ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: The Earth's climate varies through geological time as a result of external, orbital processes, as well as the positions of continents, growth of mountains and the opening and closure of oceanic gateways. Climate modelling suggests that the intensity of the Asian monsoon should correlate, at least in part, with the uplift history of the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalaya, as well as the evolution of gateways and the retreat of shallow seas in Central Asia. Long-term reconstructions of both mountain building and monsoon activity are key to testing the proposed links. This collection of papers presents a series of new studies documenting the variations of the Asian monsoon on orbital and tectonic timescales, together with the impact this has had on environmental conditions. The issue of which proxies are best suited to measuring monsoons is addressed, as is the effect that the monsoon has had on erosion and the formation of the stratigraphic record both on and offshore.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume combines original data in various fields from the offshore Levant Basin and adjacent continental slopes and platforms. The first group of papers document the tectonic structures and sedimentological patterns associated with the development of the Levant Basin. They identify the successive rifting events from the Late Palaeozoic to the Early Cretaceous, followed by a moderate tectonic activity. The contribution of external factors like global sea-level and climate changes to the sedimentation processes during the Mid-Cretaceous is discussed in the second set of papers. The final group presents new kinematics and age constraints on the Late Cretaceous to Neogene tectonic phases and discusses the relationship of the structures with the closure of the Neo-Tethys and separation of the Arabia plate. This collection of research papers demonstrates new concepts on the opening and crustal thinning of the Levant Basin and gives updated interpretations of the latter tectonic structures of the Levant.

Description / Table of Contents: The discovery of dinosaurs and other large extinct ‘saurians’ - a term under which the Victorians commonly lumped ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs and their kin - makes exciting reading and has caught the attention of palaeontologists, historians of science and the general public alike. The papers in this collection go beyond the familiar tales about famous ‘fossil hunters’ and focus on relatively little-known episodes in the discovery and interpretation (from both a scientific and an artistic point of view) of dinosaurs and other inhabitants of the Mesozoic world. They cover a long time span, from the beginnings of ‘modern’ scientific palaeontology in the 1700s to the present, and deal with many parts of the world, from the Yorkshire coast to Central India, from Bavaria to the Sahara. The characters in these stories include professional palaeontologists and geologists (some of them well-known, others quite obscure), explorers, amateur fossil collectors, and artists, linked together by their interest in Mesozoic creatures.

Description / Table of Contents: Restraining and releasing bends are common, but enigmatic features of strike-slip fault systems occurring in all crustal environments and at regional to microscopic scales of observation. Regional-scale restraining bends are sites of mountain building, transpressional deformation and basement exhumation, whereas releasing bends are sites of topographic subsidence, transtensional deformation, basin sedimentation and possible volcanism and economic mineralization. Because restraining and releasing bends often occur as singular self-contained domains of complex deformation, they are appealing natural laboratories for Earth scientists to study fault processes, earthquake seismology, active faulting and sedimentation, fault and fluid-flow relationships, links between tectonics and topography, tectonic and erosional controls on exhumation, and tectonic geomorphology. This volume addresses the tectonic complexity and diversity of strike-slip restraining and releasing bends with 18 contributions divided into four thematic sections: (1) a topical review of fault bends and their global distribution; (2) bends, sedimentary basins and earthquake hazards; (3) restraining bends, transpressional deformation and basement controls on development; (4) releasing bends, transtensional deformation and fluid flow.

Description / Table of Contents: The many kinds of porous geomaterials (rocks, soils, concrete, etc.) exhibit a range of responses when undergoing inelastic deformation. In doing so they commonly develop well-ordered fabric elements, forming fractures, shear bands and compaction bands, so creating the planar fabrics that are regarded as localization. Because these induced localization fabrics alter the bulk material properties (such as permeability, acoustic characteristics and strength), it is important to understand how and why localization occurs, and how it relates to its setting. The concept of damage (in several uses) describes both the precursor to localization and the context within which it occurs. A key theme is that geomaterials display a strong material evolution during deformation, revealing a close linkage between the damage and localization processes. This volume assembles perspectives from a number of disciplines, including soil mechanics, rock mechanics, structural geology, seismic anisotropy and reservoir engineering. The papers range from theoretical to observational, and include contributions showing how the deformed geomaterials emergent bulk characteristics, like permeability and seismic anisotropy, can be predicted. This book will be of interest to a wide range of geoscientists and engineers who deal with characterization of deformed materials.

Description / Table of Contents: The Proterozoic and early Phanerozoic was a time punctuated by a series of significant events in Earth history. Glaciations of global scale wracked the planet, interfingered with dramatic changes in oceanic and atmospheric chemistry and marked changes in continental configuration. It was during these dynamic and ‘weedy’ times that metazoans first appeared. Their subsequent diversification culminated in the appearance of hard tissue skeletons and deep "farming" of the marine substrate in late Proterozoic and first few millions of years of the Phanerozoic. The papers in this book deal specifically with the precise timing of physical events and teasing out of the effects which these changing environments, climates, global chemistry and palaeogeography had on the development and diversification of animals, resulting in the spectacular Ediacaran/Vendian faunas of the late Precambrian.

Description / Table of Contents: Fjords are glacially over-deepened, semi-enclosed marine basins, but are often neglected as a sedimentary realm. They represent the transition from the terrestrial to the marine environment and as such have the potential to preserve evidence of environmental change. Typically most fjords have been glaciated a number of times and some high-latitude fjords still possess a resident glacier. The stratigraphic record in fjords largely preserves a glacial–deglacial cycle of deposition. Sheltered water and high sedimentation rates potentially make fjords ideal depositional environments for preserving continuous records of climate and environmental change with high temporal resolution. Fjords are also referred to as miniature oceans providing the unique opportunity to study marine processes in great detail. With predictions of warming climates, changing ocean circulation and rising sea levels, this volume is a timely look at these environmentally sensitive coastlines.

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

Description / Table of Contents: Underground gas storage: An introduction and UK perspective / D. J. Evans and R. A. Chadwick / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 1-11, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.1 --- The importance of gas storage to the UK: The DECC perspective / J. Havard and R. French / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 13-15, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.2 --- Gas storage: An onshore operator's perspective / A. Fernando and A. Raman / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 17-24, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.3 --- Underground gas storage: Why and how / Hans Plaat / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 25-37, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.4 --- A review of onshore UK salt deposits and their potential for underground gas storage / D. J. Evans and S. Holloway / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 39-80, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.5 --- Environmental and safety monitoring of the natural gas underground storage at Stenlille, Denmark / T. Laier and H. Øbro / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 81-92, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.6 --- Design of salt caverns for the storage of natural gas, crude oil and compressed air: Geomechanical aspects of construction, operation and abandonment / K.-H. Lux / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 93-128, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.7 --- New procedure for tightness tests (MIT) of salt cavern storage wells: Continuous high accuracy determination of relevant parameters, without the need to use radioactive tools / Hartmut Von Tryller, Andreas Reitze and Fritz Crotogino / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 129-137, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.8 --- Environmental issues in permitting gas storage: The Wild Goose case history / Laurie McClenahan Hietter / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 139-148, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.9 --- Underground gas storage project at Welton oilfield, Lincolnshire: Local perspectives and responses to planning, environmental and community safety issues / Meg Davidson / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 149-161, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.10 --- Well integrity: An overlooked source of risk and liability for underground natural gas storage. Lessons learned from incidents in the USA / Brent Miyazaki / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 163-172, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.11 --- A review of underground fuel storage events and putting risk into perspective with other areas of the energy supply chain / D. J. Evans / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 173-216, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.12 --- Underground hydrogen storage in the UK / Howard B. J. Stone, Ivo Veldhuis and R. Neil Richardson / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 217-226, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.13 --- Subsurface characterization and geological monitoring of the CO2 injection operation at Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada / James B. Riding and Christopher A. Rochelle / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 227-256, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.14 --- Review of monitoring issues and technologies associated with the long-term underground storage of carbon dioxide / R. A. Chadwick, R. Arts, M. Bentham, O. Eiken, S. Holloway, G. A. Kirby, J. M. Pearce, J. P. Williamson and P. Zweigel / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 313, 257-275, 26 May 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP313.15

Description / Table of Contents: For thousands of years, religious ideas have shaped the thoughts and actions of human beings. Many of the early geological concepts were initially developed within this context. The long-standing relationship between geology and religious thought, which has been sometimes indifferent, sometimes fruitful and sometimes full of conflict, is discussed from a historical point of view. This relationship continues into the present. Although Christian fundamentalists attack evolution and related palaeontological findings as well as the geological evidence for the age of the Earth, mainstream theologians strive for a fruitful dialogue between science and religion. Much of what is written and discussed today can only be understood within the historical perspective. This book considers the development of geology from mythological approaches towards the European Enlightenment, biblical or geological Flood and the age of the Earth, geology within ‘religious’ organizations, biographical case studies of geological clerics and religious geologists, religion and evolution, and historical aspects of creationism and its motives.