ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: Description Contents Resources Courses About the Authors The world's mid-ocean ridges form a single, connected global ridge system that is part of every ocean, and is the longest mountain range in the world. Geologically active, mid-ocean ridges are key sites of tectonic movement, intimately involved in seafloor spreading. This coursebook presents a multidisciplinary approach to the science of mid-ocean ridges essential for a complete understanding of global tectonics and geodynamics. Designed for graduate and advanced undergraduate students, it will also provide a valuable reference for professionals in relevant fields. Background chapters provide a historical introduction and an overview of research techniques, with succeeding chapters covering the structure of the lithosphere and crust, and volcanic, tectonic and hydrothermal processes.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume studies the driving dynamic for thick-skin tectonics. It evaluates the role of various factors that control the development of thick-skin architecture. The studied driving dynamics include individual plate movement rates, overall convergence rates, orogen movement sense with respect to mantle flow and pro-wedge versus retro-wedge location. Numerous internal factors that influence the architecture of thick-skinned dominated orogens have been considered. These include the role of the rheology of the deforming layers, the presence or absence of potential detachment horizons, basement buttresses, crustal thickness variations, inherited strength contrasts and the impact of pre-existing anisotropy in thick-skin orogenic deformation. External factors discussed include the role of both syn-tectonic erosion and deposition in deformation. The study areas begin with worldwide examples and close with a detailed coverage of the Northern Andes natural laboratory, which is characterized by particularly robust data coverage.

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the field of geochemistry. The book first lays out the 'geochemical toolbox': the basic principles and techniques of modern geochemistry, beginning with a review of thermodynamics and kinetics as they apply to the Earth and its environs. These basic concepts are then applied to understanding processes in aqueous systems and the behavior of trace elements in magmatic systems. Subsequent chapters introduce radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry and illustrate their application to such diverse topics as determining geologic time, ancient climates, and the diets of prehistoric peoples. The focus then broadens to the formation of the solar system, the Earth, and the elements themselves. Then the composition of the Earth itself becomes the topic, examining the composition of the core, the mantle, and the crust and exploring how this structure originated. A final chapter covers organic chemistry, including the origin of fossil fuels and the carbon cycle's role in controlling Earth's climate, both in the geologic past and the rapidly changing present.

Description / Table of Contents: Lithoprobe was Canada's major national research project in the earth sciences for more than 20 years, finishing in 2005. It combined multidisciplinary earth science studies of the Canadian landmass and surrounding offshore margins to determine how the northern North American continent formed over geological time from 4000 million years ago to the present. Lithoprobe was a collaborative research project that cumulatively involved nearly 1000 scientists working in every sector of earth sciences in Canada. It greatly advanced scientific knowledge about the structure and evolution of our landmass and provided a regional geotectonic context within which petroleum, base-metal and diamond mining companies could better plan their exploration programs. Although Lithoprobe results have been published in hundreds of scientific articles during the life of the project, and in a series of special issues of the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, Special Paper 49 is the only book to be published on Lithoprobe scientific results. The volume comprises seven chapters covering the wide range of geotectonic regions studied through the ten Lithoprobe transects (study areas), plus a summary chapter. Each chapter incorporates a geological overview and discusses a range of physical parameters as appropriate to the area (e.g., crustal thickness and its variation; crustal structure, composition, seismic velocity and reflectivity; nature of orogen margins; age and style of rifting; nature and age of accreted terranes; nature and age of continental magmatic arcs; location and nature of paleo-suture zones; age and style of accretion; variation of P-T conditions through time; and the age and style of post-collisional processes). The chapters also include discussions of important aspects of orogenic and post-orogenic evolution. As such, Special Paper 49 pulls together and provides an in-depth overview of most of the major scientific results deriving from the Lithoprobe project, and an analysis of their major implications. The chapters are lengthy, with very extensive reference lists, and include a large number of illustrations, many of which, of necessity, are in colour. It is a book that will be the main source of information about the Canadian landmass for many years to come.

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: State-of-the-art analysis of geological structures has become increasingly quantitative but traditionally, graphical methods are used in teaching. This innovative lab book provides a unified methodology for problem-solving in structural geology using linear algebra and computation. Assuming only limited mathematical training, the book begins with classic orientation problems and progresses to more fundamental topics of stress, strain and error propagation. It introduces linear algebra methods as the foundation for understanding vectors and tensors, and demonstrates the application of geometry and kinematics in geoscience without requiring students to take a supplementary mathematics course. All algorithms are illustrated with a suite of online MATLAB functions, allowing users to modify the code to solve their own structural problems. Containing 20 worked examples and over 60 exercises, this is the ideal lab book for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students. It will also provide professional structural geologists with a valuable reference and refresher for calculations.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: 1. Problem solving in structural geology; 2. Coordinate systems, scalars and vectors; 3. Transformations of coordinate axes and vectors; 4. Matrix operations and indicial notation; 5. Tensors; 6. Stress; 7. Introduction to deformation; 8. Infinitesimal strain; 9. Finite strain; 10. Progressive strain histories and kinematics; 11. Velocity description of deformation; 12. Error analysis

Description / Table of Contents: In this timely volume, geoscientists from both industry and academia present a contemporary view of salt at a global scale. The studies examine the influence of salt on synkinematic sedimentation, its role in basin evolution and tectonics, and ultimately in hydrocarbon prospectivity. Recent improvements in seismic reflection, acquisition and processing techniques have led to significant advances in the understanding of salt and sediment interactions, both along the flanks of vertical or overturned salt margins, and in subsalt plays such as offshore Brazil. The book is broadly separated into five major themes covering a variety of geographical and process-linked topics. These are: halokinetic sequence stratigraphy, salt in passive margin settings, Central European salt basins, deformation within and adjacent to salt, and salt in contractional settings and salt glaciers.

Description / Table of Contents: This thesis summarizes the results of the WSM project's second phase (1996 - 2008). In particular it presents the major achievements that have been accomplished with the WSM 2008 database release that has been compiled under the guidance of the author. Furthermore, the thesis briefly presents three of the author's numerical models that aim at quantification the temporal changes of the crustal stress field.

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: Content: Part I The Main Players. Rifted Margins: Building Blocks of Later Collision. - Intra-oceanic Subduction Zones. - The Subductability of Continental Lithosphere:The Before and After Story. - The Seismic Structure of Island Arc Crust. - Vertical Stratification of Composition, Density, and InferredMagmatic Processes in Exposed Arc Crustal Sections. - The Generation and Preservation of Mineral Deposits in Arc Continent Collision Environments. - Part II Specific Examples of Arc-Continent Collision: The Nature of the Banda Arc Continent Collisionin the Timor Region. - The Arc Continent Collision in Taiwan. - Early Eocene Arc Continent Collision in Kamchatka, Russia:Structural Evolution and Geodynamic Model. - The Asia Kohistan India Collision: Review and Discussion. - Processes of Arc Continent Collision in the Uralides. - The Record of Ordovician Arc Arc and Arc Continent Collisions in the Canadian Appalachians During the Closure of Iapetus. - Arc Continent Collision in the Ordovician of Western Ireland: Stratigraphic, Structural and Metamorphic Evolution. - Multiple Arc Development in the Paleoproterozoic Wopmay Orogen, Northwest Canada. - Part III Models of Arc-Continent Collision Processes: The Origin of Obducted Large-Slab Ophiolite Complexes. - Physical Modeling of Arc Continent Collision: A Reviewof 2D, 3D, Purely Mechanical and Thermo Mechanical Experimental Models. - Part IV Putting it All Together: Arc Continent Collision: The Making of an Orogen

Description / Table of Contents: This collection of papers presents recent advances in the study of deformation mechanisms and rheology and their applications to tectonics. Many of the contributions exploit new petrofabric techniques, particularly electron backscatter diffraction, to help understand evolution of rock microstructure and mechanical properties. Papers in the first section (lattice preferred orientations and anisotropy) show a growing emphasis on the determination of elastic properties from petrofabrics, from which acoustic properties can be computed for comparison with in-situ seismic measurements. Such research will underpin geodynamic interpretation of large-scale active tectonics. Contributions in the second section (microstructures, mechanisms and rheology) study the relations between microstructural evolution during deformation and mechanical properties. Many of the papers explore how different mechanisms compete and interact to control the evolution of grain size and petrofabrics. Contributors make use of combinations of laboratory experiments, field studies and computational methods, and several relate microstructural and mechanical evolution to large-scale tectonic processes observed in nature.

Description / Table of Contents: Investigating the complex interplay between tectonics and sedimentation is a key endeavor in modern earth science. Many of the world's leading researchers in this field have been brought together in this volume to provide concise overviews of the current state of the subject. The plate tectonic revolution of the 1960's provided the framework for detailed models on the structure of orogens and basins, summarized in a 1995 textbook edited by Busby and Ingersoll. Tectonics of Sedimentary Basins: Recent Advances focuses on key topics or areas where the greatest strides forward have been made, while also providing on-line access to the comprehensive 1995 book. Breakthroughs in new techniques are described in Section 1, including detrital zircon geochronology, cosmogenic nuclide dating, magnetostratigraphy, 3-D seismic, and basin modelling. Section 2 presents the new models for rift, post-rift, transtensional and strike slip basin settings.Section 3 addresses the latest ideas in convergent margin tectonics, including the sedimentary record of subduction intiation and subduction, flat-slab subduction, and arc-continent collision; it then moves inboard to forearc basins and intra-arc basins, and ends with a series of papers formed under compessional strain regimes, as well as post-orogenic intramontane basins. Section 4 examines the origin of plate interior basins, and the sedimentary record of supercontinent formation.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: Chapter 1. Metabolic Synthesis Chapter 2. Chemical Biomarker Applications to Ecology and Paleoecology Chapter 3. Stable Isotopes and Radiocarbon Chapter 4. Analytical Chemical Methods and Instrumentation Chapter 5. Carbohydrates: Neutral and Minor Sugars Chapter 6. Proteins: Amino Acids and Amines Chapter 7. Nucleic Acids and Molecular Tools Chapter 8. Lipids: Fatty Acids Chapter 9. Isoprenoid Lipids: Steroids, Hopanoids, and Triterpenoids Chapter 10. Lipids: Hydrocarbons Chapter 11. Lipids: Alkenones, Polar Lipids, and Ether Lipids Chapter 12. Photosynthetic Pigments: Chlorophylls, Carotenoids, and Phycobilins Chapter 13. Lignins, Cutins, and Suberins Chapter 14. Anthropogenic Markers Appendix I. Atomic Weights of Elements Appendix II. Useful SI Units and Conversion Factors Appendix III. Physical and Chemical Constants Glossary Bibliography

Description / Table of Contents: The world's mountain ranges are the clearest manifestations of long-term deformation of the continental crust. As such they have attracted geological investigations for centuries. Throughout this long history of research a few keynote publications stand out. One of the most important is the Geological Survey's 1907 Memoir on The Geological Structure of the North-West Highlands of Scotland. The Memoir summarized some of the Geological Survey's finest work, and outlined many of the principles of field-based structural and tectonic analysis that have subsequently guided generations of geologists working in other mountain belts, both ancient and modern. The thematic set of 32 papers in this Special Publication celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1907 Memoir by placing the original findings in both historical and modern contexts, and juxtaposing them against present-day studies of deformation processes operating not only in the NW Highlands, but also in other mountain belts.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume honours the career of Brian F. Windley, who has been hugely influential in helping to achieve our current understanding of the evolution of the continental crust, and who has inspired many students and scientists to pursue studies on the evolution of the continents. Brian has studied processes of continental formation and evolution on most continents and of all ages, and has educated and inspired two generations of geologists to undertake careers in studies of continental evolution. The volume is organized into six sections, including: oceanic and island arc systems and continental growth; tectonics of accretionary orogens and continental growth; growth and stabilization of continental crust; collisions and intraplate processes; Precambrian tectonics and the birth of continents; and active tectonics and geomorphology of continental collision and growth zones.

Description / Table of Contents: Since the advent of the mantle plume hypothesis in 1971, scientists have been faced with the problem that its predictions are not confirmed by observation. For thirty years, the usual reaction has been to adapt the hypothesis in numerous ways. As a result, the multitude of current plume variants now amounts to an unfalsifiable hypothesis.In the early 21st century demand became relentless for a theory that can explain melting anomalies in a way that fits the observations naturally and is forward-predictive. From this the Plate hypothesis emerged the exact inverse of the Plume hypothesis. The Plate hypothesis attributes melting anomalies to shallow effects directly related to plate tectonics. It rejects the hypothesis that surface volcanism is driven by convection in the deep mantle.Earth Science is currently in the midst of the kind of paradigm-challenging debate that occurs only rarely in any field. This volume comprises its first handbook. It reviews the Plate and Plume hypotheses, including a clear statement of the former. Thereafter it follows an observational approach, drawing widely from many volcanic regions in chapters on vertical motions of Earth's crust, magma volumes, time-progressions of volcanism, seismic imaging, mantle temperature and geochemistry.T

Description / Table of Contents: Contents:1. Structural geology and structural analysis; 2. Deformation; 3. Strain in rocks; 4. Stress; 5. Stress in the lithosphere; 6. Rheology; 7. Fracture and brittle deformation; 8. Faults; 9. Kinematics and paleostress in the brittle regime; 10. Deformation at the microscale; 11. Folds and folding; 12. Foliation and cleavage; 13. Lineations; 14. Boudinage; 15. Shear zones and mylonites; 16. Contractional regimes; 17. Extensional regimes; 18. Strike-slip, transpression and transtension; 19. Salt tectonics; 20. Balancing and restoration

Description / Table of Contents: Stable Isotope Geochemistry is an introduction to the use of stable isotopes in the geosciences. It is subdivided into three parts: theoretical and experimental principles; fractionation processes of light and heavy elements; the natural variations of geologically important reservoirs. Since the application of stable isotopes to earth sciences has grown in the last few years, a new edition appears necessary. Recent progress in analysing the rare isotopes of certain elements for instance allow the distinction between mass-dependent and mass-independent fractionations. Special emphasis has been given to the growing field of heavy elements. Many new references have been added, which will enable quick access to recent literature. For students and scientists alike the book will be a primary source of information with regard to how and where stable isotopes can be used to solve geological problems.

Description / Table of Contents: Following the late Neoproterozoic - early Cambrian breakup of the supercontinent Rodinia, Gondwana evolved as one of the principal continental masses on Earth, embracing most of South America, Africa, Australasia, Antarctica, much of western Europe and parts of Asia. Around its margins were various other terranes that had varying tectonic and biogeographical affinities with the main continental block. This book incorporates a series of reviews and multidisciplinary research papers that together explore the tectonic, palaeogeographical and palaeobiogeographical evolution of the elements that made up the peri-Gondwanan collage. The stratigraphical scope of the coverage embraces the late Precambrian through early Devonian, providing a comprehensive overview of structural, stratigraphical and biological evolution through this significant interval of Earth history. Integration of these various processes throughout the volume will be of broad-based interest to a wide range of geoscientists.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: Part I: Subduction Zone Geodynamics.- Part II: Seismic Tomography and Anisotropy.- Part III: Great Subduction Zone Earthquakes.- Part IV: Seismogenic Zone Characterization.- Part V: Continental and Ridge Subduction Processes.

Description / Table of Contents: Accretionary orogens form at convergent plate boundaries and include the supra-subduction zone forearc, magmatic arc and backarc components. They can be broken into retreating and advancing types, based on their kinematic framework and resulting geological character.Accretionary systems have been active throughout Earth history, extending back until at least 3.2 Ga, and provide an important constraint on the initiation of horizontal motion of lithospheric plates on Earth.Accretionary orogens have been responsible for major growth of the continental lithosphere, through the addition of juvenile magmatic products, but are also major sites of consumption and reworking of continental crust through time.

Description / Table of Contents: This book considers the geology between North and South America. It contributes to debate about the area's evolution, particularly that of the Caribbean. Prevailing understanding is that the Caribbean formed inthe Pacific and was engulfed between the Americas as the latter drifted west. Accordingly, the CaribbeanPlate comprises internal, Jurassic-Cretaceous oceanic rocks, thickened into a Cretaceous hotspot/plumeplateau, with obducted ophiolites and Cretaceous-Palaeogene, subduction-related, intra-oceanic volcanicarc and metamorphosed arc/continental rocks exposed on its margins. An alternative interpretation is thatthe Caribbean evolved in place. It consists largely of continental crust, extended in the Triassic-Jurassic,which subsided below thick Jurassic-Cretaceous carbonate rocks and flood basalts, and Cenozoic carbonateand clastic rocks. After uplift of 'oceanic' and volcanic arc rocks onto (continental) margins, the interiorfoundered in the Middle Eocene. Papers range from regional overviews and discussions of Caribbeanorigins to aspects of local geology arranged in a circum-Caribbean tour and ending in the interior. They address tectonics, structure, geochronology, seismicity, igneous and metamorphic petrology, metamorphism, geochemistry, stratigraphy and palaeontology.

Description / Table of Contents: Plate tectonics provide a unifying conceptual framework for the understanding of Phanerozoic orogens.More controversially, recent syntheses apply these principles as far back as the Early Archaean. Manyancient orogens are, however, poorly preserved and the processes responsible for them are not well understood.The effects of processes such as delamination, subduction of oceanic and aseismic ridges, overridingof plumes and subduction erosion are rarely identified in ancient orogens, although they have a profoundeffect on Cenozoic orogens. However, deeply eroded ancient orogens provide insights into the hiddenroots of modern orogens. Recent advances in analytical techniques, as well as in fields such as geodynamics,have provided fresh insights into ancient orogenic belts, so that realistic modern analogies can nowbe applied. This Special Publication offers up-to-date reviews and models for some of the most importantorogenic belts developed over the past 2.5 billion years of Earth history.

Description / Table of Contents: The third edition of this widely acclaimed textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of global tectonics, and includes major revisions to reflect the most significant recent advances in the field. It is a fully revised third edition of this highly acclaimed text written by eminent authors including one of the pioneers of plate tectonic theory. Major revisions to this new edition reflect the most significant recent advances in the field, including new and expanded chapters on Precambrian tectonics and the supercontinent cycle and the implications of plate tectonics for environmental change. It combines a historical approach with process science to provide a careful balance between geological and geophysical material in both continental and oceanic regimes.Introduces various aspects of global tectonics, and includes major revisions to reflect the most significant advances in the field. This work includes chapters on Precambrian tectonics and the supercontinent cycle and, the implications of plate tectonics for environmental change.

Description / Table of Contents: Hydrogen may be the most abundant element in the universe, but in science and in nature oxygen has an importance that is disproportionate to its abundance. Human beings tend to take it for granted because it is all around us and we breathe it, but consider the fact that oxygen is so reactive that in a planetary setting it is largely unstable in its elemental state. Were it not for the constant activity of photosynthetic plants and a minor amount of photo dissociation in the upper atmosphere, we would not have an oxygen-bearing atmosphere and we would not be here. Equally, the most important compound of oxygen is water, without which life (in the sense that we know it) could not exist. The role of water in virtually all geologic processes is profound, from formation of ore deposits to igneous petrogenesis to metamorphism to erosion and sedimentation. In planetary science, oxygen has a dual importance. First and foremost is its critical role in so many fundamental Solar System processes. The very nature of the terrestrial planets in our own Solar System would be much different had the oxygen to carbon ratio in the early solar nebula been somewhat lower than it was, because elements such as calcium and iron and titanium would have been locked up during condensation as carbides, sulfides and nitrides and even (in the case of silicon) partly as metals rather than silicates and oxides. Equally, the role of water ice in the evolution of our Solar System is important in the early accretion and growth of the giant planets and especially Jupiter, which exerted a major control over how most of the other planets formed. On a smaller scale, oxygen plays a critical role in the diverse kinds of physical evolution of large rocky planets, because the internal oxidation state strongly influences the formation and evolution of the core, mantle and crust of differentiated planets such as the Earth. Consider that basaltic volcanism may be a nearly universal phenomenon among the evolved terrestrial planets, yet there are basalts and basalts. The basalts of Earth (mostly), Earth's Moon, Vesta (as represented by the HED meteorites) and Mars are all broadly tholeiitic and yet very different from one another, and one of the primary differences is in their relative oxidation states (for that matter, consider the differences between tholeiitic and calc-alkaline magma series on Earth). But there is another way that oxygen has proven to be hugely important in planetary science, and that is as a critical scientific clue to processes and conditions and even sources of materials. Understanding the formation and evolution of our Solar System involves reconstructing processes and events that occurred more than 4.5 Ga ago, and for which the only contemporary examples are occurring hundreds of light years away. It is a detective story in which most of the clues come from the laboratory analysis of the products of those ancient processes and events, especially those that have been preserved nearly unchanged since their formation at the Solar System's birth: meteorites; comets; and interplanetary dust particles. For example, the oxidation state of diverse early Solar System materials ranges from highly oxidized (ferric iron) to so reducing that some silicon exists in the metallic state and refractory lithophile elements such as calcium exist occur in sulfides rather than in silicates or carbonates. These variations reflect highly different environments that existed in different places and at different times. Even more crucial has been the use of oxygen 3-isotope variations, which began almost accidentally in 1973 with an attempt to do oxygen isotope thermometry on high-temperature solar nebula grains (Ca-, Al-rich inclusions) but ended with the remarkable discovery of non-mass-dependent oxygen isotope variations in high-temperature materials from the earliest Solar System. The presolar nebula was found to be very heterogeneous in its isotopic composition, and virtually every different planet and asteroid for which we have samples has a unique oxygen-isotopic fingerprint. The idea for this book originated with Jim Papike, who suggested the idea of a study initiative (and, ultimately, a published volume) focused on the element that is so critically important in so many ways to planetary science. He recognized that oxygen is such a constant theme through all aspects of planetary science that the proposed initiative would serve to bring together scientists from a wide range of disciplines for the kind of cross-cutting dialogue that occurs all too rarely these days. In this sense the Oxygen Initiative is modeled on the Basaltic Volcanism Study Project, which culminated in what remains to this day a hugely important reference volume (Basaltic Volcanism Study Project 1981). After obtaining community input and feedback, primarily through the Curation and Analysis Planning Team for Extraterrestrial Materials (CAPTEM) and the Management Operations Working Group for NASA's Cosmochemistry Program, a team of scientists was assembled who would serve as chapter writing leads, and the initiative was formally proposed to and accepted by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI; Dr. Stephen Mackwell, Director) for sponsorship. A formal proposal was then submitted to and approved by the Mineralogical Society of America to publish the resulting volume in the Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry (RiMG) series. Three open workshops were held as preludes to the book: Oxygen in the Terrestrial Planets, held in Santa Fe, NM July 20-23, 2004; Oxygen in Asteroids and Meteorites, held in Flagstaff, AZ June 2-3, 2005; and Oxygen in Earliest Solar System Materials and Processes (and including the outer planets and comets), held in Gatlinburg, TN September 19-22, 2005. The workshops were each organized around a small number of sessions (typically 4-6), each focusing on a particular topic and consisting of invited talks, shorter contributed talks, and ample time for discussion after each talk. In all of the meetings, the extended discussion periods were lively and animated, often bubbling over into the breaks and later social events. As a consequence of the cross-cutting approach, the final book spans a wide range of fields relating to oxygen, from the stellar nucleosynthesis of oxygen, to its occurrence in the interstellar medium, to the oxidation and isotopic record preserved in 4.56 Ga grains formed at the Solar System's birth, to its abundance and speciation in planets large and small, to its role in the petrologic and physical evolution of the terrestrial planets.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: 1. Isotopes and radioactivity; 2. The principles o radioactive dating; 3. Radiometric dating methods; 4. Dating by cosmogenic isotopes; 5. Uncertainties and results of radiometric dating; 6. Radiogenic isotope geochemistry; 7. Stable isotope geochemistry; 8. Isotope geology and dynamic reservoir analysis

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: Part I. Brittle Deformation. - 2. Fractures and Joints. - 3. Introduction to Faults. - 4. Normal Faults. - 5. Thrust Faults. - 6. Strike Slip Faults. - 7. Stress. - 8. Mechanics of Fracturing and Faulting: Experiment and Theory. - 9. Mechanics of Natural Fractures and Faults. - Part II. Ductile Deformation. - 10. The Description of Folds. - 11. Foliations and Lineations in Deformed Rocks. - 12. Geometry of Homogeneous Strain. - 13. Kinematic Analysis of Folds. - 14. Analysis of Foliations and Lineations. - 15. Observations of Strain in Deformed Rocks. - Part III. Rheology. - 16. Macroscopic Aspects of Rock Deformation: Rheology and Experiment. - 17. Microscopic Aspects of Ductile Deformation: Mechanisms and Fabrics. - 18. Scale Models and Quantitative Models of Rock Deformation. - Part IV. Regional Associations of Structures. - 19. Development of Structures at Active Plate Margins. - 20. Anatomy and Tectonics of Orogenic Belts.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: Tectonic Faults: Agents of Change on a Dynamic Earth. - Fault Zones from Top to Bottom . - Nucleation and Growth of Fault Systems. - Seismic Fault Rheology and Earthquake Dynamics. - Continental Fault Structure and Rheology from the Frictional-to-Viscous Transition Downwards. - Group Report: Rheology of Fault Rocks and Their Surroundings. - Topography, Denudation, and Deformation: The Role of Surface Processes on Fault Evolution. - Constraining the Denudational Response to Faulting. - Surface Environmental Effects on and of Faulting. - Fluid Processes in Deep Crustal Fault Zones. - Deformation in the Presence of Fluids and Mineral Reactions: Effect of Fracturing and Fluid Rock Interaction on Seismic Cycles. - On the Effects of Melting on Faulting and Continental Deformation. - Fluids, Geochemical Cycles, and Mass Transport in Fault Zones.

Description / Table of Contents: The idea for this book was conceived in early June, 2005 at a paleoaltimetry workshop held at Lehigh University, Lehigh, Pennsyalvania and organized by Dork Sahagian. The workshop was funded by the tectonics program at NSF, and was designed to bring together researchers in paleoaltimetry to discuss different techniques and focus the community on ways of improving paleoelevation estimates and consequent interpretations of geodynamics and tectonics. At this meeting, some commented that a comprehensive volume describing the different methods could help advance the field. I offered to contact the Mineralogical Society of America and the Geochemical Society about publishing a RiMG volume on paleoaltimetry. Because many of the techniques used to infer paleoelevations are geochemically-based or deal with thermodynamic principles, the GS and MSA agreed to the project. Two years and roughly 1000 e-mails later, our book has arrived. The book is organized into 4 sections: Geodynamic and geomorphologic rationale (Clark). This chapter provides the broad rationale behind paleoaltimetry, i.e., why we study it. Stable isotope proxies. These 4 chapters cover theory of stable isotopes in precipitation and their response to altitudinal gradients (Rowley), and stable isotopes sytematics in paleosols (Quade, Garzione and Eiler), silicates (Mulch and Chamberlain) and fossils (Kohn and Dettman). Proxies of atmospheric properties. These 4 chapters cover temperature lapse rates (Meyer), entropy (Forest), and atmospheric pressure proxies, including total atmospheric pressure from gas bubbles in basalt (Sahagian and Proussevitch), and the partial pressure of CO2 (Kouwenberg, Kürshner, and McElwain). Note that clumped isotope thermometry (Quade, Garzione and Eiler) also provides direct estimates of temperature. Radiogenic and cosmogenic nuclides. These 2 chapters cover low-temperature thermochronologic approaches (Reiners) and cosmogenic isotopes (Riihimaki and Libarkin). Some chapters overlap in general content (e.g., basic principles of stable isotopes in precipitation are covered to different degrees in all stable isotope chapters), but no attempt was made to limit authors' discussion of principles, or somehow attempt to arrive at a "consensus view" on any specific topic. Because science advances by critical discussion of concepts, such restrictions were viewed as counterproductive. This does mean that different chapters may present different views on reliability of paleoelevation estimates, and readers are advised to read other chapters in the book on related topics – they may be more closely linked than they might at first appear! I hope readers of this book will discover and appreciate the synergy among paleoaltimetry, climate change, and tectonic geomorphology. These interrelationships create a complex, yet rich field of scientific enquiry that in turn offers insights into climate and geodynamics.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: Fluid Dynamics of Mantle Plumes.- Tracing the Hawaiian Mantle Plume by Converted Seismic Waves.- Iceland: The Current Picture of a Ridge-Centred Plume.- Combined Gas-geochemical and Receiver Function Studies on the Vogtland/NW Bohemia Intraplate Mantle Degassing Field, Central Europe.- Crustal and Upper Mantle Structure of the French Massif Central Plume.- Geodynamic Setting of the Tertiary Hocheifel Volcanism (Germany), Part I: 40Ar/39Ar Geochronology.- Geodynamic Setting of the Tertiary Hocheifel Volcanism (Germany), Part II: Geochemistry and Sr, Nd and Pb Isotopic Compositions.- The Quaternary Volcanic Fields of the East and West Eifel (Germany).- Thermal and Geochemical Evolution of the Shallow Subcontinental Lithospheric Mantle Beneath the Eifel: Constraints from Mantle Xenoliths, a Review.- He-Ne-Ar Isotope Systematics of Eifel and Pannonian Basin Mantle Xenoliths Trace Deep Mantle Plume-Lithosphere Interaction Beneath the European Continent.- Quaternary Uplift in the Eifel Area.- The Seismic Signature of the Eifel Plume.- Upper Mantle Structure Beneath the Eifel from Receiver Functions.- Rayleigh Wave Dispersion in the Eifel Region.- Seismic Anisotropy in the Asthenosphere Beneath the Eifel Region, Western Germany.- Gravity Observations in the Western Rhenish Massif and Forward Modelling of the Eifel Plume Bouguer Anomaly.

Description / Table of Contents: Over 25 years ago, Volume 9 of Reviews in Mineralogy: Amphiboles and Other Hydrous Pyriboles seemed to contain all that was possible to know about this group of fascinating minerals. The subsequent twenty-five years have shown that this assessment was wrong: Nature was keeping a lot in reserve, and has since revealed considerable new complexity in the constitution and behavior of amphiboles. Some of the advances in knowledge have been due to the use of new experimental techniques, some have been due to the investigation of hitherto neglected rock-types, and some have been due to the development of new ideas. The identification and systematic investigation of variable LLE (Light Lithophile Elements), particularly Li and H, led to the identification of several new amphibole species and the recognition that variable Li and H play an important role in chemical variations in amphiboles from both igneous and metamorphic parageneses. In turn, this work drove the development of microbeam SIMS to analyze LLE in amphiboles. Detailed mineralogical work on metasyenites showed hitherto unexpected solid-solution between Na and Li at the M(4) site in monoclinic amphiboles, a discovery that has upset the current scheme of amphibole classification and nomenclature and initiated new efforts in this direction. Systematic and well-planned synthesis of amphiboles, combined with careful spectroscopy, has greatly furthered our understanding of cation and anion order in amphiboles. The use of bond-valence theory to predict patterns of SRO (Short-Range Order) in amphiboles, and use of these predictions to understand the infrared spectra of well-characterized synthetic-amphibole solid-solutions, has shown that SRO is a major feature of the amphibole structure, and has resulted in major advances in our understanding of SRO in minerals. There has been significant progress relating changes in amphibole composition and cation ordering to petrogenetic conditions and trace-element behavior. Work on the nature of fibrous amphiboles and their toxicity and persistence in living organisms has emphasized the importance of accurate mineralogical characterization in environmental and health-related problems. The current volume has taken a different approach from previous volumes concerned with major groups of rock-forming minerals. Some of the contents have previously been organized by the investigative technique or groups of similar techniques: crystal-structure refinement, spectroscopy, TEM etc. Here, we have taken an approach that focuses on aspects of amphiboles rather than experimental techniques: crystal chemistry, new compositions, long-range order, short-range order etc., and all experimental results germane to these topics are discussed in each chapter. The intent of this approach is to focus on amphiboles, and to emphasize that many techniques are necessary to fully understand each aspect of the amphiboles and their behavior in both natural and industrial processes.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: 1. Kontraktionstheorie, Kontinentverschiebung und Plattentektonik, 2. Plattenbewegungen und ihre geometrischen Beziehungen, 3. Kontinentale Grabenbrüche, 4. Passive Kontinentränder und Tiefseebecken, 5. Mittelozeanische Rücken, 6. Heiße Flecken, 7. Subduktionszonen, Inselbögen und Aktive Kontinentränder, 8. Transformstörungen, 9. Terrane, 10. Plattentektonik im frühen Präkambrium, 11. Plattentektonik und Gebirgsbildung, 12. Alte Gebirge, 13. Junge Gebirge - Alpen und Himalaja.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: 1. Why we should care: the impact of anthropogenic carbon dioxide on the carbon cycle.2. The thermodynamic background.3. Carbon dioxide and CO2-H2O mixtures.4. The aqueous electrolytic solution.5. The product solid phases.6. The kinetics of mineral carbonation.7. Reaction path modeling of geological CO2 sequestration.

Description / Table of Contents: In situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides can provide chronologies of environmental change over the past few thousand to several millions of years and may be used to quantify a wide range of weathering and sediment transport processes. These nuclides are thus now used across a broad spectrum of earth science disciplines, including paleoclimatology, geomorphology, and active tectonics. This book is organized around sections that focus on specific aspects of the utilization of cosmogenic nuclides in earth sciences: (1) development of new methods for application of in situ-produced cosmogenic nuclides (burial dating methods, extending their utilization to carbonate-rich and mafic environments); (2) glacial geology (Laurentide Ice Sheet, northern Alps); (3) active tectonics, focusing on applications to constrain slip rates of active faults in Asia (Tibet and Mongolian Gobi-Altay); and (4) landscape development (quantifying sediment production or erosion rates and processes and application of exposure dating to landslides in Hong Kong).

Description / Table of Contents: Tectonic motion of the Adria microplate exerts a first-order control on the tectonics, geology, seismology, resource distribution, and the geological hazards across a broad zone of south-central Europe and the north-central Mediterranean.

Description / Table of Contents: The Eastern Mediterranean region is a classic area for the study of tectonic processes and settings related to the development of the Tethyan orogenic belt. The present set of research and synthesis papers by Earth scientists from countries in this region and others provides an up-to-date, interdisciplinary overview of the tectonic development of the Eastern Mediterranean region from Precambrian to Recent. Key topics include continental rifting, ophiolite genesis and emplacement, continental collision, extensional tectonics, crustal exhumation and intra-plate deformation (e.g. active faulting). Alternative tectonic reconstructions of the Tethyan orogen are presented and discussed, with important implications for other regions of the world. The book will be an essential source of information and interpretation for academic researchers (geologists and geophysicists), advanced undergraduates and also for industry professionals, including those concerned with hydrocarbons, minerals and geological hazards (e.g. earthquakes).

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: Weather, Climate, and Topography. - Inferring Tectonics and Climate Change from Topography. - Transport Processes and Fluxes. - Coupled Models of Tectonics, Climate, and Erosion. - Geochemical Proxies of Topography and Erosion. - Field Studies of Tectonics, Climate, and Landscapes.

Description / Table of Contents: This book brings together the essential theory required to understand the behaviour of trace elements in magmas, and magma-derived rocks.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: 1. The Discovery of Silicate Melts. An Industrial and Geological Perspective. 2. Glass Versus Melt. 3. Glasses and Melts vs. Crystals. 4. Melt and Glass Structure - Basic Concepts. 5. Silica - A Deceitful Simplicity. 6. Binary Metal Oxide-Silica Systems I. Physical Properties.7. Binary Metal Oxide-Silica Systems II. Structure. 8. Aluminosilicate Systems I. Physical Properties. 9. Aluminosilicate Systems II. Structure. 10. Iron-bearing Melts I. Physical Properties. 11. Iron-bearing Melts II. Structure. 12. The Titanium Anomalies. 13. Phosphorus. 14. Water - An Elusive Component. 15. Volatiles I. The System C-O-H-S. 16. Volatiles II. Noble Gases and Halogens. 17. Natural Melts.

Description / Table of Contents: This collection of research and review papers addresses the question of structural evolution during deformation to high strains and the physical properties of rocks that have been affected by high-strain zones. The discussions range from natural examples at outcrop to microscopic studies. They include experiments and numerical models based on the active processes in high-strain zones as well as studies on the physical properties of highly strained rocks in the field and laboratory. Specific questions addressed include magnetotelluric imaging of faults, magnetic fabrics, fabric development, seismic properties of highly strained rocks, change of rheology with strain, influence of melt on the localization of deformation, the relationship between deformation and metamorphism as well as new methods in the analysis of deformation.

Description / Table of Contents: Motivations and Opportunities. - Structural Mapping Techniques and Tools. - Characterizing Structures Using Differential Geometry. - Physical Quantities, Fields, Dimensions, and Scaling. - Deformation and Flow. - Force, Traction, and Stress. - Conservation of Mass and Momentum. - Elastic Deformation. - Brittle Behavior. - Viscous Flow. - Rheological Behavior. - Model Development and Methodology.

Description / Table of Contents: As geomicrobiologists, we seek to understand how some of nature's most complex systems work, yet the very complexity we seek to understand has placed many of the insights out of reach. Recent advances in cultivation methodologies, the development of ultrahigh throughput DNA sequencing capabilities, and new methods to assay gene expression and protein function open the way for rapid progress. In the eight years since the first Geomicrobiology volume (Geomicrobiology: Interactions between microbes and minerals; volume 35 in this series) we have transformed into scientists working hand in hand with biochemists, molecular biologists, genome scientists, analytical chemists, and even physicists to reveal the most fundamental molecular-scale underpinnings of biogeochemical systems. Through synthesis achieved by integration of diverse perspectives, skills, and interests, we have begun to learn how organisms mediate chemical transformations, the ways in which the environment determines the architecture of microbial communities, and the interplay between evolution and selection that shapes the biodiversity of the planet. This volume presents chapters written by leaders in the rapidly maturing field we refer to as molecular geomicrobiology. Most of them are relatively young researchers who share their approaches and insights and provide pointers to exciting areas ripe for new advances. This volume ties together themes common to environmental microbiology, earth science, and astrobiology. The resesarch presented here, the associated short course, and the volume production were supported by funding from many sources, notably the Mineralogical Society of America, the Geochemical Society, the US Department of Energy Chemical Sciences Program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: A framework of microtectonic studies.- Flow and deformation. - Deformation mechanisms. - Foliations, lineations and lattice preferred orientation. - Shear zones. - Dilatation sites - veins, strain shadows, fringes and boudins. - Porphyroblasts and reaction rims. - Primary structures. - Natural microgauges. - Special techniques. - Experimental modelling techniques. - From sample to section.

Description / Table of Contents: The IUGS/IAGC Global Geochemical Baselines Programme aims to establish a global geochemical reference baseline for 〉60 determinants in a range of media for environmental and other applications. The European contribution to the programme has been carried out by government institutions from 26 countries under the auspices of the Forum of European Geological Surveys (FOREGS) The main objectives of this European survey were: 1) to apply standardised methods of sampling, chemical analysis and data management to prepare a geochemical baseline across Europe; and 2) to use this reference network to level national baseline datasets. Samples of stream water, stream sediment and three types of soil (organic top layer, minerogenic top and sub soil) have been collected at 900 stations, each representing a catchment area of 100 km2, corresponding to a sampling density of about one sample per 4700 km2. In addition, the uppermost 25 cm of floodplain sediment was sampled from 790 sites each representing a catchment area of 1000 km2. All soil and sediment samples were prepared at the same laboratory, and all samples of particular sample types were analysed by the same method at the same laboratory. More than 50 elements, both total and aqua regia extractable concentrations, and other parameters (such as pH and grain size) were determined on the 〈2 mm grain size fraction of minerogenic samples, and total concentrations of organic soil samples were measured after using a strong acid digestion. Nine laboratories of European geological surveys carried out the analytical work. Altogether, 360 geochemical maps showing the distribution of elements across Europe have been prepared. All the results and field observations are organised in a common database and the maps are published as a Geochemical Atlas of Europe. All the sampling sites were photographed and this photo archive is also available. Samples have been archived in the Slovak Republic for possible future use. Initial results show that the distribution patterns of both water and solid samples are related to such factors as large-scale tectonic provinces, geochemical variation of large lithological units, extension of the Weichselian glaciation, and contamination reflecting industrialized areas and regions of intensive agriculture. Key words (GeoRef Thesaurus, AGI): geochemical surveys, baseline studies, soils, sediments, stream water, sampling, sample preparation, chemical analysis, geochemical maps, atlas, areal geology, Europe

Description / Table of Contents: Understanding tensile fracture in rocks provides an important key for the interpretation of many problems in structural geology. This book presents a multidisciplinary approach to tensile fracture in rocks (faulting is briefly addressed), starting with an introduction to fracture physics and progressing through tectonofractographic features, characterized both in experimental settings and in geological outcrops. Four examples of sedimentary rocks and two of granites have been chosen to demonstrate the principles and problems in fracture geology. Principles of fracture mechanics and rock mechanics are applied throughout the book, which also explores current understanding about electromagnetic radiation induced by fractures and how such radiation can be used to monitor and predict earthquakes and hazardous collapses in mines.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: Carbon, the Earth and life. Chemical composition of biogenic matter. Production, preservation and degradation of organic matter. Long-term fate of organic matter in the geosphere. Chemical stratigraphy. The carbon cycle and climate. Anthropogenic carbon and the environment.

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: The Focused Ion Beam Instrument. Ion,Solid Interactions. Focused Ion Beam Gases for Deposition and Enhanced Etch. Three-Dimensional Nanofabrication Using Focused Ion Beams. Device Edits and Modifications. The Uses of Dual Beam FIB in Microelectronic Failure Analysis. High Resolution Live Imaging of FIB Milling Processes for Optimum Accuracy. FIB for Materials Science Applications. Practical Aspects of FIB TEM Specimen Preparation. FIB LiftOut Specimen Preparation Techniques. A FIB MicroSampling Technique and a Site Specific TEM Specimen Preparation Method. DualBeam (FIBSEM) Systems. Focused Ion Beam Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (FIBSIMS). Quantitative Three Dimensional Analysis Using Focused Ion Beam Microscopy. Applications of FIB in Combination with Auger Electron Spectroscopy.