who must shape our energy future.

Description / Table of Contents: The links between air pollutants and health impacts are many and complex. The environmental health community is being challenged to take stronger mitigation to respect population health and is taking opportunities to further their implication. Recognizing, observing, and analyzing exposures are a promising way forward, but also raise a myriad of new challenges and questions, including what such approaches are, when and how they can put into practice, and what their implications are for protecting human health. This book gives an overview of key issues in air pollution. Reviews and research papers describe air pollution in a variety of context, such as: evolution of air pollutant, urban structure effects, exposure in agriculture, surface ozone monitoring, the respiratory diseases impacts, appropriate technology, and response management to the air pollution.

Description / Table of Contents: This special issue of Pure and Applied Geophysics is one of two volumes containing an augmented collection of papers originating from the Evison Symposium on Seismogenesis and Earthquake Forecasting held in Wellington, New Zealand, in February 2008. The volumes honor Frank Evison's interest in earthquake generation and forecasting. A biography of Frank Evison and a list of his publications is included, as well as review papers and new research papers in the field. The volume includes papers related to Frank's most abiding interest of precursory earthquake swarms. The research contributions cover a range of current forecasting methods such as the Epidemic-Type Aftershock model, the Every Earthquake a precursor According to Scale model, Pattern Informatics, Reverse Tracing of Precursors, stochastic models of elastic rebound, and methods for handling multiple precursors. The methods considered employ a variety of statistical approaches to using previous seismicity to forecast future earthquakes, including regional and global earthquake likelihood models and alarm-type forecasts. The forecast time-frames of interest range from the short time-frame associated with clustering of aftershocks to the long time-frame associated with recurrence of major earthquakes. A recurring theme is the assessment of forecasting performance, whether by likelihood scores, skill scores, error diagrams, or relative operating characteristic tests. The volume will be useful to students and professional researchers who are interested in the earthquake preparation process and in converting that understanding into forecasts of earthquake occurrence.

Description / Table of Contents: The tsunami from the 1960 Chilean earthquake affected the entire Pacific Ocean and motivated the international coordination of tsunami research and warning systems around the Pacific. However, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami affected the entire world, and reminded that tsunamis are not a local or regional problem but a global issue. This volume contains 15 papers, mostly presented at the 24th International Tsunami Symposium held on 14-16 July 2009 in Novosibirsk, Russia. They reflect the current state of tsunami science, including studies of recent tsunamis, tsunami statistics and warning, and modeling tsunami runup and inundation.

Description / Table of Contents: Issues pertaining to urban risks are a pressing concern for those involved in disasters mitigation. Development of effective mitigation strategies requires sound seismic hazard information that is commonly derived through a seismic hazard assessment (SHA). The purpose of SHA is to provide a scientifically consistent estimate of seismic hazard for engineering design and other considerations. The time is ripe to move beyond the old paradigms of the traditional Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA). This two-part volume advocates advanced methods for SHA that utilize up to date earthquake science and basic scientific principles to derive the seismic hazard in terms of a ground motion or related quantity and its occurrence frequency at a site, as well as the associated uncertainty. It aims to: 1) identify the issues in the current SHAs, 2) facilitate the development of a scientifically consistent approach for SHA and 3) disseminate, both in scientific and in engineering practice societies, advanced reliable tools for independent hazard estimates, like NDSHA (neo-deterministic SHA), which incorporates physically based ground motion models. It provides a fresh approach to seismic hazard analysis. Part 1 deals with the general issues of SHA methodology review and development, as well as with recent advances in earthquake science that may have relevant implications toward an improved SHA. It is addressed to seismologists, engineers and stake-holders, and aims to contribute to bridging between modern interdisciplinary research and practitioners.

Description / Table of Contents: Data assimilation is a novel, versatile methodology for estimating atmospheric and oceanic variables. The estimation of a quantity of interest via data assimilation involves the combination of observational data with the underlying dynamical principles governing the system under observation. This volume contains many original findings in data assimilation and its applications related to atmospheric, oceanic and environmental systems. This covers various data assimilation techniques with in Bayesian and non-Bayesian framework ranging from Least-Square, nudging, three dimensional variational (3DVAR), four-dimensional variational (4DVAR), Local Ensemble Kalman filter, Genetic algorithm etc. This also covers the applications to extreme weather event, hurricane, Asian summer monsoon, structure of the barrier layer in the equatorial Pacific ocean and identification of emission sources. This volume will be useful as a reading material in graduate level courses dealing with data assimilation and its application to meteorology, ocean and air quality. The scientific community at large especially younger scientists will find this book a useful addition to their personal and institutional libraries.

Description / Table of Contents: Solid waste management generates big challenges for society due to its large variability in production and composition, and because of its sanitary and environmental impacts. To contribute in facing this situation, this book includes a worldwide overview of experiences and conceptual and technical developments attained through research and development projects. In addition to minimizing generation, considered as the most desirable practice, it includes alternatives of valuation for potentially recoverable waste and strategies to reduce final conditioning and disposition risks. The book includes contextual technical, economical, political and social aspects aimed at proposing integral solutions for the solid waste management.

Description / Table of Contents: World Energy Outlook 2011 brings together the latest data, policy developments, and the experience of another year to provide robust analysis and insight into global energy markets, today and for the next 25 years. This edition of the IEA’s flagship WEO publication gives the latest energy demand and supply projections for different future scenarios, broken down by country, fuel and sector. It also gives special focus to such topical energy sector issues as: • Russia’s energy prospects and their implications for global markets. • The role of coal in driving economic growth in an emissions-constrained world. • The implications of a possible delay in oil and gas sector investment in the Middle East and North Africa. • How high-carbon infrastructure “lock-in” is making the 2°C climate change goal more challenging and expensive to meet. • The scale of fossil fuel subsidies and support for renewable energy and their impact on energy, economic and environmental trends. • A “Low Nuclear Case” to investigate what a rapid slowdown in the use of nuclear power would mean for the global energy landscape. • The scale and type of investment needed to provide modern energy to the billions of the world’s poor that do not have it. WEO-2011 provides invaluable insights into how the energy system could evolve over the next quarter of a century. The book is essential reading for anyone with a stake in the energy sector.

Description / Table of Contents: The workshop aims at ensuring participants to share experiences, expertise and lessons on the issues related to the application of remote sensing and GIS technology on crops productivity (especially food crops or specific priority crops, rice and wheat) and food security. This report is a set papers presented at the workshop.

Description / Table of Contents: A wave is one of the basic physics phenomena observed by mankind since ancient time. The wave is also one of the most-studied physics phenomena that can be well described by mathematics. The study may be the best illustration of what is “science”, which approximates the laws of nature by using human defined symbols, operators, and languages. Having a good understanding of waves and wave propagation can help us to improve the quality of life and provide a pathway for future explorations of the nature and universe. This book introduces some exciting applications and theories to those who have general interests in waves and wave propagations, and provides insights and references to those who are specialized in the areas presented in the book.

Description / Table of Contents: How do social networking services earn money? What is the "second hand of the market" and how does it operate? Why does society need so many different kinds of goods? What does happiness economics not reveal about happiness? What is the link between talent, success and "stardom"? What is the business development  model for the entertainment and media industry? What is emotional hysteresis? How can we measure cultural values? What is subjective time and how can it be made qualitative? What is club economics? You can find the answers to all these questions in the book. It describes the main trends in development of our digital society. It appeals to those who are curious about what will replace search engines, and how social networking services will evolve. It is about the profit from different forms of informational collaboration (crowdsourcing, collaborative filtering) and how it will affect the structure of the society and human pursuit for happiness

Description / Table of Contents: Intelligent systems, known as expert systems, serve to this purpose in the extent that they have signed as facilitators in this process. These are systems that are based on expert knowledge, on any subject, in order to emulate human expertise in the specific field. To obtain this knowledge, the knowledge engineers, also called software engineers, need to develop methodologies for intelligent systems. In this area there is still no unified methodology that provides effective methods, notations and tools to aid in development.

Description / Table of Contents: The Earth is the only planet in our solar system that supports life. The complex process of evolution occurred on Earth only because of some unique environmental conditions that were present: water, an oxygen-rich atmosphere, and a suitable surface temperature. Climate change refers to a statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer). Thus, it requires field of attention towards reduction in the rise in atmospheric temperature, by controlling emitted greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in order to preserve natural resources and by introducing new technologies on alternative fuels. This book presents the fundamental effect on the origin of climate change, impacts over ice cap, melting of Arctic ice, rise in sea level and related technologies that can be implemented to cultivate our land for agriculture, growing forestation to reduce the impact of temperature rise and disaster on human being as well as on other livelihood. This also need to strive for novel policies that world leader should adopt.

Description / Table of Contents: Sediment Transport Processes and their Modelling Applications is a book which covers a wide range of topics. The effective management of many aquatic environments, requires a detailed understanding of sediment dynamics. This has both environmental and economic implications, especially where there is any anthropogenic involvement. Numerical models are often the tool used for predicting the transport and fate of sediment movement in these situations, as they can estimate the various spatial and temporal fluxes. However, the physical sedimentary processes can vary quite considerably depending upon whether the local sediments are fully cohesive, non-cohesive, or a mixture of both types. For this reason for more than half a century, scientists, engineers, hydrologists and mathematicians have all been continuing to conduct research into the many aspects which influence sediment transport. These issues range from processes such as scour, erosion and deposition, to how sediment process observations can be applied in sediment transport modelling frameworks. This book reports the findings from recent research in applied sediment transport which has been conducted in a wide range of aquatic environments. The research was carried out by researchers who specialise in the transport of sediments and related issues.

Description / Table of Contents: Natural processes and human activities alter the properties and quality of soils over time. Nowadays, the growing interest in soil protection prompts abundant research to estimate soil quality in wide-ranging environmental scenarios. The assessment of soil quality entails the evaluation of the capability of a soil to perform its functions in present scenarios but also how those functions can be preserved for future land use. Currently, soil processes, physical, chemical, and biological properties are recognized as indicators to estimate soil quality. Soil processes and current trends in quality assessment provides a wide depiction of current research conducted in soil quality assessment, encompassing general studies on soil processes, evaluation of significant indicators of soil quality such as soil organic matter dynamic and soil-plant interaction, while presenting diverse strategies for soil fitness amelioration.

Description / Table of Contents: Anatolia and the easternmost Mediterranean region, especially Turkey, Cyprus and northern Syria, represent an excellent natural laboratory for the study of fundamental geological processes (e.g. rifting, seafloor spreading, ophiolite genesis and emplacement, subduction, exhumation and collision). Their interaction has created an intriguing array of deep-sea basins, microcontinents and suture zones. The volume's 22 papers include a large amount of new field-based information (much of it multidisciplinary and the product of teamwork). After an overview, the volume is divided into four sections: Late Palaeozoic–Early Cenozoic of the Pontides (northern Turkey); Late Palaeozoic–Early Cenozoic of the Taurides–Anatolides (central and southern Turkey); Late Cretaceous–Pliocene sedimentary basins and structural development (central Anatolia to the Mediterranean); Late Miocene–Recent Neotectonics (southern Turkey, Cyprus and northern Syria). The volume will interest numerous academic researchers, those concerned with resources (e.g. hydrocarbons; mineral deposits) and also hazards (e.g. earthquakes), as well as advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Description / Table of Contents: Introduction --- Advances in 40Ar/39Ar dating: from archaeology to planetary sciences – introduction / Fred Jourdan, Darren F. Mark and Chrystele Verati / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 1-8, 16 January 2014, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.24 --- Perspectives on 40Ar/39Ar dating / Ian McDougall / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 9-20, 30 September 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.20 --- Methodological developments --- Some footnotes to the optimization-based calibration of the 40Ar/39Ar system / Paul R. Renne / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 21-31, 25 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.17 --- Neutron-induced 37Ar recoil ejection in Ca-rich minerals and implications for 40Ar/39Ar dating / F. Jourdan and P. R. Renne / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 33-52, 25 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.15 --- Direct measurement of recoil effects on 40Ar/39Ar standards / Chris M. Hall / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 53-62, 13 March 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.7 --- FCs-EK: a new sampling of the Fish Canyon Tuff 40Ar/39Ar neutron flux monitor / L. E. Morgan, D. F. Mark, J. Imlach, D. Barfod and R. Dymock / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 63-67, 30 September 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.21 --- Petrology and geochronology of ‘muscovite age standard’ B4M / Alexandra R. Heri, Martin Robyr and Igor M. Villa / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 69-78, 24 January 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.2 --- Argon extraction from geological samples by CO2 scanning laser step-heating / D. N. Barfod, D. F. Mark, A. Tait, R. C. Dymock and J. Imlach / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 79-90, 24 October 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.23 --- The multi-diffusion domain model: past, present and future / T. Mark Harrison and Oscar M. Lovera / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 91-106, 13 March 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.9 --- Diffusion of Ar in K-feldspar: Present and absent / Igor M. Villa / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 107-116, 24 January 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.4 --- 40Ar/39Ar geochronology and the diffusion of 39Ar in phengite–muscovite intergrowths during step-heating experiments in vacuo / Marnie A. Forster and Gordon S. Lister / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 117-135, 25 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.16 --- Ar diffusion and solubility measurements in plagioclases using the ultra-violet laser depth-profiling technique / Jo-Anne Wartho, Simon P. Kelley and Stephen C. Elphick / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 137-154, 25 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.13 --- Modelling effect of sericitization of plagioclase on the 40K/40Ar and 40Ar/39Ar chronometers: implication for dating basaltic rocks and mineral deposits / Chrystèle Verati and Fred Jourdan / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 155-174, 25 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.14 --- The other isotopes: research avenues based on 36Ar, 37Ar and 38Ar / Grenville Turner and Ray Burgess / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 175-188, 13 March 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.8 --- Applications: Tectonics --- 40Ar/39Ar Thermochronology on Central China Orogen: Cooling, uplift and implications for orogeny dynamics / Fei Wang, Rixiang Zhu, Quanlin Hou, Dewen Zheng, Liekun Yang, Lin Wu, Wenbei Shi, Huile Feng, Haiqing Sang, Hongyuan Zhang and Qing Liu / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 189-206, 24 January 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.3 --- 40Ar/39Ar ages of crystallization and recrystallization of rock-forming polyhalite in Alpine rocksalt deposits / C. Leitner, F. Neubauer, J. Genser, S. Borojević-Šoštarić and G. Rantitsch / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 207-224, 24 January 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.5 --- Persistent long-term (c. 24 Ma) exhumation in the Eastern Alaska Range constrained by stacked thermochronology / Jeff A. Benowitz, Paul W. Layer and Sam Vanlaningham / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 225-243, 20 June 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.12 --- 40Ar/39Ar hornblende provenance clues about Heinrich event 3 (H3) / Greg E. Downing, Sidney R. Hemming, Anne Jost and Martin Roy / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 245-263, 30 September 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.18 --- Observation of centimetre-scale argon diffusion in alkali feldspars: implications for 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology / Stephanie Flude, Alison M. Halton, Simon P. Kelley, Sarah C. Sherlock, James Schwanethal and Camilla M. Wilkinson / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 265-275, 10 January 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.25 --- Applications: Volcanology --- 40Ar/39Ar age constraints on the Haifanggou and Lanqi formations: When did the first flowers bloom? / Su-Chin Chang, Haichun Zhang, Sidney R. Hemming, Gary T. Mesko and Yan Fang / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 277-284, 24 January 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.1 --- Timing of geothermal activity in an active island-arc volcanic setting: First 40Ar/39Ar dating from Bouillante geothermal field (Guadeloupe, French West Indies) / C. Verati, P. Patrier-Mas, J. M. Lardeaux and V. Bouchot / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 285-295, 30 September 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.19 --- Applications: Planetary sciences --- Issues in dating young rocks from another planet: Martian shergottites / Jisun Park, Donald D. Bogard, Laurence E. Nyquist and G. F. Herzog / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 297-316, 20 June 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.10 --- A laser probe 40Ar/39Ar investigation of poikilitic shergottite NWA 4797: implications for the timing of shock metamorphism / Erin L. Walton, Simon Kelley, Christopher D. K. Herd and Anthony J. Irving / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 317-332, 20 June 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.11 --- 40Ar/39Ar ages of impacts involving ordinary chondrite meteorites / Timothy D. Swindle, D. A. Kring and J. R. Weirich / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 333-347, 24 January 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.6 --- A high-precision 40Ar/39Ar age for hydrated impact glass from the Dellen impact, Sweden / D. F. Mark, P. Lindgren and A. E. Fallick / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 378, 349-366, 30 September 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP378.22

Description / Table of Contents: Orogenic andesites have long intrigued scientists because of their remarkable compositional similarities to the continental crust. The significance of orogenic andesites as proxies to continental crust formation has been recognized for over 30 years, but no consensus model of andesite genesis exists. Much of the controversy revolves around whether orogenic andesites are primary melts of slab and mantle materials, or instead evolve from basaltic mantle melts at shallower crustal levels. In three sections, this book provides an overview of andesite genesis at convergent margins that focuses on the slab–mantle interaction, crustal processing and andesite evolution through the life of volcanic arcs. Without favouring a particular view, the books aims to engender cross-fertilization and discussion that will smooth the pathway towards a holistic communal model of andesite petrogenesis and its role within the broader geochemical cycles of the Earth.

Description / Table of Contents: This book connects anthropology and polyphony: a composition that multiplies the researcher's glance, the style of representation, the narrative presence of subjectivities. Polyphonic anthropology is presenting a complex of bio-physical and psycho-cultural case studies. Digital culture and communication has been transforming traditional way of life, styles of writing, forms of knowledge, the way of working and connecting. Ubiquities, identities, syncretisms are key-words if a researcher wish to interpret and transform a cultural contexts. It is urgent favoring trans-disciplinarity for students, scholars, researchers, professors; any reader of this polyphonic book has to cross philosophy, anatomy, psychology, psychoanalysis, sociology, architecture, archeology, biology. I believe in an anthropological mutation inside any discipline. And I hope this book may face such a challenge.

Description / Table of Contents: Introduction --- Antarctic Palaeoenvironments and Earth-Surface Processes in context / Michael J. Hambrey and Bethan J. Davies / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 1-5, 24 September 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.27 --- A. Palaeozoic and Mesozoic evolution of the Antarctic Continent --- The geological and tectonic evolution of the Transantarctic Mountains: a review / David H. Elliot / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 7-35, 1 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.14 --- Differential Movement across Byrd Glacier, Antarctica, as indicated by Apatite (U–Th)/He thermochronology and geomorphological analysis / D. J. Foley, E. Stump, M. van Soest, K. X. Whipple and K. V. Hodges / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 37-43, 6 August 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.25 --- Mesozoic to recent evolution of intraplate stress fields under multiple remote stresses: The case of Signy Island (South Orkney Microcontinent, Antarctica) / A. Maestro, J. López-Martínez and F. Bohoyo / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 45-65, 19 April 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.4 --- The Taylor Group (Beacon Supergroup): the Devonian sediments of Antarctica / Margaret A. Bradshaw / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 67-97, 6 August 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.23 --- Late Cretaceous dinosaurs from the James Ross Basin, West Antarctica / Marcelo A. Reguero, Claudia P. Tambussi, Rodolfo A. Coria and Sergio A. Marenssi / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 99-116, 24 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.20 --- Palaeobiogeography of Austral echinoid faunas: a first quantitative approach / Thomas Saucede, Benjamin Pierrat, Arnaud Brayard and Bruno David / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 117-127, 19 April 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.6 --- B. Cenozoic glaciation and impacts --- Taxonomic diversity of Eocene Antarctic penguins: a changing picture / Piotr Jadwiszczak / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 129-138, 24 June 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.7 --- Heat-flow determinations of basement age in small oceanic basins of the southern central Scotia Sea / P. F. Barker, L. A. Lawver and R. D. Larter / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 139-150, 19 April 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.3 --- Cenozoic landscape and ice drainage evolution in the Lambert Glacier–Amery Ice Shelf system / Duanne A. White / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 151-165, 1 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.15 --- History of the grounded ice sheet in the Ross Sea sector of Antarctica during the Last Glacial Maximum and the last termination / Brenda L. Hall, George H. Denton, John O. Stone and Howard Conway / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 167-181, 19 April 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.5 --- Late Eocene Glaciofluvial to Glaciomarine transition in the Lambert Graben: constraints from lithofacies and mineralogy of ODP Site 1166 sediments, Prydz Bay, Antarctica / K. Strand, J. Köykkä and J. Lamminen / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 183-197, 30 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.24 --- The Offshore New Harbour Project: deciphering the Middle Miocene through Late Eocene seismic stratigraphy of Offshore New Harbour, western Ross Sea, Antarctica / Stephen F. Pekar, Marvin A. Speece, Gary S. Wilson, David S. Sunwall and Kirsty J. Tinto / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 199-213, 19 April 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.2 --- Constraints on Antarctic Ice Sheet configuration during and following the Last Glacial Maximum and its episodic contribution to sea-level rise / John B. Anderson, Alexandra E. Kirshner and Alexander R. Simms / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 215-232, 1 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.13 --- Glaciomarine sedimentation dynamics of the Abbot glacial trough of the Amundsen Sea Embayment shelf, West Antarctica / Katharina Hochmuth and Karsten Gohl / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 233-244, 24 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.21 --- Southern Ocean bioproductivity during the last glacial cycle – new detection method and decadal-scale insight from the Scotia Sea / D. Sprenk, M. E. Weber, G. Kuhn, P. Rosén, M. Frank, M. Molina-Kescher, V. Liebetrau and H.-G. Röhling / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 245-261, 30 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.17 --- Palaeoenvironmental records from the West Antarctic Peninsula drift sediments over the last 75 ka / Maryline J. Vautravers, David A. Hodell, James E. T. Channell, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Mike Hall, James Smith and Robert D. Larter / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 263-276, 5 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.12 --- Provenance of Pleistocene sediments from Site U1359 of the Wilkes Land IODP Leg 318 – evidence for multiple sourcing from the East Antarctic Craton and Ross Orogen / N. C. Pant, P. Biswas, Prakash K. Shrivastava, S. Bhattacharya, Kamlesh Verma, Mayuri Pandey and Iodp Expedition 318 Scientific Party / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 277-297, 1 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.11 --- C. Glacial and periglacial processes --- Geomorphological evidence of cold-based glacier activity in South Victoria Land, Antarctica / C. B. Atkins / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 299-318, 24 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.18 --- A review of geomorphic processes and landforms in the Dry Valleys of southern Victoria Land: implications for evaluating climate change and ice-sheet stability / D. R. Marchant, S. L. Mackay, J. L. Lamp, A. T. Hayden and J. W. Head / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 319-352, 1 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.10 --- Landscape evolution and ice-sheet behaviour in a semi-arid polar environment: James Ross Island, NE Antarctic Peninsula / Bethan J. Davies, Neil F. Glasser, Jonathan L. Carrivick, Michael J. Hambrey, John L. Smellie and Daniel Nývlt / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 353-395, 19 April 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.1 --- Windows on Antarctic soil–landscape relationships: comparison across selected regions of Antarctica / Megan R. Balks, Jerónimo López-Martínez, Sergey V. Goryachkin, Nikita S. Mergelov, Carlos E. G. R. Schaefer, Felipe N. B. Simas, Peter C. Almond, Graeme G. C. Claridge, Malcolm Mcleod and Joshua Scarrow / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 397-410, 16 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.9 --- Sedimentary processes in two different polar periglacial environments: Examples from Schirmacher Oasis and Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica / Rajesh Asthana, Prakash K. Shrivastava, M. Javed Beg, Ashit K. Swain, Amit Dharwadkar, Sandip K. Roy and Hari B. Srivastava / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 411-427, 30 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.22 --- Periglacial processes and landforms of the Antarctic: a review of recent studies and directions / Kevin Hall / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 429-453, 1 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.16 --- Palaeoshoreline records of glacial isostatic adjustment in the Dry Valleys region, Antarctica / Stephanie A. Konfal, T. J. Wilson and B. L. Hall / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 455-467, 30 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.26 --- Characteristic atmosphere–ocean–solid earth interactions in the Antarctic coastal and marine environment inferred from seismic and infrasound recording at Syowa Station, East Antarctica / Masaki Kanao, Alessia Maggi, Yoshiaki Ishihara, Eleonore Stutzmann, Masa-Yuki Yamamoto and Genti Toyokuni / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 469-480, 16 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.8 --- Evaluation of Envisat ASAR IMP imagery for snow mapping at varying spatial resolution (Deception Island, South Shetlands – Antarctica) / Carla Mora, Gonçalo Vieira and Miguel Ramos / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 381, 481-493, 24 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP381.19

Description / Table of Contents: The Caledonides are a major orogenic belt that stretches from the Arctic, through Scandinavia, East Greenland, Britain and Ireland into the Atlantic coast of North America. Following the break-up of Rodinia, the Caledonides formed in the Palaeozoic by the drifting of various continents and their eventual aggregation in the Silurian and Devonian. The orogen subsequently fragmented during the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. This volume brings together 25 papers presenting the results of modern research that investigates the orogenic processes and the provenance of specific components of the belt. The contributions reflect different lines of research, linking traditional field studies with modern analytical techniques. In addition three overview papers summarize the main features of the belts in Scandinavia, Svalbard, East Greenland, Britain and Ireland, highlighting the advances made since the last major synthesis of the Scandinavian Caledonides 30 years ago, and discussing important open questions.

Description / Table of Contents: There is considerable academic and practical interest in stone and stone buildings, as exemplified by the wide range of high-quality and innovative work being conducted in the pursuit of the effective preservation and restoration of historic buildings. This is reflected in the numerous publications on stone and stone buildings that regularly find their way into the public domain. Not least amongst these are a number of Geological Society Special Publications, which have appeared in recent years. This current volume seeks to bring to the attention of the various professionals in the field (geologists, architects, engineers, conservators and conservation scientists) recent work centred on the characterization and performance of this important resource and its use in historic buildings. The volume has wider relevance, including to those interested in the heritage of stone.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume presents a selection of papers showing the current focus of studies of deformation structures and processes within the continental crust. The selected contributions use a large range of analytical techniques suited to the full range of structure sizes and fine-tuned to the physical process that controls the deformation, from the grain boundary at the micro-scale, the lithological contact at the meso-scale to the plate boundary at the global scale. The papers in the volume are grouped into three sections relating to specific lines of research within the analysis of rock deformation structures and processes, in particular in respect to the continental crust: structures within shear zones and faults; magmatic structures, and microstructures and rheology. These sections include papers describing field studies, experimental rock deformation and numerical modelling of deformation processes.

Description / Table of Contents: Successful deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) is critically dependent on comprehensive policy support. While policy plays an important role in the deployment of many low-carbon technologies, it is especially crucial for CCS. This is because, in contrast to renewable energy or applications of energy efficiency, CCS generates no revenue, nor other market benefits, so long as there is no price on CO2 emissions. It is both costly to install and, once in place, has increased operating costs. Effective, well-designed policy support is essential in overcoming these barriers and the subsequent deployment of CCS technology. This guide for policy makers aims to assist those involved in designing national and international policies around CCS. It covers development of CCS from its early stages through to wide-scale deployment of the technology. The focus is both on incentives for conventional fossil-fuel CCS and for bioenergy with CCS (BECCS).

Description / Table of Contents: Geology as medicine and medics as geologists / Christopher J. Duffin / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 1-6, 23 August 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.29 --- Lithotherapeutical research sources from antiquity to the mid-eighteenth century / Christopher J. Duffin / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 7-43, 4 September 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.25 --- Cryptopalaeontology / Eladio Liñán, María Liñán and Joaquín Carrasco / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 45-64, 10 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.14 --- The stomatological use of stones cited in the Kitab al-tasrif treatise (Abulcasis, 1000 CE) / Joaquín Carrasco and María Liñán / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 65-80, 11 December 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.7 --- The gem electuary / Christopher J. Duffin / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 81-111, 17 December 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.9 --- Medicinal terra sigillata: a historical, geographical and typological review / Arthur Macgregor / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 113-136, 15 November 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.1 --- Materia medica in the seventeenth-century Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo / W. D. Ian Rolfe / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 137-156, 15 November 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.3 --- History of the pharmaceutical use of pumice / Christopher J. Duffin / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 157-169, 17 December 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.8 --- Pharmaceutical use of gold from antiquity to the seventeenth century / Renzo Console / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 171-191, 2 April 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.12 --- Bezoar stones, magic, science and art / Maria Do Sameiro Barroso / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 193-207, 26 February 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.11 --- Some early eighteenth century geological Materia Medica / Christopher J. Duffin / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 209-233, 2 April 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.13 --- Religiosity and magic in some lithoiatric practices of European folk medicine / Massimo Aliverti / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 235-242, 23 August 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.27 --- Britain’s spa heritage: a hydrogeological appraisal / John D. Mather / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 243-260, 2 April 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.16 --- Groundwater – Medicine by the Glassful? / N. S. Robins and P. L. Smedley / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 261-267, 2 April 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.17 --- Sunday Stone: an enduring metaphor of mining diseases and underground mining conditions / John H. Pearn and Christopher Gardner-Thorpe / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 269-278, 11 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.22 --- The influence of geology in the development of public health / Beverly P. Bergman / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 279-287, 15 November 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.6 --- From flesh to fossils – Nicolaus Steno’s anatomy of the Earth / Jakob Bek-Thomsen / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 289-305, 2 April 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.15 --- Diagnosing fossilization in the Nordic Renaissance: an investigation into the correspondence of Ole Worm (1588–1654) / Ella Hoch / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 307-327, 17 September 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.26 --- Education forms the tender mind / Christopher Gardner-Thorpe / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 329-337, 23 August 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.28 --- James Parkinson’s ‘system of successive creations’ / Cherry Lewis / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 339-348, 15 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.18 --- From obstetrics to oryctology: inside the mind of William Hunter (1718–1783) / J. J. Liston / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 349-373, 15 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.21 --- John Jeremiah Bigsby, MD: British Army physician and pioneer North American geologist / Leonard G. Wilson / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 375-394, 15 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.20 --- Five eighteenth-century medical polymaths / Gillian C. Hull / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 395-407, 15 November 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.5 --- John Whitaker Hulke, surgeon and palaeontologist / Simon Wills / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 409-427, 22 February 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.10 --- Dr Arthur Conan Doyle’s contribution to the popularity of pterodactyls / David M. Martill and Tony Pointon / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 429-443, 15 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.19 --- Physicians and their contribution to the early history of earth sciences in Austria / Daniela Claudia Angetter, Bernhard Hubmann and Johannes Seidl / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 445-454, 15 November 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.4 --- Medical geologists during the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration / Henry Guly / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 455-462, 15 November 2012, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.2 --- Vomiting stones: mental illness and forensic medicine in 18th century Italy / Alessandro Porro, Carlo Cristini, Bruno Falconi, Antonia Francesca Franchini and Lorenzo Lorusso / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 463-468, 4 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.23 --- Geology, conservation and dissolution of corpses by Paolo Gorini (1813–1881) / Lorenzo Lorusso, Bruno Falconi, Francesca Antonia Franchini and Alessandro Porro / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 375, 469-474, 9 July 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP375.24

Description / Table of Contents: Antarctica and supercontinent evolution: historical perspectives, recent advances and unresolved issues / Simon L. Harley, Ian C. W. Fitzsimons and Yue Zhao / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 383, 1-34, 9 October 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP383.9 --- The Mesoproterozoic Rayner Province in the Lambert Glacier area: its age, origin, isotopic structure and implications for Australia–Antarctica correlations / E. V. Mikhalsky, J. W. Sheraton, I. V. Kudriavtsev, S. A. Sergeev, V. P. Kovach, I. A. Kamenev and A. A. Laiba / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 383, 35-57, 20 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP383.1 --- Pb isotopic domains from the Indian Ocean sector of Antarctica: implications for past Antarctica–India connections / M. J. Flowerdew, S. Tyrrell, S. D. Boger, I. C. W. Fitzsimons, S. L. Harley, E. V. Mikhalsky and A. P. M. Vaughan / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 383, 59-72, 20 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP383.3 --- Boron- and phosphate-rich rocks in the Larsemann Hills, Prydz Bay, East Antarctica: tectonic implications / Edward S. Grew, Christopher J. Carson, Andrew G. Christy and Steven D. Boger / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 383, 73-94, 20 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP383.8 --- The c. 1000–900 Ma and c. 550–500 Ma tectonothermal events in the Prince Charles Mountains–Prydz Bay region, East Antarctica, and their relations to supercontinent evolution / Xiaochun Liu, Yue Zhao and Jianmin Hu / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 383, 95-112, 20 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP383.6 --- Contrasting metamorphic records and their implications for tectonic process in the central Sør Rondane Mountains, eastern Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica / Tatsuro Adachi, Tomokazu Hokada, Yasuhito Osanai, Nobuhiko Nakano, Sotaro Baba and Tsuyoshi Toyoshima / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 383, 113-133, 13 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP383.4 --- Possible armalcolite pseudomorph-bearing garnet–sillimanite gneiss from Skallevikshalsen, Lützow-Holm Complex, East Antarctica: Implications for ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism / Toshisuke Kawasaki, Tatsuro Adachi, Nobuhiko Nakano and Yasuhito Osanai / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 383, 135-167, 20 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP383.2 --- Anatectic reworking and differentiation of continental crust along the active margin of Gondwana: a zircon Hf–O perspective from West Antarctica / Chris Yakymchuk, Christine S. Siddoway, C. Mark Fanning, Rory Mcfadden, Fawna J. Korhonen and Michael Brown / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 383, 169-210, 18 June 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP383.7 --- Reconstruction of the early Mesozoic plate margin of Gondwana by U–Pb ages of detrital zircons from northern Victoria Land, Antarctica / Martin Elsner, Robert Schöner, Axel Gerdes and Reinhard Gaupp / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 383, 211-232, 16 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP383.5

Description / Table of Contents: Over the past 20 years there has been a major growth in efforts to quantify the geometry and dimensions of sediment bodies from analogues to provide quantitative input to geological models. The aim of this volume is to examine the current state of the art, from both an industry and an academic perspective. Contributions discuss the challenges of extracting relevant data from different types of sedimentary analogue (outcrop, process models, seismic) and the application and significance of such information for improving predictions from subsurface static and dynamic models. Special attention is given to modelling reservoir properties and gridding issues for predicting subsurface fluid flow. As such, the volume is expected to be of interest to both the geoscience community concerned with the fundamentals of sedimentary architecture as well as geological modellers and engineers interested in how these characteristics are modelled and influence subsurface predictions.

Description / Table of Contents: Oceanography is the par excellence interdisciplinary science thanks to its peculiar setting within a fluid environment that makes connections extremely efficient. The oceans connections are well mirrored in the chapters of this book that share a quite explicit multidisciplinary and multi-environmental character. The book provides chapters on very different topics under very different settings, some with a focused angle, others with a broader approach, yet all sharing the idea that we need to understand the small pieces in order to put together the big picture for a much larger mechanism, the functioning of the ocean as a whole.

Description / Table of Contents: This book presents some innovative developments in sustainable aquaculture practices in the context of environmental protection and seafood production techniques. The chapters are written by experts in their respective areas, so that their contribution represents the progress of their research, which is intended to mark the current frontier in aquaculture practices. Every chapter presents techniques that contribute to good aquaculture practices, where direct and vital nutrition and food, as a source of energy and biomass generation, is fundamentally based. We hope this book supports producers and researchers in their activities and helps to maintain a spirit of environmental protection in the context of production of high quality, nutritional food.

Description / Table of Contents: This book is a research publication that covers original research on developments within the Hydraulic Conductivity field of study. The book is a collection of reviewed scholarly contributions written by different authors. Each scholarly contribution represents a chapter and each chapter is complete in itself but related to the major topics and objectives.

Description / Table of Contents: This book covers the areas of fundamentals in energy conservation and its applications in selected industries. There are nine chapters in this book which have been written by leading experts in energy from all over the world. The topics range from energy fundamentals from cosmic radiation, tidal waves and dams. The chapters examine the potential of utilizing energy from sustainable resources and how energy consumption may be conserved from various new technologies. The contents of this book include space energy, barotropic and baroclinic tidal energy, understanding energy conservation in biological context, Earth shelters, hydro power, biofuel from groundnut oil and low energy consumption in industrial production. This book is suitable as a reference for students, educators, researchers, scientists, engineers and energy practitioners. It will also be a useful for the understanding of energy fundamentals, design and applications.

Description / Table of Contents: Today, satellite navigation offers convenient alternative to terrestrial and stellar navigation methods that is not only ubiquitous and easy to operate but also available day and night. The radio navigation technology, first appeared in the 1930s and matured in the 1940s, did not take off until the late 1960s and 1970s with the launch of the first navigation satellites by the US Naval and Air Forces, resulting from the NAVSTAR GPS program. The end user navigation equipment, bulky and expensive at the beginning, did not emerge until the microprocessor became viable during the late 1970s. Now-a-day three other global navigation satellite systems are fully or partially operational: the Russian GLONASS, the European Union Galileo, and the Chinese BeiDou. Where does the future lie? Probably in a network of global satellite navigation systems, with increase in satellite coverage and improved accuracy, integrity, and reliability, as these systems further mature. End user equipment will continue to be smaller, more accurate and cheaper. Yet in many respects, satellite navigation systems owe most to the old-time stellar navigation, by keeping man look up to the sky for help.

Description / Table of Contents: Ensuring energy security and addressing climate change cost-effectively are key global challenges. Tackling these issues will require efforts from stakeholders worldwide. To find solutions, the public and private sectors must work together, sharing burdens and resources, while at the same time multiplying results and outcomes. Through its broad range of multilateral technology initiatives (Implementing Agreements), the IEA enables member and non-member countries, businesses, industries, international organisations and non-governmental organisations to share research on breakthrough technologies, to fill existing research gaps, to build pilot plants and to carry out deployment or demonstration programmes across the energy sector. This publication highlights the most significant recent achievements of the IEA Implementing Agreements. At the core of the IEA energy technology network, these initiatives are a fundamental building block for facilitating the entry of new and improved energy technologies into the marketplace.

Description / Table of Contents: This Special Publication contains 43 scientific studies presented at the 5th conference on ‘Clays in natural and engineered barriers for radioactive waste confinement’ held in Montpellier, France in 2012. The conference and this resulting volume cover all the aspects of clay characterization and behaviour considered at various temporal and spatial scales relevant to the confinement of radionuclides in clay, from basic phenomenological process descriptions to the global understanding of performance and safety at repository and geological scales. Special emphasis has been given to the modelling of processes occurring at the mineralogical level within the clay barriers. The papers in this Special Publication consider research into argillaceous media under the following topic areas: large-scale geological characterization; clay-based concept/large-scale experiments; hydrodynamical modelling; geochemistry; geomechanics; mass transfer/gas transfer; mass transfer mechanisms. The collection of different topics presented in this Special Publication demonstrates the diversity of geological repository research.

Description / Table of Contents: Petropolitics explores the complex interplay between the economic realities of producing energy for a global market and the role of government in regulating and structuring the extraction, production, and delivery of petroleum products. This study approaches the economic history of the petroleum industry in Alberta within the framework of economic development and public policy analysis. It provides a detailed examination of the operation of the markets for Alberta oil and natural gas and the use of governmental regulations to balance and support economic development. The analytical tools used within this case study are applicable to oil and gas industries throughout the world and would be of interest to anyone studying comparative petroleum policies.

Description / Table of Contents: The reconciliation of economic development, social justice and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is one of the biggest political challenges of the moment. Strategies for mitigating CO2 emissions on a large scale using sequestration, storage and carbon technologies are priorities on the agendas of research centres and governments. Research on carbon sequestration is the path to solving major sustainability problems of this century a complex issue that requires a scientific approach and multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary technology, plus a collaborative policy among nations. Thus, this challenge makes this book an important source of information for researchers, policymakers and anyone with an inquiring mind on this subject.

Description / Table of Contents: The Medium-Term Coal Market Report 2013 provides IEA forecasts on coal markets for the coming five years as well as an in-depth analysis of recent developments in global coal demand, supply and trade. This third annual report shows that while coal continues to be a growing source of primary energy worldwide, its future is increasingly tied to developments in non-OECD countries, led by China. Coal is both the leading fuel source behind the growth of OECD non-members and the leading source of power generation in OECD countries. Yet the current low prices for coal add a new challenge to the sector, which is facing uncertainty due to increasing environmental legislation and competition from other fuels, like US shale gas or European renewables. This report examines, among other things, how coal producers will be affected by such low prices; whether those depressed prices will boost the fuel’s consumption; if other developing countries will follow in China’s footsteps by increasingly relying on coal to fuel economic growth; and, above all, whether the strong growth of coal in China will continue between now and 2018.

Description / Table of Contents: Hydrothermal ore deposits that are exploited for gold include both gold-only deposits, such as orogenic deposits, and gold-bearing examples of the common hydrothermal deposits types that are formed around upper-crustal magmatic centres, in particular porphyry and epithermal deposits. Fluid-inclusion data have shown that ore fluids of gold-only deposits are compositionally distinct compared to fluids of other deposit types. This Special Publication includes an up-to-date summary of thermodynamic parameters of aqueous Au species at high temperatures and pressures; a dataset of fluid inclusion properties and compositions from orogenic deposits of different parts of the world; several comprehensive case studies of different types of gold deposits and their fluids from USA, Brazil, Egypt, Slovakia and Bulgaria; and numerical modelling aimed to define key parameters that affect fluid flow and gold deposition at a range of scales.

Description / Table of Contents: Modelling the Earth's static and time-varying gravity field using a combination of GRACE and GOCE data The main focus of the thesis is modelling the static and time-varying parts of the Earth's gravity field at the global scale based on data acquired by the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) and Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE). In addition, a new methodology is proposed to validate global static gravity field models. Furthermore, the added value of GOCE data to the static and time-varying gravity field retrieval is assessed. Finally, low-frequency noise in GRACE observables derived from its K-band ranging (KBR) data is studied and a new way to cope with it is proposed. GRACE/GOCE global static gravity field modelling: DGM-1S A new global static gravity field model entitled DGM-1S (Delft Gravity Model, release 1, Satellite-only) is computed by a statistically optimal combination of GRACE and GOCE data. The model is based on seven years of GRACE KBR data, four years of GRACE satellites' kinematic orbits, 14 months of GOCE kinematic orbits, and 10 months of GOCE Satellite Gravity Gradiometry (SGG) data. Kinematic orbit and KBR data are processed with a variant of the acceleration approach, in which these data are respectively transformed into "three-dimensional (3-D) average acceleration vectors" and "range combinations" (≈ inter-satellite accelerations) with a three-point differentiation. Gravity gradients are processed in the instrument frame. Stochastic models of data noise are built with an auto-regressive moving-average (ARMA) process. The usage of ARMA models ensures that (i) coloured noise in data is appropriately dealt with; and (ii) data are combined in a statistically optimal manner. DGM-1S is compiled up to spherical harmonic degree 250 with a Kaula regularization applied above degree 179. It is found that (a) the usage of GOCE kinematic orbits may not lead to an improvement of a static gravity field model if GRACE data and GOCE gravity gradients are already incorporated; and (b) GOCE gravity gradients manifest their contribution in a combined GRACE/GOCE model above degree 150. For the purpose of an assessment, the DGM-1S, GOCO01S, EIGEN-6S (only its static part), and GOCO02S geoid models are used to compute the corresponding oceanic mean dynamic topography models by subtracting the DNSC08 mean sea surface model. The results are confronted with the state-of-the-art CNES-CLS09 mean dynamic topography model, which shows the best agreement for DGM-1S. Furthermore, the test suggests that the GRACE/GOCE satellite-only models are addition, the test indicates that problems still seem to exist in satellite-only GRACE/GOCE models over the Pacific ocean, where considerable deviations of these models from EGM2008 are detected. Validating global static gravity field models: quantifying GOCE mission's added value and inspecting data combination optimality in models produced with surface data The ability of satellite gravimetry data to validate global static gravity field models is studied. Two types of control data are considered: GRACE KBR data and GOCE gravity gradients. The validation is based on an analysis of misfits computed as differences between data observed and those computed with a force model that includes, in particular, a static gravity field model to be assessed. Only "independent" data are used in the model validation, i.e., those that were not used in the production of models under assessment. The methodology is applied to eight models: EGM2008 (truncated at degree 250), EIGEN-6C (only its static part and truncated at degree 250), two GRACE-only models (ITGGrace03 and ITG-Grace2010s), and four GRACE/GOCE models: GOCO01S, EIGEN-6S (only its static part), GOCO02S, and DGM-1S. The validation shows that independent data of both types allow a difference in performance of the models to be observed, despite the fact that the duration of these data is much shorter than that of data used to produce those models. The KBR and SGG control data demonstrate relatively high inaccuracies of EGM2008 in 5 – 22 mHz (27 – 120 cycles-per-revolution, cpr) and 10 – 28 mHz (54 – 150 cpr) frequency ranges, respectively. The latter data also reveal inaccuracies of ITG-Grace2010s in 25 – 37 mHz (135 – 200 cpr) frequency range. The validation in the spatial domain shows that EGM2008 performs weaker than the GRACE/GOCE models. Considering root mean square (RMS) misfits related to the zz gravity gradient component (with z being the nadir axis of the instrument frame), the performance difference in the continental areas poorly covered by terrestrial gravimetry data (Himalayas, South America, and Equatorial Africa) is 76 – 83 %. This difference is explained mostly by a loss of information content of ITG-Grace03 when it was combined with terrestrial gravimetry/satellite altimetry data to produce EGM2008. Furthermore, the revealed performance differences are 4 – 16 % in the continental areas well covered by those data (Australia, North Eurasia, and North America) and 11 % in the world's oceans. These differences are related to the GOCE mission's added value to the static gravity field retrieval. It is shown that EIGEN-6C also suffers from a loss of information during data combination, but in a much less pronounced manner. In South America, for instance, this model is found to perform poorer than its satellite-only counterpart, i.e., EIGEN-6S, by only 12 %. The GRACE/GOCE models show in the poorly surveyed continental areas a higher accuracy than ITG-Grace2010s: by 23 – 36 %, which is attributed to the GOCE mission's added value. The quantified added value is shown to be almost entirely related to the coefficients below degree 200. DGM-1S and GOCO02S show an almost similar performance against GOCE control gravity gradients. Nevertheless, the former model shows a slightly better agreement with KBR control data. Both models agree with control data of both types better than EIGEN-6S. Assessing GOCE mission's added value to time-varying gravity field modelling Temporal gravity field variations recovered from KBR data suffer, among others, from a limited spatial resolution and a relatively low accuracy of the East-West changes. I investigate whether a retrieval of these variations can be improved by incorporating GOCE data. To that end, I compare monthly solutions up to degree 120 computed (i) from KBR data alone and (ii) using a statistically optimal combination of KBR data with GOCE kinematic orbit and gravity gradients. The impact of GOCE data is analysed in the context of unconstrained solutions and after an optimal anisotropic filtering. This impact in these two cases is found to be radically different. In the case of unconstrained solutions, a usage of GOCE data allows the noise in these solutions to be reduced by 1 – 2 orders of magnitude. I demonstrate, however, that this reduction is a stabilization effect and is not driven by the information content in GOCE data. In the case of the filtered solutions, the impact stays, in average, at sub-millimeter level in terms of equivalent water heights. This is below the GRACE noise level. The peak impacts reach about 1 cm. This holds true for the combined impact of GOCE kinematic orbit data and gravity gradients as well as for the impact of these data types individually. Relatively, the peak impacts do not exceed 5 – 7 % of the signal amplitude, because they always occur at locations where the time-varying gravity field signal is strong. Nevertheless, I refrain from concluding that added value of GOCE data to the retrieval of temporal gravity changes is always negligible. A number of scenarios are discussed, in which the impact of GOCE data may exceed the level quantified in the study presented. GRACE global time-varying gravity field modelling: DMT-2 The Delft Mass Transport model, release 2 (DMT-2), similar to its predecessor, i.e., DMT-1, is produced from KBR data. The model consists of a time series of 94 monthly solutions (February 2003 – December 2010). Each solution consists of spherical harmonic coefficients up to degree 120 with respect to DGM-1S. Both unconstrained and optimally filtered solutions are produced. The improvements applied in the production of this new model as compared to its predecessor are usage of: (i) an improved estimation and elimination of the low-frequency noise in residual range combinations, so that strong mass transport signals are not damped; (ii) an improved frequency-dependent data weighting, which allows statistically optimal solutions to be compiled; (iii) release 2 of GRACE level-1B data; (iv) a recent a priori static gravity field model, i.e., DGM-1S; (v) release 5 of the AOD1B model of non-tidal mass re-distribution in the atmosphere and ocean; (vi) the recent ocean tide model EOT11a; and (vii) an improved calibration scheme of the satellites' accelerometers. It is shown that DMT-2 substantially outperforms its predecessor in terms of spatial resolution, which is proven to be mainly associated with the usage of a more advanced frequency-dependent data weighting. Furthermore, it is confirmed that the usage of release 2 of GRACE level-1B data leads to an elimination of the East-West artifacts. Finally, it is shown that choosing the maximum spherical harmonic degree lower than 120 in the context of monthly gravity field modelling could lead to an underestimation of the signal amplitude and the presence of the so-called "Gibbs" phenomenon in the vicinity of areas with strong mass variations. However, the higher spatial resolution of models produced up to degree 120 is almost entirely attributed to the optimal filtering and is not driven by the information content in unconstrained spherical harmonic coefficients. The contributions of the thesis The primary contributions of this thesis are as follows: 1 Computing new global static gravity models of a competitive quality. 2 Development of a new methodology to validate global static gravity field models. 3 Quantification of the GOCE mission's added value to the static and time-varying gravity field modelling. 4 Inspection of data combination optimality in models produced with satellite gravimetry and surface data. This paves the way to developing better strategies to combine satellite and surface gravimetry data in the production of future models. 5 Computing a new GRACE time-varying gravity field model, DMT-2. 6 Demonstrating the importance of an accurate computation and a proper exploitation of stochastic models of noise in satellite gravimetry data in the context of global gravity field modelling. 7 Identifying the origin of low-frequency noise in GRACE KBR-based observables and proposing a new way to cope with it.

Description / Table of Contents: Relational database management systems, using as foundations a formal language, first-order logic, serve as mediators between individuals and machines. With the increase in the volume of data disseminated on the Web, a “collective intelligence” is currently emerging, shaped by large search engines whose monopoly raises ethical and political questions. One of the main challenges for the coming years is the development of technologies that will make it possible to find, evaluate, validate, verify and rank information, and thus to build tomorrow’s “Web of knowledge”.

Description / Table of Contents: Fundamentally concerned with place and our ability to understand human relationships with environment over time, Historical Geographic Information Systems (HGIS) as a tool and a subject has direct bearing on the study of contemporary social and environmental issues and realities. To date, HGIS projects in Canada are few and publications that discuss these projects directly even fewer. This book brings together case studies of HGIS projects in historical geography, social and cultural history, and environmental history from Canada’s diverse regions. Topics explored include religion and ethnicity, migration, indigenous land practices, rebuilding a nineteenth-century neighborhood, and working with Google Earth.

Description / Table of Contents: Space geodetic techniques, e.g., global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), satellite gravimetry and altimetry, and GNSS Reflectometry & Radio Occultation, are capable of measuring small changes of the Earth's shape, rotation, and gravity field, as well as mass changes in the Earth system with an unprecedented accuracy. This book is devoted to presenting recent results and development in space geodetic techniques and sciences, including GNSS, VLBI, gravimetry, geoid, geodetic atmosphere, geodetic geophysics and geodetic mass transport associated with the ocean, hydrology, cryosphere and solid-Earth. This book provides a good reference for geodetic techniques, engineers, scientists as well as user community.

Description / Table of Contents: As societies transition to evidence-based adaptation and management there is increasing recognition of the need for understanding climate change and variability dynamics and impacts at regional levels and for various activities. This book is a contribution toward that goal. Readers interested in climate change management will find detailed discussions of climatic variability dynamics in selected regions as well as new innovative ways of monitoring climate change, assessing climate risks, and predicting impacts. Those interested in refreshing the fundamentals of climate change and climate variability will find a very accessible review of the status of knowledge on the subject, including a balanced interrogation of available evidence. In an attempt to keep the book accessible, every effort was made to minimize technical jargon without compromising scientific accuracy. The result should be useful to researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.

Description / Table of Contents: Acoustics is a mature field which enjoys a never ending youth. New developments are induced by either the search for a better understanding, or by technological innovations. Micro-fabrication techniques introduced a whole new class of microdevices, which exploit acoustic waves for various tasks, and in particular for information processing and for sensing purposes. Performance improvements are achievable by better modelling tools, able to deal with more complex configurations, and by more refined techniques of fabrication and of integration in technological systems, like wireless communications. Several chapters of this book deal with modelling and fabrication techniques for microdevices, including unconventional phenomena and configurations. But this is far from exhausting the research lines in acoustics. Theoretical analyses and modelling techniques are presented, for phenomena ranging from the detection of cracks to the acoustics of the oceans. Measurement methods are also discussed, which probe by acoustic waves the properties of widely different systems.

Description / Table of Contents: The Oman Mountains contain one of the world's best- exposed and best-understood fold–thrust belts and the largest, best-exposed and most intensively studied ophiolite complex on Earth. This volume presents new international research from authors currently active in the field focusing on the geology of the Oman Mountains, the foreland region, the carbonate platforms of Northern and Central Oman and the underlying basement complex. In addition there is a particular focus on geoconservation in the region. The volume is divided into three main sections that discuss the tectonics of the Arabian plate using insights from geophysics, petrology, structural geology, geochronology and palaeontology; the petrology and geochemistry of the Oman Ophiolite and the sedimentary and hydrocarbon systems of Oman, drawing on the geophysics, structure and sedimentology of these systems. The volume is enhanced by numerous colour images provided courtesy of Petroleum Development Oman.

Description / Table of Contents: The 2010 tsunamis generated in Haiti, Chile, and Indonesia caused various damage on the coasts. In the past, the 1755 Lisbon, 1964 Alaska, and 2003 Algeria earthquakes also generated damaging tsunamis. This volume contains an introduction and 18 papers, mostly presented at the 25th International Tsunami Symposium held 1-4 July 2011. They report the above tsunamis and discuss tsunami DART observations, warning systems, risk management in the Pacific, modelling of earthquake and landslide tsunamis, and probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment.

Description / Table of Contents: TRANSMIT (Training Research and Applications Network to Support the Mitigation of Ionospheric Threats) is an initiative funded by the European Commission through a Marie Curie Initial Training Network. It provided a coordinated program of academic and industrial training, focused on atmospheric phenomena that can significantly impair a wide range of systems and applications that are at the core of several activities embedded in our daily life. TRANSMIT deals with the harmful effects of the ionosphere on these systems. Main aim of the project has been to develop a web based prototype demonstrator aiming to showcase the project research outcomes in a user friendly manner, through a series of model outputs and tools that could serve as the blueprint for a future service to assist users and industry to mitigate the effects of ionospheric threats to GNSS. This book is concerned with the TRANSMIT 2014 Workshop Appraisal of Scientific and Technological Output that took place in Torino (Italy) on February 2014, where a full update on the status of the prototype development and the next steps leading to its full implementation were provided.

Description / Table of Contents: PART I: Ester Boserup’s Intellectual Heritage --- 1. Ester Boserup: An Interdisciplinary Visionary Relevant for Sustainability --- 2. “Finding Out Is My Life”: Conversations with Ester Boserup in the 1990s --- 3. Boserup’s Theory on Technological Change as a Point of Departure for the Theory of Sociometabolic Regime Transition --- PART II Land Use, Technology and Agriculture --- 4. The Dwindling Role of Population Pressure in Land Use Change – a Case from the South West Pacific --- 5. Conceptual and Empirical Approaches to Mapping and Quantifying Land-Use Intensity --- 6. Malthusian Assumptions, Boserupian Response in Transition to Agriculture Models --- 7. Reconciling Boserup with Malthus: Agrarian Change and Soil Degradation in Olive Orchards in Spain (1750-2000) --- 8. Beyond Boserup: The Role of Working Time in Agricultural Development --- PART III: Population and Gender --- 9. Following Boserup’s Traces: From Invisibility to Informalisation of Women’s Economy to Engendering Development in Translocal Spaces --- 10. Daughters of the Hills: Gendered Agricultural Production, Modernisation, and Declining Child Sex Ratios in the Indian Central Himalayas --- 11. Revisiting Boserup’s Hypotheses in the Context of Africa --- 12. An Interpretation of Large-Scale Land Deals Using Boserup’s Theories of Agricultural Intensification, Gender and Rural Development --- 13. Labour Migration and Gendered Agricultural Asset Shifts in Southeastern Mexico: Two Stories of Farming Wives and Daughters --- 14. Working Time of Farm Women and Small-Scale Sustainable Farming in Austria --- 15. A Human Ecological Approach to Ester Boserup: Steps Towards Engendering Agriculture and Rural Development --- 16. Conclusions: Re-Evaluating Boserup in the Light of the Contributions to this Volume

Description / Table of Contents: Natural Computing --- Ethological response to periodic stimulation in Chara and Brepharisma --- Adaptive path-finding and transport network formation by the amoeba-like organism Physarum --- Aggregate "Calculation" in Economic Phenomena: Distributions and Fluctuations --- Towards Co-evolution of Information, Life and Artifcial Life --- Harness the Nature for Computation --- Things Theory of Art Should Learn From Natural Computing --- Study on the use of Evolutionary Techniques for inference in Gene Regulatory Networks --- Reconstruction of Gene Regulatory Networks from Gene Expression Data using Decoupled Recurrent Neural Network Model --- Design and control of synthetic biological systems --- Satellite Symposium on Computational Aesthetics --- Preface–Natural Computing and Computational Aesthetics --- The Significance of Natural Computing for Considering Computational Aesthetics of Nature --- Perceiving the Gap: asynchronous coordination of plural algorithms and disconnected logical types in ambient space --- Aesthetic Aspects of Technology-mediated Self-awareness Experiences

Description / Table of Contents: Key Messages --- Executive Summary --- 1.Introduction --- 2.Multilingual Europe: Facts, Challenges, Opportunities --- 3.Major Trends in Information and Communication Technologies --- 4.Language Technology 2012: Current State and Opportunities --- 5.Language Technology 2020: The META-NET Technology Vision --- 6.Language Technology 2020: Priority Research Themes --- 7.Towards a Shared European Programme for Multilingual Europe 2020: Next Steps --- A.References --- B.List of Key Contributors --- C.Milestones and History of the Strategic Research Agenda --- D.About META-NET --- E.Members of META-NET --- F.Abbreviations and Acroynms

Description / Table of Contents: The current world biodiversity consists of an inestimable amount of living forms, that at all levels, from genes to biomes, from individuals to populations, from species to communities, are in constant pursuit of the best strategies to react to the natural and anthropic environmental changes. The arrangement of new and dynamic ecosystems balanced by the formation and the vanishing of species, is the direct consequence of these changes. This book contains comprehensive overviews and original studies focused on ecological and ecosystem functioning studies, hazards and conservation management, assessment of environmental variables affecting species diversity, also considering species richness and distribution, in order to identify the best management strategies to face and solve the conservation problems.

Description / Table of Contents: Organic agriculture combines tradition, innovation and science to benefit the shared environment and promotes fair relationships and a good quality of life. This book is a compilation of 11 chapters focused on development of organic agriculture, the role of sustainability in ecosystem and social community, analysis of environmental impacts of the organic farming system and its comparison with the conventional one, crop growing and weed control technologies, organic production, effective microorganisms technology. Continuously, a wide range of research experiments focus on organic agriculture technologies, quality of production, environmental protection and non-chemical, ecologically acceptable alternative solutions. In the book Organic Agriculture Towards Sustainability, contributing researchers cover multiple topics respecting modern, precious organic agriculture research.