ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: A New Outlook and New Resources / pp. 1-7 --- Ocean Water and Its Wonderful Potential / pp. 9-30 --- OTEC Is Not a Dream / pp. 31-44 --- Sea-Water Rears Fish / pp. 45-81 --- Learning from the Past / pp. 83-90 --- Earth-Friendly Technology / pp. 91-94

Description / Table of Contents: Concepts and methods of fractal geometry penetrate various branches of human knowledge to an increasing degree. This tendency is particularly striking in the geosciences, because many processes occurring in and on the Earth result in time dependences and spatial patterns that have a fractal character. The contributions in this volume arose from the "3rd International Symposium on Fractals and Dynamic Systems in Geosciences", held at Stara Lesna, Slovakia in June, 1997. The volume contains new ideas and applications of fractal geometry in such diverse branches of geoscience as engineering geology, the physics of the lithosphere (including faulting, seismicity, and fluid flow), and climate behavior.

Description / Table of Contents: On September 10, 1996, The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Copmprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), prohibiting nuclear explosions worldwide, in all environments. The treaty calls for a global verification system, including a network of 321 monitoring stations distributed around the globe, a data communications network, an international data center (IDC), and on-site inspections, to verify compliance. This volume presents certain recent research results pertaining on methods used to process data recorded by instruments of the International Monitoring System (IMS) and addressing recording infrasound signals generated by atmospheric explosions. Six papers treating data processing provide an important selection of topics expected to contribute to improving our ability to successfully monitor a CTBT. Five papers concerning infrasound include descriptions of ways in which that important research area can contribute to CTBT monitoring, the automatic processing of infrasound data, and site conditions that serve to improve the quality of infrasound data.

Description / Table of Contents: In many past and recent earthquakes it has been shown that the local conditions and, in particular, the local geology have a great influence on the observed seismic ground motion and, consequently, on the damage distribution in housing, industrial stock, and life-lines. Seismic microzoning is the usual procedure to have these local effects taken into account for engineering design and land-use planning, being a useful tool for earthquake risk mitigation. This volume presents a collection of papers mainly originated from a workshop on Seismic Microzoning, organized during the 23rd General Assembly of the European Geophysical Society (EGS) in Nice, France in April 1998. The workshop dealt with various geophysical tools for analysing the effects of the local soils of subsurface geology on seismic ground motion, namely the methods using experimental data such as microtremors, and the theoretical/numerical 1-D and 2-D modelling methods. Additional contributions discussing techniques for characterising soil properties, microzoning applications to several urban areas, and others were added to the volume to broaden this important topic.

Description / Table of Contents: In the wake of the disastrous tsunami which struck Papua New Guinea in 1998, this volume presents 20 state-of-the-art contributions on landslide tsunamis, including earthquake characteristics and ground motions, modeling of landslides in geotechnical engineering, field surveys on land and at sea, simulations of past, present, and potential future tsunamis, and theoretical studies of tsunami generation by landslides.

Description / Table of Contents: Climate change is of the most prominent and controversial problem facing the world's environment. But what are the world's developed countries doing about it? The answer is: quite a lot. The details are provided in this volume, describing more than 400 separate policy actions that IEA Member countries took to mitigate climate change in the energy sector during 1999.

Description / Table of Contents: Mitigating climate change will require profound changes in world energy production and use. While the full effects of climate change are not likely to be felt for decades, the need for action is more immediate, for changes in greenhouse gas concentrations are almost irreversible. Solutions exist in the form of energy efficiency improvements, fuel switching to non-carbon sources, and carbon recovery and storage. But the long-term costs of mitigation and the precise extent and pace of climate damage remain uncertain. So policy-makers face the task of conceiving and implementing measures in a context of uncertainty - and global inequity -, and run the risk of taking either excessive or insufficient action.

Description / Table of Contents: "Beyond Wavelets" presents state-of-the-art theories, methods, algorithms, and applications of mathematical extensions for classical wavelet analysis. Wavelets, introduced 20 years ago by Morlet and Grossmann and developed very rapidly during the 1980's and 1990's, has created a common link between computational mathematics and other disciplines of science and engineering. Classical wavelets have provided effective and efficient mathematical tools for time-frequency analysis which enhances and replaces the Fourier approach. However, with the current advances in science and technology, there is an immediate need to extend wavelet mathematical tools as well. "Beyond Wavelets" presents a list of ideas and mathematical foundations for such extensions, including: continuous and digital ridgelets, brushlets, steerable wavelet packets, contourlets, eno-wavelets, spline-wavelet frames, and quasi-affine wavelets. Wavelet subband algorithms are extended to pyramidal directional and nonuniform filter banks. In addition, this volume includes a method for tomographic reconstruction using a mechanical image model and a statistical study for independent adaptive signal representation. Investigators already familiar with wavelet methods from areas such as engineering, statistics, and mathematics will benefit by owning this volume. *Curvelets, Contourlets, Ridgelets, *Digital Implementation of Ridgelet Packets *Steerable Wavelet Packets *Essentially Non-Oscillatory Wavelets *Medical Imaging *Non-Uniform Filter Banks *Spline-wavelet frames and *Vanishing Moment Recovery Functions

Description / Table of Contents: In 2001 the 26 IEA Member countries took or planned over 200 energy-related policies and measures to tackle climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. This volume reviews the actions taken and describes them in detail. It shows how developed countries implement the commitments made under international agreements or at national level to reduce their emissions.

Description / Table of Contents: Fabric is a ubiquitous and significant feature of geological materials. The processes involved in the formation and deformation of rocks and sediments leave their mark on the orientations of the constituent mineral grains. Petrofabrics thus provide essential keys to understanding the history of geological materials. Magnetic anisotropy is directly related to petrofabric, and has become one of the most rapid, sensitive and widely used tools for its characterization. The relationship between magnetic fabric and petrofabric is complex and depends on various factors including the composition, concentration and grain size of mineral grains. Ongoing research in geological applications is paralleled by studies of the fundamental mineral magnetic phenomena involved. The papers in this book represent the current state of investigations in magnetic anisotropy studies as a discipline that integrates geological interpretations, mineral fabric development, technical advances and rock-magnetic properties.

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides incentives for further development of sustainable fuel cycles through a novel and interdisciplinary approach to an Earth science-related topic. The main focus is on geochemical concepts in immobilizing, isolating or neutralizing waste derived from energy production and consumption. The book also addresses the issue of using some types of energy-derived waste as alternative raw materials. Moreover, it highlights research on how certain wastes can be used for energy production, an increasingly important aspect of modern integrated waste management strategies. The main objectives are to: (a) identify the most serious environmental problems related to various types of power generation and associated waste accumulation; (b) present strategies, based on natural analogue materials, for the immobilization of toxic and radioactive waste components through mineralogical barriers; (c) discuss modern procedures for reuse of waste or certain waste components; and (d) review the importance of geochemical modelling in describing and predicting the interaction between waste and the environment.

Description / Table of Contents: The study of sediments and sedimentary basins in terms of their tectonic environment requires a multidisciplinary approach and has increasingly drawn both techniques and objectives from fields outside sedimentology. The application of different theoretical, experimental and empirical resources provided by structural geology, geochemistry, geophysics, scale modelling, and field geology, complement sedimentological methods, with the combined aim of achieving a deeper understanding of the origins, evolution and significance of sedimentary sequences in terms of their tectonic history. Studies presented in this volume range across a wide spectrum from the analysis of sedimentary sequence architecture at basin scale down to the chemical properties of individual grains, and include studies from a range of tectonic settings. The volume will be of interest to those involved with, or contemplating, studies involving the linkages between tectonics and sedimentation, as well as a wider audience to whom the results of such studies may provide fresh insight.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume focuses on magmas and cryospheres on Earth and Mars and is the first publication of its kind to combine a thematic set of contributions addressing the diverse range of volcano-ice interactions known or thought to occur on both planets. Understanding those interactions is a comparatively young scientific endeavour, yet it is vitally important for a fuller comprehension of how planets work as integrated systems. It is also topical since future volcanic eruptions on Earth may contribute to melting ice sheets and thus to global sea level rise. Papers included here are likely to influence the choice of sites for future Mars missions in exobiologically important areas. On Earth, snow and ice are widespread, not only in extensive icecaps but also as alpine glaciers at high elevations in tropical regions. By contrast, Mars today is an arid volcanic planet with only small polar ice-caps although an abundance of water is believed to be trapped in the cryolithosphere. It is also thought that the planet may have sustained extensive frozen oceans early in its history. The presence of a former hydrosphere, a cryosphere and coincident volcanism thus make Mars the likeliest prospect for the first discoveries of life away from Earth. Much research has assumed that terrestrial volcano-ice systems are plausible analogues for putative Martian examples, but until mankind finally sets foot on Mars, there is no simple test for that assumption. Our hope is that the knowledge presented here will stimulate research among planetary geologists in this exciting, rapidly expanding field for many years to come.

Description / Table of Contents: The motion and deformation of rocks are processes of fundamental importance in shaping the Earth, from outer crustal layers to the deep mantle. Reconstructions of the evolution of the Earth therefore require detailed knowledge of the geometry of deformation structures and their relative timing, of the motions leading to deformation structures and of the mechanisms governing these motions. This volume contains a collection of 22 papers on field, experimental and theoretical studies that add to our knowledge of these processes. They are a mixture of review papers oh selected topics in the field of structural geology and tectonics and papers on current issues and new techniques and are grouped into four themes: • The effect of fluids on deformation • The interpretation of microstructures and textures • Deformation mechanisms and rheology of crust and upper mantle minerals • Crust and lithosphere tectonics The volume will appeal to researchers in the fields of structural geology and tectonophysics, both in academia and industry.

Description / Table of Contents: Over long periods of time the tectonic evolution of the solid Earth has been recognized as the major control on the development of the global climate system. Tectonic activity acts in one of two different ways to influence regional and global climate: (i) through the opening and closing of oceanic gateways and its effect on the circulation patterns in the global ocean; (ii) through the growth and erosion of orogenic belts, resulting in changes in oceanic chemistry and disruption of atmospheric circulation. The Arabian Sea region has several features that make it the best area for studies of climate and palaeoceanographic responses to tectonic activity, most notably in the context of the South Asian monsoon and its relationship to the growth of high topography in the adjacent Himalayas and Tibet. The Tectonic and Climatic Evolution of the Arabian Sea Region brings together a collection of recent studies on the area from a wide group of international contributors. The paper range from high resolution, Holocene palaeoceanographic studies of the Pakistan margin to regional tectonic reconstructions of the ocean basin and surrounding margins throughout the Cenozoic. Marine geophysics, stratigraphy, isotope chemistry and neotectonics come together in a multidisciplinary approach to the study of interactions of land and sea. while much work remains to be done to understand fully the tectonic and climatic evolution of the Arabian Sea, a great deal has been achieved since the last major review, as detailed in the 26 contributions. This volume is essential reading for palaeoceanographers, sedimentologists and geophysicists. It will also be interest to structural geologists and those working in the petroleum industry.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume is a collection of papers on the history of twentieth century geology, of which eight were presented at a Symposium organized by the International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences (INHIGEO) for the International Geological Congress at Rio de Janeiro in 2000. The book offers a conspectus of selected developments of twentieth century geology. It has grown from largely a field discipline, chiefly concerned with rocks at the Earth's surface, to one that extends to the planet's interior, and to space beyond. New ideas, instruments, and techniques have extended the scope of earth science to the macro and the micro. Theories abound. One paper raises some of the social and political problems faced by modern geology. The volume is intended as a prolegomenon to some future synthetic understanding of twentieth century earth sciences. It should appeal to a wide range of geoscientists and historians of science.

Description / Table of Contents: Many faults appears to form persistent zones of weakness that fundamentally influence the distribution, arichitecture and movement patterns of crustal-scale deformation and associated processes in both continental and oceanic regions. They act as conduits for the focused migration of economically important fluids and, as most seismicity is associated with active faults, they also constitute one of the most important global geological hazards. This book brings together papers by an international group of Earth Scientists to discuss a broad range of topics centred upon the controls of fault weakening and the role of such faults during lithosphere deformation. The book will be of interests to both academic and industrial Earth Scientists with an interest in geodynamics, structure at all scales, tectonics and the migration of petroleum and water.

Description / Table of Contents: Non-volcanic continental margins may form up to 300f all present-day passive margins, and remnants of them are preserved in mountain belts. The papers in this volume demonstrate the benefits of integrating offshore and onshore studies, and illustrate the range of information obtained at different scales when comparing evidence from land and sea. Data sets collected across a range of spatial scales are evaluated: thin sections, cores, outcrops, seismic reflection profiles, and other geophysical data. The outcrop scale is crucial because it enables the spatial gulf to be bridged between DSDP and ODP cores and marine seismic data. There is also the problem that basins on land and beneath the sea inevitably have had different post-rift histories resulting in their contrasting present-day elevation. In mountain belts, portions of continental margins and oceanic crust are superbly exposed, but dismembered by subsequent compressional tectonics. Off present-day passive margins, extensional features have only been slightly deformed, if at all, by compressional movements, but are buried beneath significant thicknesses of post-rift sediments and so can only be sampled by ocean drilling at a small number of points. The first paper reviews the synergies that have occurred between investigations of the eastern North Atlantic non-volcanic margins and remnants of similar Mesozoic margins preserved in the Alps, and some later papers return to this theme. However, papers describing margins from other parts of the world show that it may be premature to use models based on the Atlantic and the Alps as the paradigm for all non-volcanic margins. The following 25 papers in the book are grouped under the following headings: (1) Margin overviews; (2) Exhumed crust and mantle; (3) Tectonics and stratigraphy; (4)Numerical models of extension and magmatism.

Description / Table of Contents: Palaeogene and Cretaceous palaeoceanography has been the focus of intense international interest in the last few years, spurred by deep ocean drilling at Blake Nose in the North Atlantic as well as the need to use past climate change as input for modelling future climate change. This book brings together a number of review papers that describe ancient oceans and unique events in the Earth’s climatic history and evolution of biota. The papers show evidence of periods characterized by exceptional global warmth such as the Late Palaeocene Thermal Maximum and Cretaceous anoxic events. Geochemical records and modelling will make the reader aware that these periods were forced by greenhouse gases. This information is essential for understanding the response of the ocean-climate system to the current input of fossil fuels. In this sense, the book contributes to the understanding of fundamental aspects of Earth’s climate, the carbon cycle, and marine ecosystems. A number of papers describe massive mass wasting deposits resulting from the energy released by the bolide impact at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary as well as the geochemistry of the boundary itself. Additional papers cover aspects of cyclostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of Palaeogene and Cretaceous records. This book will be of interest to a broad audience of Earth Scientists interested in Palaeogene-Cretaceous palaeoceanography, extreme climate modelling, Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, Late Palaeocene Thermal Maximum, Cretaceous anoxic events, as well as those specifically interested in radiolarian, dinoflagellate and coccolithophorid stratigraphy.

Description / Table of Contents: This book covers a diverse range of hydrogeological environments that occur in the Celtic regions of Britain and Ireland. These include hard rock aquifers of Lower Palaeozoic and Precambrian age, generally dominated by fracture flow within a shallow zone of weathering; Carboniferous Limestone aquifers, often characterized by conduit flows in karstic systems; dual-porosity Permo-Triassic sandstone aquifers; and Quaternary deposits, many of which form shallow granular aquifers. The papers presented here address a number of current issues common to the Celtic regions, including: groundwater protection policies, groundwater management in karst aquifers, groundwater development in Quaternary aquifers, groundwater evaluation in data-scarce aquifers and groundwater supplies to small island communities.

Description / Table of Contents: The review chapters in this volume were the basis for a short course on molecular modeling theory jointly sponsored by the Geochemical Society (GS) and the Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) May 18-20, 2001 in Roanoke, Virginia which was held prior to the 2001 Goldschmidt Conference in nearby Hot Springs, Virginia. Dr. William C. Luth has had a long and distinguished career in research, education and in the government. He was a leader in experimental petrology and in training graduate students at Stanford University. His efforts at Sandia National Laboratory and at the Department of Energy's headquarters resulted in the initiation and long-term support of many of the cutting edge research projects whose results form the foundations of these short courses. Bill's broad interest in understanding fundamental geochemical processes and their applications to national problems is a continuous thread through both his university and government career. He retired in 1996, but his efforts to foster excellent basic research, and to promote the development of advanced analytical capabilities gave a unique focus to the basic research portfolio in Geosciences at the Department of Energy. He has been, and continues to be, a friend and mentor to many of us. It is appropriate to celebrate his career in education and government service with this series of courses in cutting-edge geochemistry that have particular focus on Department of Energy-related science, at a time when he can still enjoy the recognition of his contributions. Molecular modeling methods have become important tools in many areas of geochemical and mineralogical research. Theoretical methods describing atomistic and molecular-based processes are now commonplace in the geosciences literature and have helped in the interpretation of numerous experimental, spectroscopic, and field observations. Dramatic increases in computer power-involving personal computers, workstations, and massively parallel supercomputers-have helped to increase our knowledge of the fundamental processes in geochemistry and mineralogy. All researchers can now have access to the basic computer hardware and molecular modeling codes needed to evaluate these processes. The purpose of this volume of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry is to provide the student and professional with a general introduction to molecular modeling methods and a review of various applications of the theory to problems in the geosciences. Molecular mechanics methods that are reviewed include energy minimization, lattice dynamics, Monte Carlo methods, and molecular dynamics. Important concepts of quantum mechanics and electronic structure calculations, including both molecular orbital and density functional theories, are also presented. Applications cover a broad range of mineralogy and geochemistry topics-from atmospheric reactions to fluid-rock interactions to properties of mantle and core phases. Emphasis is placed on the comparison of molecular simulations with experimental data and the synergy that can be generated by using both approaches in tandem. We hope the content of this review volume will help the interested reader to quickly develop an appreciation for the fundamental theories behind the molecular modeling tools and to become aware of the limits in applying these state-of-the-art methods to solve geosciences problems.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume is a collection of papers, with an introduction, concerning the consequences of organism-environment interactions for modern and ancient carbonate platform systems. They arise from the 1999 Lyell Meeting on ‘Organism-Environment Feedbacks in Carbonate Platforms and Reefs’. The papers presented here provide an integrated view of carbonate platforms, emphasizing dynamic interactions at all hierarchical levels and revealing the limitations of uniformitarian analogy in biotically influenced sedimentary systems. Selected case studies from around the world illustrate aspects ranging from the genesis of growth fabrics to changing patterns of carbonate platform development. The text will be of interest to sedimentologists, palaeontologists and marine ecologists alike.

Description / Table of Contents: Research into the orogenic processes that shaped the continental crust of Europe has a long-standing tradition. Why the need to quantify and model? It is not just satisfactory to identify subduction zones, accretionary prisms, island arcs, extensional collapse and other standard items of the geodynamic menu. Such interpretations need to be quantified: extent and composition of subducted crust, angle and speed of subduction, amount and composition olmelts produced, heat sources for metamorphism. All such interpretations have to conform to first principles, and also to stand the test of quantitative balancing - a concept first developed for the conservation of length or volume in tectonic cross sections. Also in other fields, the correlation of causes and effects and the internal consistency of dynamic models requires a numerical approach. The present volume combines review articles with reports on recent progress in an attempt to address these aims. There is a foldout map of the region, which locates the main areas of outcrop and tectono-stratigraphic units, and a reassesment of the Palaeozoic time scale permits correlation of tectonic, metamorphic and magmatic events with the sedimentary record of the upper crust.

Description / Table of Contents: Volcanism and tectonism are the dominant endogenic means by which planetary surfaces change. This book aims to encompass the broad range in character of volcanism, tectonism, faulting and associated interactions observed on planetary bodies across the inner solar system - a region that includes Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, Mars and asteroids. The diversity and breadth of landforms produced by volcanic and tectonic processes is enormous, and varies across the inner solar system bodies. As a result, the selection of prevailing landforms and their underlying formational processes that are described and highlighted in this volume are but a primer to the expansive field of planetary volcanism and tectonism. This Special Publication features 22 research articles about volcanic and tectonic processes manifest across the inner solar system.

Description / Table of Contents: Oil prices have broken $50 a barrel, soaring Chinese demand is rocking energy markets, and climate-destabilising carbon emissions grow apace. The World Energy Outlook 2004 offers the statistical background and analytical insight.

Description / Table of Contents: The superposition of stratified rocks is an unmistakable manifestation of the history of sedimentary processes through deep time. However, the relationship between the preserved strata of the rock record and the passage of geological time, indisputable in principle, is unknowable in detail; incompleteness is an essential property of the record. That gaps exist at all scales in sedimentary successions is easily demonstrated from consideration of sediment accumulation rates, and expectations of continuity and completeness at any scale are correspondingly inadvisable. Locating and quantifying the gaps in the record is, however, very much less straightforward. Predictive modelling of strata – essential for their practical exploitation – requires such geohistorical understanding, yet over-simplified assumptions about how time is represented in rock can still lead to inadequate or even false conclusions. The contributions to this volume describe a range of practical studies, theoretical investigations, and numerical experiments in which the nature of the strata–time relationship is explored.

Description / Table of Contents: Chemistry and physics share a common mathematical foundation. From elementary calculus to vector analysis and group theory, Mathematics for Chemistry and Physics aims to provide a comprehensive reference for students and researchers pursuing these scientific fields. The book is based on the authors many classroom experience. Designed as a reference text, Mathematics for Chemistry and Physics will prove beneficial for students at all university levels in chemistry, physics, applied mathematics, and theoretical biology. Although this book is not computer-based, many references to current applications are included, providing the background to what goes on "behind the screen" in computer experiments.

Description / Table of Contents: Sea-level change has influenced human population globally since prehistoric times. Even in early phases of cultural development human populations were faced with marine regression and transgression as a result of changing climate and corresponding glacio-isostatic adjustment. Global marine regression during the last glaciation changed the palaeogeography of the continental shelf, converting former marine environments to attractive terrestrial habitats for prehistoric humans. These areas of the shelf were used as hunting and gathering areas, as migration routes between continents, and most probably witnessed the earliest developments in seafaring and marine exploitation, until the postglacial transgression re-submerged these palaeo-landscapes. Based on modern marine research technologies and the integration of large databases, proxy data are increasingly available for the reconstruction of Quaternary submerged landscapes. Also, prehistoric archaeological remains from the recent sea bottom are shedding new light on human prehistoric development driven by rapidly changing climate and environment. This publication contributes to the exchange of ideas and new results in this young and challenging field of underwater palaeoenvironmental investigation.

Description / Table of Contents: Global warming has become perhaps the most complicated issue facing world leaders. It is becoming clear that humans have caused most of the past century's warming by releasing heat-trapping gases as we power our modern lives mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and forests. Whatever the uncertainties of climate models are, mankind has to strive very fast toward reduction in the huge amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere in order to preserve natural resources and living organisms by introducing new advances on alternative fuels and other related technologies. This book presents the state-of-the-science fundamentals on the origin of Global Warming. The aim of the book is to create awareness among the energy engineers, academicians, researchers, industry personnel and society as a whole to help to stop the impact of climate change. In this book, chapters received from various authors are placed in three sub- sections - Causes of Global Warming, Impacts / Threats / Consequences of Global Warming and Remedies to the Global Warming.

Description / Table of Contents: The book Earthquake Engineering - From Engineering Seismology to Optimal Seismic Design of Engineering Structures contains fifteen chapters written by researchers and experts in the fields of earthquake and structural engineering. This book provides the state-of-the-art on recent progress in the field of seimology, earthquake engineering and structural engineering. The book should be useful to graduate students, researchers and practicing structural engineers. It deals with seismicity, seismic hazard assessment and system oriented emergency response for abrupt earthquake disaster, the nature and the components of strong ground motions and several other interesting topics, such as dam-induced earthquakes, seismic stability of slopes and landslides. The book also tackles the dynamic response of underground pipes to blast loads, the optimal seismic design of RC multi-storey buildings, the finite-element analysis of cable-stayed bridges under strong ground motions and the acute psychiatric trauma intervention due to earthquakes.

Description / Table of Contents: The sustainability of irrigation and drainage in the face of many variants and constraints like availability of water as a resource, ecological balance, socio-cultural impacts, and climate change effects lies in the strategies adopted and systems emplaced. It has always remained a challenge for the users of irrigation waters to maintain sustainability in quality and quantity. This book aims ?to explore frontiers of knowledge in coining sustainable strategies and systems direly needed in managing the quality and quantity of water required for crop irrigation, surface and root zone drainage and flood management using available tools of research and development?. Eminent authors and their colleagues possessing varied professional backgrounds and expertise have dealt with these issues concerning the strategies and systems of irrigation and drainage. This book will prove to be beneficial for crop growers, agricultural engineers, water resource managers, academicians and graduate students alike.

Description / Table of Contents: Long-term Climate Change: Climatic Change during the Holocene (Past 12,000 Years) --- The Historical Timeframe (Past 1000 Years) --- Recent Climate Change (Past 200 years): Recent Change – Atmosphere --- Recent Change – River Runoff --- Recent Change – Terrestrial Cryosphere --- Recent Change – Marine Circulation and Stratification --- Recent Change – Sea Ice --- Recent Change – Sea Level and Wind Waves --- Future Climate Change: Projected Change – Models and Methodology --- Projected Change – Atmosphere --- Projected Change – Hydrology --- Projected Change – Marine Physics --- Projected Change – Sea Level --- Environmental Impacts of Climate Change: Environmental Impacts – Atmospheric Chemistry --- Environmental Impacts – Coastal Ecosystems, Birds and Forests --- Environmental Impacts – Freshwater Biogeochemistry --- Environmental Impacts – Marine Biogeochemistry --- Environmental Impacts – Marine Ecosystems --- Environmental Impacts – Coastal Erosion and Changing Coastlines --- Socio-Economic Impacts of Climate Change: Socio-Economic Impacts – Forestry and Agriculture --- Socio-Economic Impacts – Urban Settlements --- Drivers of Regional Climate Change: Evidence of Warming --- Regional Change Drivers – Aerosols --- Regional Change Drivers – Land Cover

Description / Table of Contents: Introduction --- Gastrointestinal digestion models, general introduction --- Static digestion models general introduction --- InfoGest consensus method --- Approaches to static digestion models --- Dynamic digestion models general introduction --- The TNO gastro-Intestinal Model (TIM) --- Dynamic Gastric Model (DGM) --- Human Gastric Simulator (Riddet model) --- The DIDGI® System --- General introduction to cells, cell lines and cell culture --- Epithelial cell models; General introduction --- Caco-2 cell line --- HT29 cell line --- The IPEC-J2 cell line --- Co-cultivation of Caco-2 and HT-29MT --- Innate and adaptive immune cells; General introduction --- THP-1 and U937 cells --- Peripheral blood mononuclear cells --- PBMC-derived T cells --- Dendritic Cells --- Co-culture Caco-2/ immune cells --- Enteroendocrine Cell Models: General introduction --- STC-1 cells --- NCI-H716 cells --- Murine GLUTag cells --- In vitro intestinal tissue models: General introduction --- Intestinal crypt organoids as experimental models --- Porcine ex vivo intestinal segment model --- Ussing chamber --- In vitro fermentation models: General Introduction --- One compartment fermentation model --- The TNO in vitro model of the colon - TIM-2 --- The Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem – SHIME® --- The computer-controlled multicompartmental dynamic model of the gastrointestinal system SIMGI

Description / Table of Contents: Our understanding of the physical and chemical processes that regulate the evolution of magmatic systems has improved tremendously since the foundations were laid down 100 years ago by Bowen. The concept of crustal magma chambers has progressively evolved from molten-rock vats to thermally, chemically and physically heterogeneous reservoirs that are kept active by the periodic injection of magma. This new model, while more complex, provides a better framework to interpret volcanic activity and decipher the information contained in intrusive and extrusive rocks. Igneous/metamorphic petrology, geochemistry, geochronology and numerical modelling all contributed towards this new picture of crustal magmatic systems. This book provides an overview of the wide range of approaches that can nowadays be used to understand the chemical, physical and temporal evolution of magmatic and volcanic systems.

Description / Table of Contents: The supercontinent-cycle hypothesis attributes planetary-scale episodic tectonic events to an intrinsic self-organizing mode of mantle convection, governed by the buoyancy of continental lithosphere that resists subduction during the closure of old ocean basins, and the consequent reorganization of mantle convection cells leading to the opening of new ocean basins. Characteristic timescales of the cycle are typically 500 to 700 million years. Proposed spatial patterns of cyclicity range from hemispheric (introversion) to antipodal (extroversion), to precisely between those end members (orthoversion). Advances in our understanding can arise from theoretical or numerical modelling, primary data acquisition relevant to continental reconstructions, and spatiotemporal correlations between plate kinematics, geodynamic events and palaeoenvironmental history. The palaeogeographic record of supercontinental tectonics on Earth is still under development. The contributions in this Special Publication provide snapshots in time of these investigations and indicate that Earth's palaeogeographic record incorporates elements of all three end-member spatial patterns.

Description / Table of Contents: Understanding the behaviour of gases in the context of radioactive waste disposal is a fundamental requirement in developing a safety case for the disposal of radioactive waste. Of particular importance are the long-term performance of bentonite buffers and cement-based backfill materials that may be used to encapsulate and surround the waste in a repository, and the behaviour of plastic clays, indurated mudrocks and crystalline formations that may be the host rocks for a repository. The EC Euratom programme funded project, FORGE, has provided new insights into the processes and mechanisms governing gas generation and migration with the aim of reducing uncertainty. This volume brings together papers on aspects of this topic arising from both the FORGE project and work undertaken elsewhere. This has been achieved by the acquisition of new experimental data coupled with modelling, through a series of laboratory and field-scale experiments performed at a number of underground research laboratories throughout Europe.

Description / Table of Contents: The 17 chapters of this book grew out of the tutorial lectures given by leading world-class experts at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop “Effects of Space Weather on Technology Infrastructure” - ESPRIT, which was held in Rhodes on March 25-29, 2004. All manuscripts were refereed and subsequently meticulously edited by the editor to ensure the highest quality for this monograph. I owe particular thanks to the lecturers of the ESPRIT Advanced Research Workshop for producing these excellent tutorial reviews, which convey the essential knowledge and the latest advances in our field. Due to the breadth, extensive literature citations and quality of the reviews we expect this publication to serve extremely well as a reference book. Multimedia material referring to individual chapters of the book is accessible on the accompanying CD. The aim of ESPRIT was to assess existing knowledge and identify future actions regarding monitoring, forecasting and mitigation of space weather induced malfunction and damage of vital technological systems operating in space and on the ground.

Description / Table of Contents: The rivers of East Asia are some of the largest and most important to human society and the global economy. They drain a variety of terrains from the Tibetan plateau, the hill country of southern China and the steep mountains of Taiwan. The sediment they carry potentially records the long-term evolution of continental environments within the marine stratigraphic record. Sediments reaching the ocean have to traverse the wide continental shelves where they may be reworked and transported by longshore currents, typhoon storm waves, as well as large ocean currents such as the Kuroshio. Deciphering any marine record requires us to understand the dynamics of sediment transport on the continental shelves, and this region acts as a global type example of such processes. Studies in this volume span a wide range of subdisciplines in the marine sciences and provide new insights into how sediment is distributed offshore after leaving the river mouths.

Description / Table of Contents: This edited book, Emerging Pollutants in the Environment Current and Further Implications, includes overviews by significant researchers on the topic of emerging pollutants toxicology, which covers the hazardous effects of common emerging xenobiotics employed in our every day anthropogenic activities. We hope that this book will meet the expectations and needs of all those who are interested in the negative implications of several emerging pollutants on living species.

Description / Table of Contents: The pollution of soil and groundwater by heavy metals and other chemicals is becoming a serious issue in many countries. However, the current bioremediation processes do not often achieve sufficient remediation, and more effective processes are desired. This book deals with advances in the bioremediation of polluted soil and groundwater. In the former chapters of this book, respected researchers in this field describe how the optimization of microorganisms, enzymes, absorbents, additives and injection procedures can help to realize excellent bioremediation. In the latter chapters, other researchers introduce bioremediation processes that have been performed in the field and novel bioremediation processes. Thus, the readers will be able to obtain new ideas about effective bioremediation as well as important information about recent advances in bioremediation.

Description / Table of Contents: Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, biological, and radiological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water for the purposes intended for. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance can be assessed. The most common standards used to assess water quality relate to health of ecosystems, safety of human contact and potable drinking water. A range of diverse topics in the field of water quality modelling, statistical evaluation and guidelines pertaining to the best management practices in different locations around the world is given herein. Modelling of water quality in rivers and lakes, statistical methods and membrane filter performance are subject matters of interest considering in-situ water, potable water, water re-use, etc.

Description / Table of Contents: The European Commission's in-house science service today publishes the first ever comprehensive overview of the soils of Latin America and the Caribbean. Through colourful maps and illustrations the atlas explains in a simple and clear manner the diversity of soil across Central and South America and the Caribbean. It highlights the vital importance of a natural non-renewable resource which provides food, fodder and fuel for 580 million people. The atlas shows the delicate relationships between soils and the functions that they provide. It raises awareness of the inter-relationships with climate and land use while illustrating the role of soil in food security, particularly in relation to climate change. Latin America's soils also support some of the world's most biodiverse ecosystems. In Latin America and the Caribbean, soils have to meet the needs of a population that is in continuous and rapid growth. More than half of the 576 million hectares of arable land of Latin America are estimated to be affected by degradation processes, notably in South America and Mesoamerica. The main causes are change in land use (especially deforestation), over-exploitation, climate change and social inequality. The atlas presents a number of strategies for soil preservation and conservation.

Description / Table of Contents: Geological evolution of Central Asian Basins and the western Tien Shan Range / Marie-Françoise Brunet, Edward R. Sobel and Tom McCann / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 1-17, 14 July 2017, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.17 --- Regional evolution and extensional sedimentary basins --- Mesozoic tectonic and topographic evolution of Central Asia and Tibet: a preliminary synthesis / Marc Jolivet / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 19-55, 21 September 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.2 --- Structural setting and evolution of the Afghan orogenic segment – a review / Agemar Siehl / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 57-88, 3 August 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.8 --- Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic evolution of the Amu Darya Basin (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) / Marie-Françoise Brunet, Andrey V. Ershov, Maxim V. Korotaev, Vladislav N. Melikhov, Eric Barrier, Dmitriy O. Mordvintsev and Irina P. Sidorova / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 89-144, 14 July 2017, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.18 --- Structure and evolution of the Bukhara-Khiva region during the Mesozoic: the northern margin of the Amu-Darya Basin (southern Uzbekistan) / Dmitriy Mordvintsev, Eric Barrier, Marie-Françoise Brunet, Christian Blanpied and Irina Sidorova / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 145-174, 3 May 2017, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.16 --- Subsidence history and basin-fill evolution in the South Caspian Basin from geophysical mapping, flexural backstripping, forward lithospheric modelling and gravity modelling / N. A. Abdullayev, F. Kadirov and I. S. Guliyev / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 175-196, 27 August 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.5 --- Modelling the collisional and sedimentary evolution of the western part of the Tien Shan --- Crustal-scale structure of South Tien Shan: implications for subduction polarity and Cenozoic reactivation / C. Loury, Y. Rolland, S. Guillot, A. V. Mikolaichuk, P. Lanari, O. Bruguier and D. Bosch / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 197-229, 22 July 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.4 --- The stratigraphic, sedimentological and structural evolution of the southern margin of the Kazakhstan continent in the Tien Shan Range during the Devonian to Permian / Dmitriy V. Alexeiev, Harry E. Cook, Alexandra V. Djenchuraeva and Alexander V. Mikolaichuk / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 231-269, 15 July 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.3 --- Lithospheric structure in Central Eurasia derived from elevation, geoid anomaly and thermal analysis / Alexandra M. M. Robert, Manel Fernàndez, Ivone Jiménez-Munt and Jaume Vergés / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 271-293, 7 September 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.10 --- Fault reactivation and far field effects --- Talas–Fergana Fault Cenozoic timing of deformation and its relation to Pamir indentation / Alejandro Bande, Edward R. Sobel, Alexander Mikolaichuk and Verónica Torres Acosta / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 295-311, 17 July 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.1 --- Cenozoic palaeoenvironmental and tectonic controls on the evolution of the northern Fergana Basin / Alejandro Bande, Shukhrat Radjabov, Edward R. Sobel and Tatyana Sim / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 313-335, 18 December 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.12 --- Sedimentation, environment and climate --- Integrated stratigraphy of a continental Pliensbachian–Toarcian Boundary (Lower Jurassic) section at Taskomirsay, Leontiev Graben, southwest Kazakhstan / Johann Schnyder, Denise Pons, Johan Yans, Romain Tramoy and Saya Abdulanova / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 337-356, 14 November 2016, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.15 --- Lower–Middle Jurassic facies patterns in the NW Afghan–Tajik Basin of southern Uzbekistan and their geodynamic context / Franz T. Fürsich, Marie-Françoise Brunet, Jean-Luc Auxiètre and Hermann Munsch / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 357-409, 6 August 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.9 --- The Jurassic of the Western Tien Shan: the Central Kyzylkum Region, Uzbekistan / Tom McCann / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 411-437, 31 March 2016, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.13 --- The Cretaceous of the South Kyzylkum and Nuratau Region, Western Tien Shan, Central Uzbekistan / Tom McCann / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 439-489, 29 April 2016, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.14 --- The Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous alluvial-fan deposits of the Kalaza Formation (Central Asia): tectonic pulse or increased aridity? / Marc Jolivet, Sylvie Bourquin, Gloria Heilbronn, Cecile Robin, Laurie Barrier, Marie-Pierre Dabard, Yingying Jia, Elien De Pelsmaeker and Bihong Fu / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 491-521, 21 September 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.6 --- Cenozoic evolution of the Pamir and Tien Shan mountains reflected in syntectonic deposits of the Tajik Basin / M. Klocke, T. Voigt, J. Kley, S. Pfeifer, T. Rocktäschel, S. Keil and R. Gaupp / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 523-564, 11 September 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.7 --- Late Eocene palaeogeography of the proto-Paratethys Sea in Central Asia (NW China, southern Kyrgyzstan and SW Tajikistan) / Roderic Bosboom, Oleg Mandic, Guillaume Dupont-Nivet, Jean-Noël Proust, Cholponbek Ormukov and Jovid Aminov / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 427, 565-588, 7 September 2015, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP427.11

Description / Table of Contents: Classifications of circulation weather systems have a long history in meteorology and climatology. Starting with manual classifications over specific regions of the globe, these tools (generally called “catalogs of synoptic types”) were restricted mainly to weather forecasting and historical climate variability studies. In the last decades, the advance of computing resources and the availability of datasets have fostered the development of fast and objective methods that process large amount of data. In recent years numerous methods of circulation type classification have been designed, showing their usefulness on a wide range of applications in scientific domains related to weather, climate, and environment. This Research Topic highlights methodological advances in circulation weather types and also their applications to different research areas. The articles included in this research topic show that circulation weather types can be used not only in Europe, where they have been always more frequent, but also applied to other regions of the world.

Description / Table of Contents: Part I Reminiscences: Rolf Hagedorn and Relativistic Heavy Ion Research.-- Part II The Hagedorn Temperature --- Part III Melting Hadrons, Boiling Quarks Heavy Ion Path to Quark-Gluon Plasma --- Acronyms

Description / Table of Contents: A geographer with extensive research experience in the Canadian North, Jack D. Ives has written a lively and informative account of several expeditions to Baffin Island during the "golden age" of federal research. In the 1960s, scientists from the Geographical Branch of Canada's Department of Energy, Mines, and Resources travelled to Baffin to study glacial geomorphology and glaciology. Their fieldwork resulted in vastly increased knowledge of the Far North-from its ice caps and glaciers to its lichens and microfossils. Drawing from the recollections of his Baffin colleagues as well as from his own memories, Ives takes readers on a remarkable adventure, describing the day-to-day experiences of the field teams in the context of both contemporary Arctic research and bureaucratic decision making. Along the way, his narrative illustrates the role played by the Cold War-era Distant Early Warning Line and other northern infrastructure, the crucial importance of his pioneering aerial photography, the unpredictable nature of planes, helicopters, and radios in Arctic regions, and of course, the vast and breathtaking scenery of the North. Baffin Island encompasses both field research and High Arctic adventure. The research trips to Baffin between 1961 and 1967 also served as a vital training ground in polar studies for university students; further, they represented a breakthrough in gender equality in government-sponsored science, thanks to the author's persistence in having women permitted on the teams. The book contains a special section detailing the subsequent professional achievements of the many researchers involved (in addition to the later career moves of Ives himself) and a chapter that delves deeper into the science behind their fieldwork in the North. Readers need not be versed in glaciology, however. Ives has produced a highly readable book that seamlessly combines research and adventure.

Description / Table of Contents: In the last three decades, research has extensively focused on the role of Fe and other mineral nutrients in regulating biological processes, ranging from the surface to the deep ocean. This has produced major breakthroughs in our understanding of the fundamental role of those bioactive elements on the carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycles and ecosystem function. However, biological processes cannot be entirely sustained by that small set of chemical elements, and new scientific evidence suggests that trace metals other than Fe (e.g., Co, Mo and Ni) as well as essential organic growth factors (e.g., vitamins) may also be crucial in most aquatic systems.

Description / Table of Contents: Deep subsurface microbiology is a highly active and rapidly advancing research field at the interface of microbiology and the geosciences; it focuses on the detection, identification, quantification, cultivation and activity measurements of bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes that permeate the subsurface biosphere of deep marine sediments and the basaltic ocean and continental crust. The deep subsurface biosphere abounds with uncultured, only recently discovered and – at best - incompletely understood microbial populations. In spatial extent and volume, Earth’s subsurface biosphere is only rivaled by the deep sea water column. So far, no deep subsurface sediment has been found that is entirely devoid of microbial life; microbial cells and DNA remain detectable at sediment depths of more than 1 km; microbial life permeates deeply buried hydrocarbon reservoirs, and is also found several kilometers down in continental crust aquifers. Severe energy limitation, either as electron acceptor or donor shortage, and scarcity of microbially degradable organic carbon sources are among the evolutionary pressures that have shaped the genomic and physiological repertoire of the deep subsurface biosphere. Its biogeochemical role as long-term organic carbon repository, inorganic electron and energy source, and subduction recycling engine continues to be explored by current research at the interface of microbiology, geochemistry and biosphere/geosphere evolution. This Research Topic addresses some of the central research questions about deep subsurface microbiology and biogeochemistry: phylogenetic and physiological microbial diversity in the deep subsurface; microbial activity and survival strategies in severely energy-limited subsurface habitats; microbial activity as reflected in process rates and gene expression patterns; biogeographic isolation and connectivity in deep subsurface microbial communities; the ecological standing of subsurface biospheres in comparison to the surface biosphere – an independently flourishing biosphere, or mere survivors that tolerate burial (along with organic carbon compounds), or a combination of both? Advancing these questions on Earth’s deep subsurface biosphere redefines the habitat range, environmental tolerance, activity and diversity of microbial life.

Description / Table of Contents: Hydrothermally influenced microbial habitats and communities represent a much wider spectrum of geological setting, chemical in-situ regimes, and biotic community than the classical examples from basalt-hosted black smoker chimneys at active mid-ocean spreading centers. Hydrothermal vent ecosystems now include hydrothermally heated and chemically altered sediments, microbiota fueled by serpentinization reactions, and low-temperature vents with unusual menus of electron donors. Novel marine provinces and hydrothermal areas are being charted and explored, such as new hydrothermal vent systems in the Arctic, around Antarctica, in the Western Pacific and in the Indian Ocean. Novel environmental gradients and niches provide habitats for unusual or unprecedented microorganisms and microbial ecosystems. The discovery of novel extremophiles such as Aciduliprofundum and the Nanoarchaeota underscores that hydrothermal vent microbial communities can no longer be characterized as assemblages of only “typical” sulfur oxidizers, methanogens and heterotrophs. Different stages of hydrothermal activity, from early onset to peak activity, gradual decline, and persistence of cold and fossil vent sites, correspond to different colonization waves by microorganisms as well as megafauna. This research topic will continue to stretch the limits of hydrothermal vent microbiology, and also provide a forum for the chemical and microbial linkages of hydrothermal vents to the ocean water column and the ocean crust or sedimentary subsurface.

Description / Table of Contents: Part I: Context and Objective --- Introduction: A Critical Appraisal of Major Water Engineering Projects and the Need for Interdisciplinary Approaches --- Water Ethics – Orientation for Water Conflicts as Part of Inter- and Transdisciplinary Deliberation --- Part II: Major Water Engineering Projects – Challenges, Problems, Opportunities.- Major Water Engineering Projects: Definitions, Framework Conditions, Systemic Effects --- A Global View on Future Major Water Engineering Projects --- Neglected Values of Major Water Engineering Projects: Ecosystem Services, Social Impacts and Economic Valuation --- Water Governance: A Systemic Approach --- Research in two Case Studies: Irrigation and Land Use in the Fergana Valley and Water Management in the Lower Jordan Valley --- Part III: The Fergana Valley – Uzbekistan’s Hydro-Agricultural System between Inertia and Change --- Between Multiple Transformations and Systemic Path Dependencies --- From Upscaling to Rescaling – Transforming the Fergana from Tsarist Irrigation to Water Management for an Independent Uzbekistan --- Irrigation Infrastructure in Fergana Today: Ecological Implications –Economic Necessities --- Where Water Meets Agriculture: The Ambivalent Role of the Water Users Associations --- Theory, the Market and the State: Agricultural Reforms in Post Socialist Uzbekistan between Economic Incentives and Institutional Obstacles --- Part IV: The Lower Jordan Valley – The Red Sea-Dead Sea Conveyance Project and its Complex History --- Water Resources, Cooperation and Power Asymmetries in the Water Management of the Lower Jordan Valley – The Situation Today and the Path that has led there --- Reclaiming the Dead Sea: Alternatives for Action --- Jordan’s Shadow State and Water Management: Prospects for Water Security will depend on Politics and Regional Cooperation --- Technologies, Incentives and Cost Recovery: Is there an Israeli Role Model? --- Part V: Outlook and Options for Action --- Lessons Learnt, Open Research Questions and Recommendations

Description / Table of Contents: Advances in next generation sequencing technologies, omics, and bioinformatics are revealing a tremendous and unsuspected diversity of microbes, both at a compositional and functional level. Moreover, the expansion of ecological concepts into microbial ecology has greatly advanced our comprehension of the role microbes play in the functioning of ecosystems across a wide range of biomes. Super-imposed on this new information about microbes, their functions and how they are organized, environmental gradients are changing rapidly, largely driven by direct and indirect human activities. In the context of global change, understanding the mechanisms that shape microbial communities is pivotal to predict microbial responses to novel selective forces and their implications at the local as well as global scale. One of the main features of microbial communities is their ability to react to changes in the environment. Thus, many studies have reported changes in the performance and composition of communities along environmental gradients. However, the mechanisms underlying these responses remain unclear. It is assumed that the response of microbes to changes in the environment is mediated by a complex combination of shifts in the physiological properties, single-cell activities, or composition of communities: it may occur by means of physiological adjustments of the taxa present in a community or selecting towards more tolerant/better adapted phylotypes. Knowing whether certain factors trigger one, many, or all mechanisms would greatly increase confidence in predictions of future microbial composition and processes. This Research Topic brings together studies that applied the latest molecular techniques for studying microbial composition and functioning and integrated ecological, biogeochemical and/or modeling approaches to provide a comprehensive and mechanistic perspective of the responses of micro-organisms to environmental changes. This Research Topic presents new findings on environmental parameters influencing microbial communities, the type and magnitude of response and differences in the response among microbial groups, and which collectively deepen our current understanding and knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of microbial structural and functional responses to environmental changes and gradients in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The body of work has, furthermore, identified many challenges and questions that yet remain to be addressed and new perspectives to follow up on.

Description / Table of Contents: Climate change affects all components of marine ecosystems. For endothermic top predators, i.e. seabirds and marine mammals, these impacts are often complex and mediated through trophic relationships. In this Research Topic, leading researchers attempt to identify patterns of change among seabirds and marine mammals, and the mechanisms through which climate change drives these changes.

Description / Table of Contents: Nitrogen is an essential element in biological systems, and one that often limits production in both aquatic and terrestrial systems. Due to its requirement in biological macromolecules, its acquisition and cycling have the potential to structure microbial communities, as well as to control productivity on the ecosystem scale. In addition, its versatile redox chemistry is the basis of complex biogeochemical transformations that control the inventory of fixed nitrogen, both in local environments and over geological time. Although many of the pathways in the microbial nitrogen cycle were described more than a century ago, additional fundamental pathways have been discovered only recently. These findings imply that we still have much to learn about the microbial nitrogen cycle, the organisms responsible for it, and their interactions in natural and human environments. Progress in nitrogen cycle research has been facilitated by recent rapid technological advances, especially in genomics and isotopic approaches. In this Research Topic, we reviewed the leading edge of nitrogen cycle research based on these approaches, as well as by exploring microbial processes in modern ecosystems.

Description / Table of Contents: Viruses infect numerous microorganisms including, predominantly, Bacteria (bacteriophages or phages) but also Archaea, Protists, and Fungi. They are the most abundant and ubiquitous biological entities on Earth and are important drivers of ecosystem functioning. Little is known, however, about the vast majority of these viruses of microorganisms, or VoMs. Modern techniques such as metagenomics have enabled the discovery and description of more presumptive VoMs than ever before, but also have exposed gaps in our understanding of VoM ecology. Exploring the ecology of these viruses – which is how they interact with host organisms, the abiotic environment, larger organisms, and even other viruses across a variety of environments and conditions – is the next frontier. Integration of a growing molecular understanding of VoMs with ecological studies will expand our knowledge of ecosystem dynamics. Ecology can be studied at multiple levels including individual organisms, populations, communities, whole ecosystems, and the entire biosphere. Ecology additionally can consider normal, equilibrium conditions or instead perturbations. Perturbations are of particular interest because measuring the effect of disturbances on VoM-associated communities provides important windows into how VoMs contribute to ecosystem dynamics. These disturbances in turn can be studied through in vitro, in vivo, and in situ experimentation, measuring responses by VoM-associated communities to changes in nutrient availability, stress, physical disruption, seasonality, etc., and could apply to studies at all ecological levels. These are considered here across diverse systems and environments.

Description / Table of Contents: This special issue emerged following the 2013 8th International Statistical Seismology (StatSei8) workshop in Beijing. The articles within have been collected to report on exciting new research in statistical seismology methods and applications; it contains a collection of the newest methods, techniques and results related to statistical analysis of earthquake occurrence and earthquake probability forecasting. The articles within ultimately help to define future research directions in the field. Especially, the rapid development of observation technologies has brought geophysical research into the big-data era. This includes not only non-seismicity geophysical data, such as GPS observation on surface displacement, InSAR observation of the co-seismic deformation, ionospheric observations, etc., but also extended seismological data including slow earthquakes, tremor, and VLF earthquakes. The subject of statistical seismology bridges the gap between physical and statistical models. Many significant achievements have been accomplished during the last several decades, including formulation of conditional intensity models for quantifying seismicity rates, earthquake probability forecasts, and theories related to rigorous testing of forecast models.