ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: Northwest Europe has undergone repeated episodes of exhumation (the exposure of formerly buried rocks) due to such factors as post-orogenic unroofing, rift-shoulder uplift, hotspot activity, compressive tectonics, eustatic sea-level change, glaciation and isostatic readjustment. The main observational legacy of this exhumation around the North Atlantic is preserved in the comparatively young (Mesozoic and Cenozoic) geological record of this region. Despite a rapid increase in the understanding of the exhumation of this area, there are still many unknowns: the relative intensity of the various phases and their geographical variation; mechanisms of uplift; primary causes of exhumation. Tied to these problems is the larger-scale question of whether the circum-North Atlantic is unique or whether its behaviour is typical for passive margins. There have been several attempts in recent years to bring together researchers to address these questions, but these have often focused on one particular geographical area or one particular exhumation phase. Before an integrated story can emerge, disciplines that have traditionally remained apart need to come together: geomorphology and offshore seismic interpretation; Palaeogene and Neogene studies; Scandinavian and British-Irish research schools. This volume represents a first step in this direction by providing an inter-disciplinary set of studies over a wide latitudinal range of the NW European margin. The studies presented here are based on a variety of techniques that have been employed to address the main concerns of North Atlantic exhumation history, including timing, mechanisms and the sedimentary response of the continental margin. The 25 papers presented in this volume have

Description / Table of Contents: Palaeozoic Amalgamation of Central Europe summarizes recent research designed to clarify the timing, geometry and processes by which discrete terranes of Central Europe became amalgamated during the Palaeozoic Era. The area studied extends from the southern North Sea to Central Poland along the Trans-European Suture Zone, covering much of Germany, Denmark, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Poland. The 16 papers within the volume are divided into five sections: biostratigraphic/provenance evidence; isotopic constraints; petrological and geochemical evidence; structural evolution; seismic traverses and deep crustal structure. The first section contains papers summarizing continent-specific micropalaeontological and sediment provenance information backing current debates about microcontinent derivation and timing of their accretions to the proto-European continent, Baltica. The section on isotopic constraints discusses the use of isotopic dating to constrain the timing of accretions of rock units exposed in the northern Bohemian Massif, while the following section has more detailed studies of metamorphosed ophiolitic complexes adjoining palaeosutures in the same area. The two papers on the structural evolution of the area contrast a detailed review of the structural evolution of the Sudetes, with a broader, more regionally based hypothesis for the structural evolution of all Central Europe. The final section discusses models based on extensive seismic traverses in contrasting parts of the area - Belgium, the southern North Sea and Poland. This wide-ranging study thus encapsulates the most up-to-date ideas on the Palaeozoic amalgamation of Central Europe from the leading international researchers in the field. The volume will be of interest to those earth scientists in industry and academia with a broad-based interest in the construction of the European continent, primarily biostratigraphers, geophysicists, structural geologists and geochemists.

Description / Table of Contents: The scientific discoveries that have been made with noble gas geochemistry are of such a profound and fundamental nature that earth science textbooks should be full of examples. Surprisingly, this really is not so. The "first discoveries" include presolar components in our _ solar system, extinct radionuclides, primordial volatiles in the Earth, the degassing history of Mars, secular changes in the solar wind, reliable present day mantle degassing fluxes, the fluxes of extraterrestrial material to Earth, groundwater paleotemperatures and the ages of the oldest landscapes on Earth. Noble gas geochemistry has scored so many such "firsts" or "home runs" that it should permeate a lot of earth science thinking and teaching. Yet rather surprisingly it does not. Noble gas geochemistry also is a broader and more versatile field than almost any other area of geochemistry. It pervades cosmochemistry, Earth sciences, ocean sciences, climate studies and environmental sciences. Yet most modern Earth, planetary and environmental science departments do not consider noble gas geochemistry to be at the top of their list in terms of hiring priorities these days. Furthermore, with the exception of Ar geochronologists, noble gas geochemists are a surprisingly rare breed. Why is the above the case? Perhaps the reasons lie in the nature of the field itself. First, although noble gas geochemists work on big problems, the context of their data is often woefully under-constrained so that it becomes hard to make progress beyond the first order fundamental discoveries. Noble gas data are often difficult to interpret. Although some concepts are straightforward and striking in their immediate implications (e.g. mantle 3He in the oceans), others are to this day shrouded in lack of clarity. The simple reason for this is that in many situations it is only the noble gases that offer any real insights at all and the context of other constraints simply does not exist. Some examples of the big issues being addressed by noble gases are as follows and I have deliberately posed these as major unresolved questions that only exist because noble gas geochemistry has opened windows through which to view large-scale issues and processes that otherwise would be obscure. (1) Is the presolar noble gas component present in a tiny fraction of submicroscopic meteoritic C or is it ubiquitously distributed? (2) How did solar noble gases get incorporated into the Earth? (3) How did solar noble gases survive the protracted accretion of the Earth via giant impacts? (4) What is the origin of the noble gas pattern in the Earth's atmosphere? (5) Why are the Earth and Mars almost opposites in terms of the relative isotopic differences between atmosphere and mantle? (6) What is the Eresent source of Earth's primordial helium? Can we ignore the core? (7) What is the 2~e/ 2Ne of the mantle, how was it acquired and why is it different from the atmosphere? (8) How does one reconcile the stronlJ fractionation in terrestrial Xe with data for other noble gases? (9) How much radiogenic Ar should the Earth have? How well do we know KIU? (10) Are the light isotopes of Xe the same in the mantle and the atmosphere? If not, why not? (11) How are noble gases transported through the creeping solid earth? (12) How does one explain the heat - helium paradox? (13) How incompatible are the noble gases during melting? (14) How are atmospheric components incorporated into volcanic samples? (15) How are the excess air components incorporated into groundwater? (16) Why are continental noble gas paleotemperature records offset from oceanic temperature records? Noble gas data tell us that the Earth and solar system represent very complex environments. When we make our simple first order conclusions and models we are only at the tip of the iceberg of discoveries that are needed to arrive at a thorough understanding of the behavior of volatiles in the solar system. Who wants to hear that things are complicated? Who wants to hire in a field that will involve decades of data acquisition and analysis in order to sort out the solar system? Sadly, too few these days. This is the stuff of deep scientific giants and bold, technically difficult long-term research programs. It is not for those who prefer superficiality and quick, glamorous, slick answers. Noble gas geochemists work in many areas where progress is slow and difficult even though the issues are huge. This probably plays a part in the limited marketability of noble gas geochemistry to the nonspecialist. Second, noble gases is a technically difficult subject. That is, noble gas geochemists need to be adept 11t technique development and this has to include skills acquired through innovation in the lab. Nobody can learn this stuff merely with a book or practical guide. Reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (by Robert Pirsig) would give you a clearer picture. This magnificent MSA-GS volume is going to be enormously useful but on its own it won't make anybody into a noble gas geochemist. Although the mass spectrometry principles are not complex, the tricks involved in getting better data are often self taught or passed on by working with individuals who themselves are pushing the boundaries further. Furthermore, much of the exciting new science is linked with technical developments that allow us to move beyond the current measurement capabilities. Be they better crushing devices, laser resonance time of flight, multiple collection or compressor sources - the technical issues are central to progress. Lastly, noble gas geochemists need a broad range of other skills in order to make progress. They have to be good at mass spectrometry as already stated. However, nowadays they also need to be able to understand fields as different as mantle geochemistry, stellar evolution, cosmochemistry, crustal fluids, oceanography and glaciology. They are kind of "Renaissance" individuals. Therefore, if you are thinking broadly about hiring scientists who love science and stand a good chance of making a major difference to our understanding of the solar system, earth and its environment - I would recommend you hire a really good noble gas geochemist. However, the results may take a while. If you want somebody who will crank out papers at high speed and quickly increase the publication numbers of your department then you may need to think about somebody else. The two are not mutually exclusive but think hard about what is really important. There was no short course associated with this volume, although an attempt was undertaken to get the volume printed in time for the V. M. Goldschmidt conference in Davos, Switzerland (mid-August 2002) at which there was a major symposium on noble gases.

Description / Table of Contents: The study of biodiversity through geological time provides important information for the understanding of diversity patterns at the present day. Hitherto, much effort has been paid to studying the mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic but the research emphasis has now changed to focus on what occurred between these spectacular catastrophic events. After the Cambrian ‘explosion’ of marine organisms with readily preservable skeletons, there have been two intervals when life radiated dramatically — the Ordovician Period, and the mid-Mesozoic-Cenozoic eras. These intervals saw a fundamental reorganization of biodiversity on a hierarchy of biogeographical scales. The size of these diversity increases and their probable causes are topics of intense debate, and there is an intriguing link between the dispersal of continents, changing climates and the proliferation of life. The papers in this volume are written by palaeontologists, biogeographers and geologists addressing the highly topical field of palaeobiodiversity in the context of the Earth’s changing geography. Palaeobiogeography and Biodiversity Change: the Ordovician and Mesozoic-Cenozoic Radiations illustrates many aspects of the two great episodes of biotic radiation and shows how long periods of time and plate tectonic movements have a fundamental influence on the generation and maintenance of major extant biodiversity patterns. The volume will be of interest to professional palaeontologists, biologists and geologists, as well as to students in earth and biological sciences.

Description / Table of Contents: There is an increasing trend in the Earth sciences towards the integration of many subdisciplines. The sedimendatry basin, is a fundamental focal point of many studies, which as a consequence often neglects the complimentary drainage basin or catchment. Sedimentary basins provide a record of Earth history, reflecting the geographical, lithological, oceanographic and ecological development through the rock record. Drainage basins in comparison record ephemeral landscape evolution, where topography is eroded and provides the flux of sediment to the basin. The basin fill reflects the sediment flux from the hinterland and provides evidence of the dynamic geomorphic processes. In context the drainage system and sedimentary basin can be regarded as a 'production line' with sedimentary record giving valuable insight into long-term landscape evolution and geomorphological processes illuminating the evolution of sedimentary basins. This volume assesses the current position of understanding sediment supply to basins with the integration of the many sub-disciplines in the Earth sciences. It documents a mix of hinterland and sedimentary basin studies with a gradation from orogenic belts to the deep marine. The authors represent a wide spectrum of Earth scientist, with leaders in the science providing review papers and new-directive papers in their field of specialization.