ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: Sandstone aquifers are common worldwide: they contain a significant proportion of the Earth’s fresh water supplies. However, because of their textural complexity and the frequent occurrence of both matrix and fracture flow, prediction of flow and pollutant migration is still a considerable challenge. This volume contains a collection of papers summarizing current research on an example sandstone aquifer: the UK Permo-Triassic Sandstone sequence. These red bed, organic-poor sandstones are of fluvial and aeolian origin, are often strongly textured, and are cut by discontinuities of a wide range of permeabilities. Matrix flow often dominates, but fracture flow also occurs. The papers in the volume deal with research on saturated and unsaturated flow, and solute and non-aqueous-phase liquid movement. They cover investigations from laboratory to regional scale, and involve a wide range of approaches, from petrophysical through geophysical and hydrochemical to modelling. The book is intended to be of interest to researchers and practitioners involved in water resources and groundwater pollution, and to hydrogeology, water engineering, and environmental science students.

Description / Table of Contents: High-latitude settings are sensitive to climatically driven palaeoenvironmental change and the resultant biotic response. Climate change through the peak interval of Cretaceous warmth, Late Cretaceous cooling, onset and expansion of the Antarctic ice sheet, and subsequently the variability of Neogene glaciation, are all recorded within the sedimentary and volcanic successions exposed within the James Ross Basin, Antarctica. This site provides the longest onshore record of Cretaceous-Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks in Antarctica and is a key reference section for Cretaceous-Tertiary global change. The sedimentary succession is richly fossiliferous, yielding diverse invertebrate, vertebrate and plant fossil assemblages, allowing the reconstruction of both terrestrial and marine systems. The papers within this volume provide an overview of recent advances in the understanding of palaeoenvironmental change spanning the mid-Cretaceous to the Neogene of the James Ross Basin and related biotic change, and will be of interest to many working on Cretaceous and Tertiary palaeoenvironmental change.

Description / Table of Contents: Despite agreement on first-order features and mechanisms, critical aspects of the origin and evolution of the Tibetan Plateau, such as the exact timing and nature of collision, the initiation of plateau uplift, and the evolution of its height and width, are disputed, untested or unknown. This book gathers papers dealing with the growth and collapse of the Tibetan Plateau. The timing, the underlying mechanisms, their interactions and the induced surface shaping, contributing to the Tibetan Plateau evolution are tightly linked via coupled and feedback processes. We present interdisciplinary contributions allowing insight into the complex interactions between lithospheric dynamics, topography building, erosion, hydrological processes and atmospheric coupling. The book is structured in four parts: early processes in the plateau formation; recent growth of the Tibetan Plateau; mechanisms of plateau growth; and plateau uplift, surface processes and the monsoon.

Description / Table of Contents: The Palaeoproterozoic era (2500–1600 Ma) was a critical period of Earth history, with dynamic evolution from the deep planetary interior to its surface environment. Several lines of geological evidence suggest the existence of at least one pre-Rodinia supercontinent, named Nuna or Columbia, which formed near the end of Palaeoproterozoic time. Prior to this assembly, there may have been an older supercontinent (Kenorland) or perhaps only independently drifting supercratons. The tectonic records of amalgamation and dispersal of these ancient landmasses provide a framework that links processes of the deep Earth with those of its fluid envelope. The sixteen papers in this volume present reviews and new analytical data that span the geological record of Palaeoproterozoic Earth and provide a current picture of Palaeoproterozoic research. The volume provides a useful reference book for students and professional geoscientists interested in this important period of global evolution.

Description / Table of Contents: Ancient orogens and modern analogues: an introduction / J. Brendan Murphy, J. Duncan Keppie and Andrew J. Hynes / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 1-8, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.1 --- Mesozoic–Cenozoic Orogens --- Caldera volcanism and rift structure in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand / J. W. Cole and K. D. Spinks / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 9-29, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.2 --- Andean flat-slab subduction through time / Victor A. Ramos and Andrés Folguera / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 31-54, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.3 --- Middle Miocene Chiapas fold and thrust belt of Mexico: a result of collision of the Tehuantepec Transform/Ridge with the Middle America Trench / J. J. Mandujano-Velazquez and J. Duncan Keppie / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 55-69, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.4 --- Extrusion of high-pressure Cache Creek rocks into the Triassic Stikinia–Quesnellia arc of the Canadian Cordillera: implications for terrane analysis of ancient orogens and palaeogeography / Jaroslav Dostal, J. Duncan Keppie and Filippo Ferri / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 71-87, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.5 --- Plate tectonics of the Alpine realm / Gérard M. Stampfli and Cyril Hochard / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 89-111, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.6 --- The Calabrian Orocline: buckling of a previously more linear orogen / Stephen T. Johnston and Stefano Mazzoli / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 113-125, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.7 --- Seismic structure, crustal architecture and tectonic evolution of the Anatolian-African Plate Boundary and the Cenozoic Orogenic Belts in the Eastern Mediterranean Region / Yildirim Dilek and Eric Sandvol / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 127-160, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.8 --- Palaeozoic/Neoproterozoic Orogens --- The evolution of the Uralian orogen / Victor N. Puchkov / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 161-195, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.9 --- Timing of dextral strike-slip processes and basement exhumation in the Elbe Zone (Saxo-Thuringian Zone): the final pulse of the Variscan Orogeny in the Bohemian Massif constrained by LA-SF-ICP-MS U-Pb zircon data / M. Hofmann, U. Linnemann, A. Gerdes, B. Ullrich and M. Schauer / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 197-214, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.10 --- Variscan intra-orogenic extensional tectonics in the Ossa-Morena Zone (Évora-Aracena-Lora del Rı́o metamorphic belt, SW Iberian Massif): SHRIMP zircon U-Th-Pb geochronology / M. Francisco Pereira, Martim Chichorro, Ian S. Williams, José B. Silva, Carlos Fernández, Manuel Dı́az-azpı́roz, Arturo Apraiz and Antonio Castro / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 215-237, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.11 --- Palaeozoic palaeogeography of Mexico: constraints from detrital zircon age data / R. Damian Nance, J. Duncan Keppie, Brent V. Miller, J. Brendan Murphy and Jaroslav Dostal / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 239-269, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.12 --- Pre-Carboniferous, episodic accretion-related, orogenesis along the Laurentian margin of the northern Appalachians / Cees R. van Staal, Joseph B. Whalen, Pablo Valverde-Vaquero, Alexandre Zagorevski and Neil Rogers / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 271-316, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.13 --- From Rodinia to Pangaea: ophiolites from NW Iberia as witness for a long-lived continental margin / Sonia Sánchez Martı́nez, Ricardo Arenas, Javier Fernández-Suárez and Teresa E. Jeffries / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 317-341, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.14 --- Rheic Ocean mafic complexes: overview and synthesis / J. Brendan Murphy, Gabriel Gutiérrez-Alonso, R. Damian Nance, Javier Fernández-Suárez, J. Duncan Keppie, Cecilio Quesada, Jaroslav Dostal and James A. Braid / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 343-369, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.15 --- Proterozoic Orogens --- The palaeomagnetically viable, long-lived and all-inclusive Rodinia supercontinent reconstruction / David A. D. Evans / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 371-404, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.16 --- The Grenville Province as a large hot long-duration collisional orogen – insights from the spatial and thermal evolution of its orogenic fronts / Toby Rivers / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 405-444, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.17 --- Neoproterozoic reworking of the Palaeoproterozoic Capricorn Orogen of Western Australia and implications for the amalgamation of Rodinia / Sandra A. Occhipinti and Steven M. Reddy / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 445-456, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.18 --- The Palaeoproterozoic Trans-Hudson Orogen: a prototype of modern accretionary processes / D. Corrigan, S. Pehrsson, N. Wodicka and E. de Kemp / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 457-479, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.19

Description / Table of Contents: There is much interest in gas hydrates in relation to their potential role as an important driver for climate change and as a major new energy source; however, many questions remain, not least the size of the global hydrate budget. Much of the current uncertainty centres on how hydrates are physically stored in sediments at a range of scales. This volume details advances in our understanding of sediment-hosted hydrates, and contains papers covering a range of studies of real and artificial sediments containing both methane hydrates and CO2 hydrates. The papers include an examination of the techniques used to locate, sample and characterize hydrates from natural, methane-rich systems, so as to understand them better. Other contributions consider the nature and stability of synthetic hydrates formed in the laboratory, which in turn improve our ability to make accurate predictive models.

Description / Table of Contents: Structurally complex reservoirs form a distinct class of reservoir in which fault arrays and fracture networks, in particular, exert an overriding control on petroleum trapping and production behaviour. With modern exploration and production portfolios now commonly held in geologically complex settings, there is an increasing technical challenge to find new prospects and to extract remaining hydrocarbons from these reservoirs. This volume reviews our current understanding and ability to model the complex distribution and behaviour of fault and fracture networks, highlighting their fluid compartmentalizing effects and storage-transmissivity characteristics, and outlining approaches for predicting the dynamic fluid flow and geomechanical behaviour of these reservoirs. This collection of 25 papers provides an overview of recent progress and outstanding issues in the areas of (i) structural complexity and fault geometry, (ii) detection and prediction of faults and fractures, (iii) compartmentalizing effects of fault systems and complex siliciclastic reservoirs and (iv) critical controls affecting fractured reservoirs.

Description / Table of Contents: The complexity of plate interactions and associated crustal deformation in the Eastern Mediterranean region is reflected by the numerous destructive earthquakes that have occurred throughout its history. Many of these have been well documented and studied. In addition, the Aegean region provides examples of core-complex formation, synchronous basin evolution and subsequent graben formation and continental extensional deformation following orogenic contraction. It is therefore considered to be a perfect natural laboratory for the study of these mechanisms. The region has been the subject of intensive research for several decades. This book contains current results and ideas regarding the geodynamics of the Aegean and Anatolia. It will be essential reading for all geoscientists with an interest in the structural evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean.

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.