ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: Earth sciences are becoming ever more concerned with how their disciplines, their research and teaching, need to become directly related to environmental and social concerns. The biology of the surface layers and at depth is increasingly important in the geosciences. A knowledge of biological and physical-chemical functions in terrestrial ecosystems (such as biomass production, filtering, buffering and transformation, water routing, and maintenance of biodiversity) that are studied in soil science provides a background for Earth sciences. The papers in this volume address issues of soil formation, soil management, soil protection and the role of biodiversity that must be considered for a sustainable soil use. The papers are aimed at geoscientists in the broadest sense, and others concerned with soil use who will also find chapters relevant to their interests. Soils knowledge used within other Earth sciences is essential for maintaining healthy ecosystems, for the solutions of problems in environmental quality and for sustainable use of soils by humans.

Description / Table of Contents: Gullies on Mars resemble terrestrial gullies involved in the transport of abundant material down steep slopes by liquid water. However, liquid water should not be stable at the Martian surface. The articles in this volume present the two main opposing theories for Martian gully formation: climate-driven melting of surficial water-ice deposits and seasonal dry-ice sublimation. The evidence presented ranges from remote-sensing observations, to experimental simulations, to comparison with Earth analogues. The opposing hypotheses imply either that Mars has been unusually wet in the last few million years or that it has remained a cold dry desert – both with profound implications for understanding the water budget of Mars and its habitability. The debate questions the limits of remote-sensing data and how we interpret active processes on extra-terrestrial planetary surfaces, even beyond those on Mars, as summarized by the review paper at the beginning of the book.

Description / Table of Contents: This book complements the Geological Society's Special Publication 362: Military Aspects of Hydrogeology. Generated under the auspices of the Society's History of Geology and Engineering Groups, it contains papers from authors in the UK, USA, Germany and Austria. Substantial papers describe some innovative engineering activities, influenced by geology, undertaken by the armed forces of the opposing nations in World War I. These activities were reactivated and developed in World War II. Examples include trenching from World War I, tunnelling and quarrying from both wars, and the use of geologists to aid German coastal fortification and Allied aerial photographic interpretation in World War II. The extensive introduction and other chapters reveal that ‘military geology’ has a longer history. These chapters relate to pre-twentieth century coastal fortification in the UK and the USA; conflict in the American Civil War; long-term ‘going’ assessments for German forces; tunnel repair after wartime route denial in Hong Kong; and tunnel detection after recent insurgent improvisation in Iraq.

Description / Table of Contents: Thermochronology - the use of temperature-sensitive radiometric dating methods to reconstruct the thermal histories of rocks - has proved to be an important means of constraining a wide variety of geological processes. Fission track and (U–Th)/He analyses of apatites, zircons and titanites are the best-established and most sensitive methods for reconstructing such histories in the uppermost kilometres of the crust, over time scales of millions to hundreds of millions of years. The papers published in this volume are divided into two sections. The first section on ‘New approaches in thermochronology’, presents the most recent advances of existing thermochronological methods and demonstrates the progress in the development of alternative thermochronometers and modelling techniques. The second section, ‘Applied thermochronology’, comprises original papers about denudation, long-term landscape evolution and detrital sources from the European Alps, northwestern Spain, the Ardennes, the Bohemian Massif, Fennoscandia and Corsica. It also includes case studies from the Siberian Altai, Mozambique, South Africa and Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica) and reports an ancient thermal anomaly within a regional fault in Japan.

Description / Table of Contents: There is a general consensus that for the next few decades at least, the Earth will continue its warming. This will inevitably bring about serious environmental problems. For human society, the most severe will be those related to alterations of the hydrological cycle, which is already heavily influenced by human activities. Climate change will directly affect groundwater recharge, groundwater quality and the freshwater-seawater interface. The variations of groundwater storage inevitably entail a variety of geomorphological and engineering effects. In the areas where water resources are likely to diminish, groundwater will be one of the main solutions to prevent drought. In spite of its paramount importance, the issue of ‘Climate Change and Groundwater’ has been neglected. This volume presents some of the current understanding of the topic.

Description / Table of Contents: The study of reservoir and repository performance requires the integration of many different fields in Earth sciences, among them rock physics and geomechanics. The aim of this book is to emphasize how rock physics and geomechanics help to get a better insight into important issues linked to reservoir management for exploitation of natural resources, and to repository safety assessment for hazardous waste storage in geological environment. The studies presented here deal with the hydromechanical coupling in fractured rocks, the key experiments in safety assessment of repositories, the development of damaged zones during excavation in a shaley formation, the influence of temperature on the properties of shales, the poroelastic response of sandstones, the development and propagation of compaction bands in reservoir rocks, imaging techniques of geomaterials, the characterization and modelling of reservoirs using 4D seismic data, the mechanical behaviour of fractured rock masses, the petrophysical properties of fault zones, models for rock deformation by pressure solution and the elastic anisotropy in cracked rocks.

Description / Table of Contents: The dangers that we face from geohazards appear to be getting worse, especially with the impact of increasing population and global climate change. This collection of papers illustrates how remote sensing technologies - measuring, mapping and monitoring the Earth's surface from aircraft or satellites - can help us to rapidly detect and better manage geohazards. The hazardous terrains examined include areas of landslides, flooding, erosion, contaminated land, shrink-swell clays, subsidence, seismic activity and volcanic landforms. Key aspects of remote sensing are introduced, making this a book that can easily be read by those who are unfamiliar with remote sensing. The featured remote sensing systems include aerial photography and photogrammetry, thermal scanning, hyperspectral sensors, airborne laser altimetry (LiDAR), radar interferometry and multispectral satellites (Landsat, ASTER). Related technologies and methodogies, such as the processing of Digital Elevation Models and data analysis using Geographical Information Systems, are also discussed.

Description / Table of Contents: This book summarizes our present understanding of the formation of passive continental margins and their ocean–continent transitions. It outlines the geological, geophysical and petrological observations that characterize extensional systems, and how such observations can guide and constrain dynamic and kinematic models of continental lithosphere extension, breakup and the inception of organized sea-floor spreading. The book focuses on imaging, mapping and modelling lithospheric extensional systems, at both the regional scale using dynamic models to the local scale of individual basins using kinematic models, with an emphasis on capturing the extensional history of the Iberia and Newfoundland margins. The results from a number of other extensional regimes are presented to provide comparisons with the North Atlantic studies; these range from the Tethyan realm and the northern Red Sea to the western and southern Australian margins, the Basin and Range Province, and the Woodlark basin of Papua New Guinea. All of these field studies, combined with lessons learnt from the modelling, are used to address fundamental questions about the extreme deformation of continental lithosphere.

Description / Table of Contents: The book presents an overview of the main hazards affecting karst, including collapse and subsidence phenomena, hydrological hazards and human-induced geohazards. Consideration is also given to the problems of geohazard management in karst. The geological and hydrological properties of karst terrains make them among the most fragile in the world and pose serious problems for land managers. Sustainable development in these terrains requires efforts to limit geohazards of anthropogenic origin and to recognize and mitigate against those of natural origin. Aimed at providing the reader with worldwide case studies, the contributions cover a range of geological and morphological settings. Geographically, the fourteen papers discuss very different karst areas, from North America, the Caribbean and Asia to several karst areas in Europe, including the British Isles, Spain, France and Italy.

Description / Table of Contents: The Devonian was a peculiar period, characterized by simplified plate tectonic configurations, climatic overheating and widely flooded continents. The bloom of fishes and ammonoids, extensive reef complexes, and the conquest of land indicate major biosphere innovations, punctuated by many global events, including two of the biggest mass extinctions. The Devonian was the first system for which subdivisions were formally defined. This was achieved by significant advances in pelagic biostratigraphy. The chronostratigraphic framework and interdisciplinary techniques allow us to correlate intervals or sudden events across facies boundaries, in order to reconstruct the sedimentary and evolutionary history of the system with highest precision. This volume honors the lifetime stratigraphic achievements of Michael Robert House (1930-2002). Based on case studies from Europe, North Africa and North America, it shows how the combination of biostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy and event stratigraphy can contribute to a much deeper understanding of both regional and global environmental change.

Description / Table of Contents: For the geoscientist, interest in sediment dynamics relates to the understanding of modern processes, together with their extrapolation to the interpretation of ancient deposits within the stratigraphic record. Over the years, various measurement techniques and scientific approaches have been applied to the determination of sediment transport pathways and the derivation of erosion, transport and deposition rates. Recently, a number of new techniques and approaches have been developed, associated with different temporal and spatial scales, and it is appropriate and timely to review a representative selection, by reference to recently undertaken coastal and shelf investigations. The various contributions in the volume cover, for example: optical and acoustic backscatter measurements; particle tracking; the use of mutibeam imagery; grain-size trend analysis; and analytic, numerical and conceptual modelling. Although no single method provides a complete solution to the problem posed, this overview will assist sedimentologists and sediment dynamicists in their selection of the most appropriate approaches, towards the establishment of ‘high confidence’ in the interpretation of sediment transport rates and directions.

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

Description / Table of Contents: The Upper Triassic to Middle Jurassic succession of the Shemshak Group (up to 4000 m in thickness in the Alborz Mountains, Northern Iran) contains key information about the closure of the Palaeotethys Ocean, the rise and denudation of the Cimmeride Mountains, and the succeeding opening of the South Caspian Basin. Here at Emamzadeh–Hashem Pass (NW of Tehran, Iran), the Shemshak Group is embraced between Upper Palaeozoic–Middle Triassic (foreground) and Upper Jurassic carbonates (background).

Description / Table of Contents: Geodynamics of collision and collapse at the Africa–Arabia–Eurasia subduction zone – an introduction / Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen, Michael A. Edwards and Rob Govers / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 1-7, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.1 --- Melange genesis and ophiolite emplacement related to subduction of the northern margin of the Tauride–Anatolide continent, central and western Turkey / Alastair H. F. Robertson, Osman Parlak and Tı̇mur Ustaömer / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 9-66, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.2 --- Tectono-stratigraphy of the Çankırı Basin: Late Cretaceous to early Miocene evolution of the Neotethyan Suture Zone in Turkey / Nuretdin Kaymakci, Yakup Özçelik, Stanley H. White and Paul M. Van Dijk / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 67-106, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.3 --- Oligocene–Miocene basin evolution in SE Anatolia, Turkey: constraints on the closure of the eastern Tethys gateway / Silja K. Hüsing, Willem-Jan Zachariasse, Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen, Wout Krijgsman, Murat Inceöz, Mathias Harzhauser, Oleg Mandic and Andreas Kroh / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 107-132, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.4 --- Long-term evolution of the North Anatolian Fault: new constraints from its eastern termination / Aurélia Hubert-Ferrari, Geoffrey King, Jérome van der Woerd, Igor Villa, Erhan Altunel and Rolando Armijo / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 133-154, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.5 --- Mediterranean snapshots of accelerated slab retreat: subduction instability in stalled continental collision / M. A. Edwards and B. Grasemann / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 155-192, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.6 --- Evolution of the southern Tyrrhenian slab tear and active tectonics along the western edge of the Tyrrhenian subducted slab / Andrea Argnani / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 193-212, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.7 --- Geochemical and temporal evolution of Cenozoic magmatism in western Turkey: mantle response to collision, slab break-off, and lithospheric tearing in an orogenic belt / Yildirim Dilek and Şafak Altunkaynak / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 213-233, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.8 --- Insights from the Apennines metamorphic complexes and their bearing on the kinematics evolution of the orogen / Gianluca Vignaroli, Claudio Faccenna, Federico Rossetti and Laurent Jolivet / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 235-256, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.9 --- Sequential development of interfering metamorphic core complexes: numerical experiments and comparison with the Cyclades, Greece / C. Tirel, P. Gautier, D. J. J. van Hinsbergen and M. J. R. Wortel / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 257-292, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.10 --- The Itea–Amfissa detachment: a pre-Corinth rift Miocene extensional structure in central Greece / Dimitrios Papanikolaou, Leonidas Gouliotis and Maria Triantaphyllou / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 293-310, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.11 --- Neogene brittle detachment faulting on Kos (E Greece): implications for a southern break-away fault of the Menderes metamorphic core complex (western Turkey) / Douwe J. J. van Hinsbergen and Flora Boekhout / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 311-320, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.12 --- Magnetostratigraphy of early–middle Miocene deposits from east–west trending Alaşehir and Büyük Menderes grabens in western Turkey, and its tectonic implications / Sevket Sen and Gürol Seyitoğlu / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 321-342, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.13 --- The structure of the Kythira–Antikythira strait, offshore SW Greece (35.7°–36.6°N) / Eleni Kokinou and Evangelos Kamberis / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 343-360, 29 April 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.14 --- Erratum --- Melange genesis and ophiolite emplacement related to subduction of the northern margin of the Tauride–Anatolide continent, central and western Turkey / Alastair H. F. Robertson, Osman Parlak and Tı̇mur Ustaömer / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 311, 1, 29 July 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP311.Erratum

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

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

Description / Table of Contents: This book is an exploration of varying approaches to the study of the deposition, diagenesis and stratigraphy of evaporites. The volume includes papers from chemical modellers, who work on the basis of geochemical representations of the formative water bodies, and from basin-wide depositional-stratigraphical modellers, who propose depositional scenarios that are fitted to individual basinal pictures. Until now there have been only a few studies of evaporite formation that explain the characteristic features we observe in the real rock record. This volume is a collection of relevant papers in which these features are integrated in a realistic manner, based on our new understanding of saline water bodies, to the diverse tectonic, chemical and depositional constraints of their individual basins. In additional there are several review articles that offer oversight and extensive referencing of basins worthy of further study. This book is a valuable resource for sedimentologists and stratigraphers looking for an up-to-date reference on evaporite deposits.

Description / Table of Contents: Mineral deposits are not only primary sources of wealth generation, but also act as windows through which to view the evolution and interrelationships of the Earth system. Deposits formed throughout the last 3.8 billion years of the Earth’s history preserve key evidence with which to test fundamental questions about the evolution of the Earth. These include: the nature of early magmatic and tectonic processes, supercontinent reconstructions, the state of the atmosphere and hydrosphere with time, and the emergence and development of life. The interlinking processes that form mineral deposits have always sat at the heart of the Earth system and the potential for using deposits as tools to understand that evolving system over geological time is increasingly recognized. This volume contains research aimed both at understanding the origins of mineral deposits and at using mineral deposits as tools to explore different long-term Earth processes.

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

Description / Table of Contents: We are poised to embark on a new era of discovery in the study of geomorphology. The discipline has a long and illustrious history, but in recent years an entirely new way of studying landscapes and seascapes has been developed. It involves the use of 3D seismic data. Just as CAT scans allow medical staff to view our anatomy in 3D, seismic data now allows Earth scientists to do what the early geomorphologists could only dream of - view tens and hundreds of square kilometres of the Earth's subsurface in 3D and therefore see for the first time how landscapes have evolved through time. This volume demonstrates how earth scientists are starting to use this relatively new tool to study the dynamic of a range of sedimentary environments.

Description / Table of Contents: Where were the women in Geology? This book is a first as it unravels the diverse roles women have played in the history and development of geology as a science predominantly in the UK, Ireland and Australia, and selectively in Germany, Russia and US. The volume covers the period from the late eighteenth century to the present day and shows how the roles that women have played changed with time. These included illustrators, museum collectors and curators, educationalists, researchers and geologists. Originally as wives, sisters or mothers many were assistants to their male relatives. This book looks at all these forgotten women and for the first time historians and scientists together explore the contribution they made to this male-dominated subject. There are individual profiles on remarkable women: Catherine Raisin, Dorothea Bate, Cuvier's daughters, Grace Prestwich, Annie Greenly, Nancy Kirk, Margaret Crosfield, Ethel Skeat, Maria Ogivlie Gordon, Marie Stopes, Anne Phillips, Muriel Arber and Etheldred Bennett. Pulling together this extensive research uncovered common issues and generated emergent themes. The Editors have brought this new research together under these themes and tried to answer the question Where were the women in Geology? They go on to discuss how these role models can be applicable to today's society.

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

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides an insight into the overall tectonic evolution of the Western Mediterranean region and North Africa. The tectonic setting of the region reflects a long-lived and complex evolution, mainly related to the Alpine Orogeny. This inheritance is expressed by an intricate pattern of arc-shaped mountain chains, the Alps, the Betic-Rif Cordilleras and the Apennine-Maghrebian belt, whose southern branches mark the present limit between the African and Eurasian plates. The volume covers the Maghrebian chains in North Africa, from Tunisia to Morocco and the Western and Central Mediterranean, from Spain to Italy from the pre-orogeric phases (Palaeozoic-Mesozoic) to the post-collisional neotectonic and Quaternary development. It includes both original research papers and syntheses dealing with the aspects of structural, sedimentary, metamorphic and marine geology.

Description / Table of Contents: In the Earth sciences, the concept of fractals and scale invariance is well recognized in many natural objects. However, the use of fractals for spatial and temporal analyses of natural hazards has been less used (and accepted) in the Earth sciences. This book brings together 12 contributions that emphasize the role of fractal analyses in natural hazard research, including andslides, wildfires, floods, catastrophic rock fractures and earthquakes. A wide variety of spatial and temporal fractal-related approaches and techniques are applied to ‘natural’ data, experimental data and computer simulations. These approaches include probabilistic hazard analysis, cellular-automata models, spatial analyses, temporal variability, prediction and self-organizing behaviour. The main aims of this volume are (a) to present current research on fractal analyses as applied to natural hazards and (b) to stimulate the curiosity of advanced Earth science students and researchers in the use of fractals analyses for the better understanding of natural hazards.

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 scientist from countries in this region and others provides an up-to-date, interdisciplinary overview of the tectonic development of the Eastern Mediterrenean region from Precambrian to Recent. Key topics include continental rifting, ophiolite genesis and emplacement, continental collision, extensional tectonics, crustal exhumation and intraplate 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: The Neuquén Basin of northern Patagonia provides an excellent case study in basin analysis and sequence stratigraphy. The basin is one of the largest petroleum provinces in South America and includes a dramatic record of relative sea-level changes as well as a unique and globally important palaeontological record. Understanding this region is also central to unravelling the history of the Andes. The latest developments in the study of the area have been combined in this volume to give an integrated series of case studies that document the structural, igneous, sedimentological and palaeontological history of the region from the Triassic to the Recent. This publication provides an introduction into this fascinating region as well as a resource that includes the most complete and up-to-date studies of the area.

Description / Table of Contents: Alluvial fans: geomorphology, sedimentology, dynamics — introduction. A review of alluvial-fan research / Adrian M. Harvey, Anne E. Mather and Martin Stokes / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 1-7, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.01 --- Flow events on a hyper-arid alluvial fan: Quebrada Tambores, Salar de Atacama, northern Chile / Anne E. Mather and Adrian Hartley / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 9-24, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.02 --- Fans with forests: contemporary hydrogeomorphic processes on fans with forests in west central British Columbia, Canada / D. J. Wilford, M. E. Sakals, J. L. Innes and R. C. Sidle / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 25-40, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.03 --- The fluvial megafan of Abarkoh Basin (Central Iran): an example of flash-flood sedimentation in arid lands / Nasser Arzani / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 41-59, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.04 --- Climate and tectonically controlled river style changes on the Sajó-Hernád alluvial fan (Hungary) / Gyula Gábris and Balázs Nagy / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 61-67, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.05 --- Quaternary telescopic-like alluvial fans, Andean Ranges, Argentina / F. Colombo / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 69-84, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.06 --- Morphometry and depositional style of Late Pleistocene alluvial fans: Wadi Al-Bih, northern UAE and Oman / Asma Al-Farraj and Adrian M. Harvey / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 85-94, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.07 --- Climatic controls on alluvial-fan activity, Coastal Cordillera, northern Chile / Adrian J. Hartley, Anne E. Mather, Elizabeth Jolley and Peter Turner / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 95-116, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.08 --- Differential effects of base-level, tectonic setting and climatic change on Quaternary alluvial fans in the northern Great Basin, Nevada, USA / Adrian M. Harvey / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 117-131, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.09 --- Reconciling the roles of climate and tectonics in Late Quaternary fan development on the Spartan piedmont, Greece / Richard J.J. Pope and Keith N. Wilkinson / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 133-152, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.10 --- Luminescence dating of alluvial fans in intramontane basins of NW Argentina / R. A. J. Robinson, J. Q. G. Spencer, M. R. Strecker, A. Richter and R. N. Alonso / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 153-168, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.11 --- Factors controlling sequence development on Quaternary fluvial fans, San Joaquin Basin, California, USA / G. S. Weissmann, G. L. Bennett and A. L. Lansdale / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 169-186, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.12 --- Tertiary alluvial fans at the northern margin of the Ebro Basin: a review / Gary Nichols / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 187-206, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.13 --- Source area and tectonic control on alluvial-fan development in the Miocene Fohnsdorf intramontane basin, Austria / Michael Wagreich and Philipp E. Strauss / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 207-216, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.14 --- Upper Cretaceous-Palaeocene basin-margin alluvial fans documenting interaction between tectonic and environmental processes (Provence, SE France) / S. Leleu, J.-F. Ghienne and G. Manatschal / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 251, 217-239, 1 January 2005, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.251.01.15

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 in the Pacific and was engulfed between the Americas as the latter drifted west. Accordingly, the Caribbean Plate comprises internal, Jurassic–Cretaceous oceanic rocks, thickened into a Cretaceous hotspot/plume plateau, with obducted ophiolites and Cretaceous–Palaeogene, subduction-related, intra-oceanic volcanic arc and metamorphosed arc/continental rocks exposed on its margins. An alternative interpretation is that the 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 carbonate and clastic rocks. After uplift of ‘oceanic’ and volcanic arc rocks onto (continental) margins, the interior foundered in the Middle Eocene. Papers range from regional overviews and discussions of Caribbean origins 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: 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: Ancient orogens and modern analogues: an introduction / J. Brendan Murphy, J. Duncan Keppie and Andrew J. Hynes / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 1-8, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.1 --- Mesozoic–Cenozoic Orogens --- Caldera volcanism and rift structure in the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand / J. W. Cole and K. D. Spinks / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 9-29, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.2 --- Andean flat-slab subduction through time / Victor A. Ramos and Andrés Folguera / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 31-54, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.3 --- Middle Miocene Chiapas fold and thrust belt of Mexico: a result of collision of the Tehuantepec Transform/Ridge with the Middle America Trench / J. J. Mandujano-Velazquez and J. Duncan Keppie / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 55-69, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.4 --- Extrusion of high-pressure Cache Creek rocks into the Triassic Stikinia–Quesnellia arc of the Canadian Cordillera: implications for terrane analysis of ancient orogens and palaeogeography / Jaroslav Dostal, J. Duncan Keppie and Filippo Ferri / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 71-87, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.5 --- Plate tectonics of the Alpine realm / Gérard M. Stampfli and Cyril Hochard / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 89-111, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.6 --- The Calabrian Orocline: buckling of a previously more linear orogen / Stephen T. Johnston and Stefano Mazzoli / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 113-125, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.7 --- Seismic structure, crustal architecture and tectonic evolution of the Anatolian-African Plate Boundary and the Cenozoic Orogenic Belts in the Eastern Mediterranean Region / Yildirim Dilek and Eric Sandvol / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 127-160, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.8 --- Palaeozoic/Neoproterozoic Orogens --- The evolution of the Uralian orogen / Victor N. Puchkov / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 161-195, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.9 --- Timing of dextral strike-slip processes and basement exhumation in the Elbe Zone (Saxo-Thuringian Zone): the final pulse of the Variscan Orogeny in the Bohemian Massif constrained by LA-SF-ICP-MS U-Pb zircon data / M. Hofmann, U. Linnemann, A. Gerdes, B. Ullrich and M. Schauer / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 197-214, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.10 --- Variscan intra-orogenic extensional tectonics in the Ossa-Morena Zone (Évora-Aracena-Lora del Rı́o metamorphic belt, SW Iberian Massif): SHRIMP zircon U-Th-Pb geochronology / M. Francisco Pereira, Martim Chichorro, Ian S. Williams, José B. Silva, Carlos Fernández, Manuel Dı́az-azpı́roz, Arturo Apraiz and Antonio Castro / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 215-237, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.11 --- Palaeozoic palaeogeography of Mexico: constraints from detrital zircon age data / R. Damian Nance, J. Duncan Keppie, Brent V. Miller, J. Brendan Murphy and Jaroslav Dostal / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 239-269, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.12 --- Pre-Carboniferous, episodic accretion-related, orogenesis along the Laurentian margin of the northern Appalachians / Cees R. van Staal, Joseph B. Whalen, Pablo Valverde-Vaquero, Alexandre Zagorevski and Neil Rogers / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 271-316, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.13 --- From Rodinia to Pangaea: ophiolites from NW Iberia as witness for a long-lived continental margin / Sonia Sánchez Martı́nez, Ricardo Arenas, Javier Fernández-Suárez and Teresa E. Jeffries / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 317-341, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.14 --- Rheic Ocean mafic complexes: overview and synthesis / J. Brendan Murphy, Gabriel Gutiérrez-Alonso, R. Damian Nance, Javier Fernández-Suárez, J. Duncan Keppie, Cecilio Quesada, Jaroslav Dostal and James A. Braid / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 343-369, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.15 --- Proterozoic Orogens --- The palaeomagnetically viable, long-lived and all-inclusive Rodinia supercontinent reconstruction / David A. D. Evans / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 371-404, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.16 --- The Grenville Province as a large hot long-duration collisional orogen – insights from the spatial and thermal evolution of its orogenic fronts / Toby Rivers / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 405-444, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.17 --- Neoproterozoic reworking of the Palaeoproterozoic Capricorn Orogen of Western Australia and implications for the amalgamation of Rodinia / Sandra A. Occhipinti and Steven M. Reddy / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 445-456, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.18 --- The Palaeoproterozoic Trans-Hudson Orogen: a prototype of modern accretionary processes / D. Corrigan, S. Pehrsson, N. Wodicka and E. de Kemp / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 327, 457-479, 1 January 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.19

Description / Table of Contents: There are continual rounds of annual conferences, special sessions and other symposia that provide ample opportunity for researchers to convene and discuss igneous processes. However, the origins of laccoliths and sills continue to inspire and confound geologists. In one sense, this is surprising. After all, don't we know all we need to know about these rocks by now? As testified by the diverse range of topics covered in this volume, the answer is clearly ‘no’. This book contains contributions on physical geology, igneous petrology, volcanology, structural geology, crustal mechanics and geophysics that cover the entire gambit of geological processes associated with the shallow emplacement of magma. High-level intrusions in sedimentary basins can also act as hydrocarbon reservoirs and as sources for thermal maturation. In drawing together a diversity of perspectives on the emplacement of sills, laccoliths and dykes we hope to advance further our understanding of their behaviour.

Description / Table of Contents: Biogeochemical controls on palaeoceanographic environmental proxies: an introduction / William E. N. Austin and Rachael H. James / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 1-2, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.1 --- Biogeochemical controls on palaeoceanographic environmental proxies: a review / Rachael H. James and William E. N. Austin / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 3-32, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.2 --- Some fundamental features of biomineralization / R. J. P. Williams / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 33-44, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.3 --- Vital effects and beyond: a modelling perspective on developing palaeoceanographical proxy relationships in foraminifera / Richard E. Zeebe, Jelle Bijma, Bärbel Hönisch, Abhijit Sanyal, Howard J. Spero and Dieter A. Wolf-Gladrow / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 45-58, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.4 --- Foraminifer test preservation and diagenesis: comparison of high latitude Eocene sites / Paul N. Pearson and Catherine E. Burgess / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 59-72, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.5 --- The influences of growth rates on planktic foraminifers as proxies for palaeostudies – a review / D. N. Schmidt, T. Elliott and S. A. Kasemann / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 73-85, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.6 --- Fine-scale growth patterns in coral skeletons: biochemical control over crystallization of aragonite fibres and assessment of early diagenesis / J. P. Cuif, Y. Dauphin, A. Meibom, C. Rollion-Bard, M. Salomé, J. Susini and C. T. Williams / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 87-96, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.7 --- Modern deep-sea benthic foraminifera: a brief review of their morphology-based biodiversity and trophic diversity / A. J. Gooday, H. Nomaki and H. Kitazato / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 97-119, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.8 --- On the use of benthic foraminiferal δ13C in palaeoceanography: constraints from primary proxy relationships / Andreas Mackensen / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 121-133, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.9 --- The carbon and oxygen stable isotopic composition of cultured benthic foraminifera / Daniel C. McCorkle, Joan M. Bernhard, Christopher J. Hintz, Jessica K. Blanks, G. Thomas Chandler and Timothy J. Shaw / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 135-154, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.10 --- Seasonal dynamics of coastal water masses in a Scottish fjord and their potential influence on benthic foraminiferal shell geochemistry / Alix G. Cage and William E. N. Austin / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 155-172, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.11 --- Isotopic variability in the intertidal acorn barnacle Semibalanus balanoides: a potentially novel sea-level proxy indicator / K. F. Craven, M. I. Bird, W. E. N. Austin and J. Wynn / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 303, 173-185, 1 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP303.12

Description / Table of Contents: This book is the first to describe the history of geoconservation. It draws on experience from the UK, Europe and further afield, to explore topics including: what is geoconservation; where, when and how did it start; who was responsible; and how has it differed across the world? Geological and geomorphological features, processes, sites and specimens, provide a resource of immense scientific and educational importance. They also form the foundation for the varied and spectacular landscapes that help define national and local identity as well as many of the great tourism destinations. Mankind's activities, including contributing to enhanced climate change, pose many threats to this resource: the importance of safeguarding and managing it for future generations is now widely accepted as part of sustainable development. Geoconservation is an established and growing activity across the world, with more participants and a greater profile than ever before. This volume highlights a history of challenges, set-backs, successes and visionary individuals and provides a sound basis for taking geoconservation into the future.

Description / Table of Contents: Faults are primary focuses of both fluid migration and deformation in the upper crust. The recognition that faults are typically heterogeneous zones of deformed material, not simple discrete fractures, has fundamental implications for the way geoscientists predict fluid migration in fault zones, as well as leading to new concepts in understanding seismic/aseismic strain accommodation. This book captures current research into understanding the complexities of fault-zone internal structure, and their control on mechanical and fluid-flow properties of the upper crust. A wide variety of approaches are presented, from geological field studies and laboratory analyses of fault-zone and fault-rock properties to numerical fluid-flow modelling, and from seismological data analyses to coupled hydraulic and rheological modelling. The publication aims to illustrate the importance of understanding fault-zone complexity by integrating such diverse approaches, and its impact on the rheological and fluid-flow behaviour of fault zones in different contexts.

Description / Table of Contents: Faults are primary focuses of both fluid migration and deformation in the upper crust. The recognition that faults are typically heterogeneous zones of deformed material, not simple discrete fractures, has fundamental implications for the way geoscientists predict fluid migration in fault zones, as well as leading to new concepts in understanding seismic/aseismic strain accommodation. This book captures current research into understanding the complexities of fault-zone internal structure, and their control on mechanical and fluid-flow properties of the upper crust. A wide variety of approaches are presented, from geological field studies and laboratory analyses of fault-zone and fault-rock properties to numerical fluid-flow modelling, and from seismological data analyses to coupled hydraulic and rheological modelling. The publication aims to illustrate the importance of understanding fault-zone complexity by integrating such diverse approaches, and its impact on the rheological and fluid-flow behaviour of fault zones in different contexts.

Description / Table of Contents: The boundaries of rigid cratons can be affected by subsequent orogenic events, leading to ‘metacratonic’ characteristics not often properly recognized and still poorly understood. Major lithospheric thickening is absent and early events such as ophiolites are preserved; however, metacratonic boundaries are affected by major shear zones, abundant magmatism and mineralizations, and local high-pressure metamorphism. West Africa, marked by the large Eburnian (c. 2 Ga) West African craton, the absence of Mesoproterozoic events, the major Pan-African (0.9–0.55 Ga) mobile belts that generated the Peri-Gondawanan terranes, and the weaker but enlightening Variscan and Alpine orogenies, is an excellent place for tackling this promising concept of metacratonization. The papers in this book consider most of the West African craton boundaries, from the reworking of the Palaeoproterozoic terranes, through the Pan-African encircling terranes, the late Neoproterozoic-early Palaeozoic extension period and the Peri-Gondwanan terranes, the Variscan imprint to the current situation.

Description / Table of Contents: The morphology of Earth's surface reflects the interaction of climate, tectonics and denudational processes operating over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. These processes can be considered catastrophic or continuous; depending on the timescale of observation or interest. Recent research had required integration of historically distinct subjects such as geomorphology, sedimentology, climatology and tectonics. Together, these have provided new insights into absolute and relative rates of denudation, and the factors that control the many dynamic processes involved. Specific subject areas covered are sediment transport processes and the timescales of competing processes, the role of the geological record and landscapes in constraining different processes, the nature of landscape evolution at different spatial scales and in contrasting geological environments.

Description / Table of Contents: Advanced Organic Chemistry has maintained its place as the premier textbook in the field, since its first appearance in 1977. It offers broad coverage of the structure, reactivity and synthesis of organic compounds. As in the earlier editions, the text contains extensive references to both the primary and review literature and provides examples of data and reactions that illustrate and document the generalizations. While the text assumes completion of an introductory course in organic chemistry, it reviews the fundamental concepts for each topic. This two-part, fifth edition has been substantially revised and reorganized for greater clarity. The control of reactivity to achieve specific syntheses is one of the overarching goals of organic chemistry. Part B describes the most general and useful synthetic reactions, organized on the basis of reaction type. It can stand-alone; together, with Part A: Structure and Mechanisms, the two volumes provide a comprehensive foundation for the study in organic chemistry.

Description / Table of Contents: In the last four centuries geologists have traversed the globe, searching for economically important materials or simply to satisfy their intellectual curiosity. Geologists have often been at the vanguard of scientific exploration. The microscopist Robert Hooke explored the Isle of Wight, and Charles Darwin the Cape Verde islands and parts of South America. The volcanic wonders of Italy and central France attracted native and foreign visitors including Lyell and Murchison. The Tyrrell brothers faced great hardship in northern Canada, as did the actor and mineralogist Charles Lewis Giesecke in Greenland. The development of Sydney, Australia depended on finding limestone for building. French geologists relied on camels in the Sahara, and Grenville Cole trusted his tricycle to carry him across Europe. Four Centuries of Geological Travel: The Search for Knowledge on Foot, Bicycle, Sledge and Camel focuses on the complexities of geological exploration and will be of particular interest to Earth scientists, historians of science and to the general reader interested in science.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume gives a broad view of the application of geoscience techniques to the study of monuments and objects from excavations and museums, including their origin, technique of manufacture, age and conservation. It reaffirms the important contribution of geosciences in the interdisciplinary approach to the study of complex materials such as minerals, rocks, glass, metals, mortar, plaster, slags and pottery. The papers in this book cover three topics: the study of pottery, glass, stone and mortar; the application of Raman spectroscopy to a wide variety of objects; and the future of archaeometry. Interdisciplinary studies including field geology, geophysics, microscopy, textural analysis, physical methods and geochemistry are used to unlock information from the ancient materials, such as the provenance of the raw materials, the firing technology, the ancient recipes, and the alteration pathways.

Description / Table of Contents: This book consists of 18 papers on deformation mechanisms, theology and tectonics. The main approaches include experimental rock deformation, microstructural analysis, field structural studies, analogue and numerical modelling. New results on various topics are presented, ranging from brittle to ductile deformation and grain-scale to lithosphere-scale mechanisms. The volume will be of interest to academic and industrial researchers in the fields of structural geology, interactions between metamorphism, fluids and deformation, and large-scale tectonic processes.

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 magnetotelturic imaging of faults, magnetic fabrics, fabric development, seismic properties of highly strained rocks, change of theology 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. The book is aimed at an interdisciplinary group of readers interested in the effects of high strain in rocks.

Description / Table of Contents: The introduction of the term periglacial by Łoziński in 1909 to describe the cold-climate conditions in the zone adjacent to, but beyond, the Pleistocene glaciers encouraged the separate development of geocryological and glaciological research. Geological and geomorphological processes at the interface between glaciers and permafrost have, as a result, been given less attention than they warrant, and the influence of one on the other has in many respects been neglected. This book includes a collection of papers that emphasize glacier-permafrost interactions. Papers consider permafrost and its influence on glacitectonic processes, glacial meltwater systems and ground-ice development in proglacial and ice-marginal environments. In addition, recent research findings are reported on paraglacial processes, permafrost evolution, rock glaciers, the formation of ice-wedge casts and periglacial slope evolution. It is hoped that this book will stimulate interest in the interface between glacial and periglacial systems, and encourage further collaborative research involving glaciologists and glacial geologists on the one hand, and geocryologists and permafrost scientists on the other.

Description / Table of Contents: This book presents a collection of papers that combines marine and terrestrial geological investigations valuable to hazard assessment in rocky coastal areas, including examples mostly coming from the Italian coasts. The hazardous processes that are discussed include: large slope failures, cliff recession and floods of steep coastal streams. It is assumed that coastal slopes operate as transfer zones of land-born geological processes, which deliver sediment to the coastal and open sea at intermittent time intervals, and therefore place coastal communities that are exposed or vulnerable to these events at high risk. Rocky coastal areas can be associated with regions of active or recent tectonics/volcanic activity, or can develop as low-relief cliffs along non-active margins. In all these settings, mass-wasting phenomena represent the most serious hazardous processes, and there is a need to characterize and model the factors causing them. It is stressed that proper comprehension of coastal mass-wasting hazard has to include shipboard acoustic surveys, historical source investigations and onshore geological features.

Description / Table of Contents: Neoproterozoic successions are major hydrocarbon producers around the world. In North Africa, large basins with significant surface outcrops and thick sedimentary fills are widespread. These basins are now emerging as potential sources of hydrocarbons and are attracting interest from geological researchers in academia and the oil and gas industry. This volume focuses on recent developments in the understanding and correlation of North African basin fills and explores novel approaches to prospecting for source and reservoir rocks. The papers cover aspects of petroleum prospectivity and age-equivalent global petroleum systems, Neoproterozoic tectonics and palaeogeography, sequence stratigraphy, glacial events and global climatic models, faunal and floral evolution and the deposition of source rocks. The broader aim of this volume is to compare major environmental change, the emergence of life, the global carbon cycle and the implications for hydrocarbon exploration of well-studied Neoproterozoic successions worldwide.

Description / Table of Contents: The 3D geological model is still regarded as one of the newest and most innovative tools for reservoir management purposes. The computer modelling of structures, rock properties and fluid flow in hydrocarbon reservoirs has evolved from a specialist activity to part of the standard desktop toolkit. The application of these techniques has allowed all disciplines of the subsurface team to collaborate in a common workspace. In today's asset teams, the role of the geological model in hydrocarbon development planning is key and will be for some time ahead. The challenges that face the geologists and engineers will be to provide more seamless interaction between static and dynamic models. This interaction requires the development of conventional and unconventional modelling algorithms and methodologies in order to provide more risk-assessed scenarios, thus enabling geologists and engineers to better understand and capture inherent uncertainties at each aspect of the geological model's life.

Description / Table of Contents: Increasingly, researchers have reported that passive margins do not show a simple uninterrupted thermal sag pattern of post-rift subsidence following continental separation. Rather, the structural and stratigraphic development of such margins may record evidence of complex phases of differential subsidence, exhumation and fold development. Some of the fold structures observed on passive continental margins appear to be related to regional stresses transmitted through basement rocks, whereas others are related to gravitational sliding and toe-thrusting. This special publication concentrates on the first of these categories. The morphology and distribution of such folds, together with potential mechanisms for generation of regional stress, are described in a series of papers by authorities in the field. As well as being an enigmatic feature of passive margin geology, the compressive folds have significance in the exploration for petroleum.

Description / Table of Contents: Magmas are subject to a series of processes that lead to their differentiation during transfer through, and storage within, the Earth's crust. The depths and mechanisms of differentiation, the crustal contribution to magma generation through wall-rock assimilation, the rates and timescales of magma generation, transfer and storage, and how these link to the thermal state of the crust are subject to vivid debate and controversy. This volume presents a collection of research articles that provide a balanced overview of the diverse approaches available to elucidate these topics, and includes both theoretical models and case studies. By integrating petrological, geochemical and geophysical approaches, it offers new insights to the subject of magmatic processes operating within the Earth's crust, and reveals important links between subsurface processes and volcanism.

Description / Table of Contents: This book deals with various interesting aspects of the histories of geomorphology and Quaternary geology in different parts of the world. The papers cover a range of topics: the origin of the term ‘Quaternary’, histories of ideas and debates relating to aspects of fluvial geomorphology (USA and Australia), glacial geomorphology and glaciation (Northern Europe, the Baltic countries, Russia, Iceland, and New Zealand), desert dunes and the geology of Australia, peneplains in China, a palaeo-Tokyo Bay in Japan, together with biographies of Charles Cotton (New Zealand), Valerija Cepulyte (Lithuania) and Ceslovas Pakuckas (Lithuania and Poland) that highlight their respective contributions to the disciplines of geomorphology and Quaternary geology. There is an autobiographical contribution from E. E. Milanovsky (Russia) on his work in Siberia, the Caucasus and Iceland, illustrated by his sketches made in the field.

Description / Table of Contents: Periglacial and paraglacial environments, located outside ice sheet margins but responding to similar climate forcings, are key to identifying climate change effects upon the Earth system. These environments are relicts of cold Earth processes and so are most sensitive to global warming. Changes in the distribution and thickness of permafrost in continental interiors have implications for ecosystem and landscape stability. Periglacial Alpine environments are experiencing increased rockfall and mass movement, leading to rock glacier instability and sediment release to downstream rivers. In turn, these landscape effects impact on natural hazards and human activities in these sensitive and geologically transient environments. Papers in this volume explore some of these interrelated issues in field studies from Europe, North America and Asia. The volume will be of interest to geomorphologists, modellers, environmental managers, planners and engineers working on landscape, climate and environmental change in periglacial and paraglacial areas.

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

Description / Table of Contents: Non-marine Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic formations are widespread in mainland SE Asia. Although the first reports on fossils from some of these formations were published as early as the 1890s, it is only since 1980 that floras and faunas from the Permian, Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous of SE Asia have received the attention they deserve. Fieldwork in various parts of Thailand and Laos has revealed a succession of fossil assemblages that now allows a reconstruction of the evolution of continental ecosystems in that part of the world during the Late Palaeozoic and the Mesozoic. The first papers in this book present the geological background of these floral and faunal successions, as well as historical aspects of their discovery. Descriptions of new taxa and review papers deal with plants, sharks, bony fishes, turtles, crocodilians, dinosaurs and mammal-like reptiles. Papers about the Mesozoic palaeobiogeography, environments and climates of Asia conclude the volume.

Description / Table of Contents: Given the tremendous toll in human lives and attendant economic losses, it is appropriate that scientists are working hard to understand better earthquakes, with the aim of forecasting and, ultimately, predicting them. In the last decades increasing attention has been paid to the coseismic effects on the natural environment, creating a solid base of empirical data for the estimation of source parameters of strong earthquakes based on geological observations. The recently introduced INQUA scale (Environmental Seismic Intensity–ESI 2007 Scale) of macroseismic intensity clearly shows how the systematic study of earthquake surface faulting, coseismic liquefaction, tsunami deposits and other primary and secondary ground effects can be integrated with ‘traditional’ seismological and tectonic information to provide a better understanding of the seismicity level of an area and the associated hazards. At the moment this is the only scientific means of equating the seismic records to the seismic cycle time-spans extending the seismic catalogues even to tens of thousands of years, improving future seismic hazard analyses. This Special Publication covers some of the latest multidisciplinary work undertaken to achieve that aim. Eighteen papers from research groups from all continents address a wide range of topics related both to palaeoseismological studies and assessment of macroseismic intensity based only on the natural phenomena associated with an earthquake.

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

Description / Table of Contents: Volcanoes become active when fluids are in motion, and erupt when these fluids escape into the atmosphere. Volcanic fluids are a mixture of solid, liquid and gas. These mixtures result in a complex range of flow behaviour, especially during interaction with conduit geometry. These processes are not directly observable and must be inferred from interpretations of field observation and measurement. One of the outcomes of this complexity is the generation of pressure and force transients as high-density phases accelerate and decelerate during unsteady flow. These transients are one means of flexing the conduit wall, a process that manifests itself as ground motion and is detectable as volcano seismic signals. On eruption, volcanic fluids interact with the atmosphere and generate acoustic and thermal signals. In this Special Publication we present a series of papers based on field, numerical and experimental approaches that seek to establish links between geophysical signals and fluid motion in volcanic conduits.

Description / Table of Contents: This collection of papers addresses the issues surrounding communication of environmental geoscience. Geologists whose research deals with environmental problems such as landslides, floods, earthquakes and other natural hazards that affect people's health and safety, must communicate their results effectively to the public, policy makers and politicians. There are many examples of geological studies being ignored in policy and public action; this is in due in part to geoscientists being poor communicators. These papers document issues in communicating environmental geoscience, outline successes and failures through case studies, describe ways in which geoscientists can improve communication skills and show how new methods can make communication more effective.

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