ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: This topical volume focuses on the most recent advances that have been achieved in relevant fields of research of nuclear test ban monitoring, including seismology, infrasound- and hydro-acoustics, as well as nuclear physics and atmospheric backtracking. This research has been presented during the special sessions on "Research and Development in Nuclear Explosion Monitoring" convened during the 2007 and 2008 General Assemblies of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The special sessions were introduced after the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO Prepcom) had convened a scientific symposium in 2006 on "CTBT: Synergies with Science 1996-2006 and beyond" marking the tenth anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the CTBT Treaty. With regard to the seismo-acoustic fields several papers provide important updates on advances made in these fields since publication of ‘Monitoring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty’ (see PAGEOPH topical volumes 158-159, 2001-2002). Moreover, this topical volume expands on these publications by including radionuclide and noble gas monitoring, as well as atmospheric transport modeling. In these two areas, significant progress has been made in recent years. Two papers studying the 2006 North Korean nuclear test elucidate how progress made in the relevant fields has allowed for a good understanding on the characteristics of this underground nuclear test.

Description / Table of Contents: Stress re-distribution as a result of exploitation of mineral, hydrocarbon, geothermal, and water resources cannot be eliminated. The effort must be directed to a better understanding of the underlying processes for the management of the hazard and risk associated with these operations. The study of induced seismicity has continually evolved over the past couple of decades, as underlined by both the number and complexity of applied studies required to satisfy the increased economic demands, assure the safety of the workforce and equipment, and protect the environment. A considerable effort has been put into the development of passive monitoring technology, specialized products and services being available for a wide range of applications. The recording of substantial high quality seismic data has stimulated the work on theoretical and practical aspects related to these applications, involving not only seismological knowledge, but also elements of rock mechanics, and an understanding of mining, geotechnical, and petroleum engineering. Pure and Applied Geophysics has largely contributed to raising the profile of induced seismicity research and its credibility. The range of specific analyses included in the present collection of studies expresses how powerful and resourceful passive seismic monitoring has become to so many applications. Seismic data are routinely evaluated for a series of development activities specific to each application. Engineering practice is continually improved based on trials and analyses of the ground response and stress levels, confirmed through the monitoring of seismicity. We are better equipped than ever to provide management decisions based on formalized, quantitative, and thus objective assessment.

Description / Table of Contents: Considerable progress has been made recently in quantifying geometrical and physical properties of fault surfaces and adjacent fractured and granulated damage zones in active faulting environments. There has also been significant progress in developing rheologies and computational frameworks that can model the dynamics of fault zone processes. This volume provides state-of-the-art theoretical and observational results on the mechanics, structure and evolution of fault zones. Subjects discussed include damage rheologies, development of instabilities, fracture and friction, dynamic rupture experiments, and analyses of earthquake and fault zone data.

Description / Table of Contents: Our understanding of calcium carbonate precipitation within freshwater carbonate systems is being revolutionized by new quantitative approaches at both field and laboratory scale. These systems cover a diverse range of topical research areas including tufas, speleothems, stromatolites and microbial processes. Progress by various international research groups has been impressive, with major contributions to such areas as climate change, absolute dating, carbon sequestration, and biofilm construction and precipitation. A diverse sample of interrelated research is presented that provides a tantalizing glimpse of the interplay between microbial, geochemical and physical processes that control the development of tufas and speleothems. This volume will provide a cross-disciplinary platform that will stimulate further exchanges about new concepts, methodologies and interpretations associated with freshwater carbonates. In particular, it will help reinforce the importance of cross-discipline research: the driving force behind the new field of Geobiology.

Description / Table of Contents: The Mesozoic Era begins with the approximately 50-million-year-long Triassic Period, a major juncture in Earth history when the vast Pangaean supercontinent completed its assembly and began its fragmentation, and the global biota diversified and modernized after the end-Permian mass extinction, the most extensive biotic decimation of the Phanerozoic. The temporal ordering of geological and biotic events during Triassic time thus is critical to the interpretation of some unique and pivotal events in Earth history. This temporal ordering is mostly based on the Triassic timescale, which has been developed and refined for nearly two centuries. This book reviews the state of the art of the Triassic timescale and includes comprehensive analyses of Triassic radio-isotopic ages, magnetostratigraphy, isotope-based and cyclostratigraphic correlations and timescale -relevant marine and non-marine biostratigraphy.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume contains a collection of stratigraphic and diagenetic case studies of Mesozoic and Cenozoic carbonate sequences from the Tethyan realm. High levels of industry and academic interest in the region have generated numerous multi-disciplinary studies of these sequences, a selection of which are presented in this volume. The studies presented are based on both comprehensive subsurface datasets from important hydrocarbon-bearing strata of the Middle East and the excellent surface exposures in the region of interest. The studies presented in this volume may serve as suitable starting points in the development of age and architecture specific carbonate reference models. Such models can form the basis of internally consistent models for carbonate deposition, sequence development and reservoir performance. Ideally such models, suitably scaled, will be equally applicable to academic studies, the exploration and development phases of the field life cycle and in the prediction of future reservoir performance.

Description / Table of Contents: Reservoir compartmentalization - the segregation of a petroleum accumulation into a number of individual fluid/pressure compartments - controls the volume of moveable oil or gas that might be connected to any given well drilled in a field, and consequently impacts ‘booking’ of reserves and operational profitability. This is a general feature of modern exploration and production portfolios, and has driven major developments in geoscience, engineering and related technology. Given that compartmentalization is a consequence of many factors, an integrated subsurface approach is required to better understand and predict compartmentalization behaviour, and to minimize the risk of it occurring unexpectedly. This volume reviews our current understanding and ability to model compartmentalization. It highlights the necessity for effective specialist discipline integration, and the value of learning from operational experience in: detection and monitoring of compartmentalization; stratigraphic and mixed-mode compartmentalization; and fault-dominated compartmentalization.

Description / Table of Contents: Echinoderms are a vast group of spiny-skinned animals including starfish, brittle-stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, feather stars, sea lilies and sea cucumbers. These relatives of chordates and hemichordates have inhabited the world’s oceans for more than 500 million years. Modern members of the Echinodermata are, with over 7 000 species, an integral part of marine communities from the intertidal to the deep sea. Echinoderms play a major ecological role in marine habitats and are of economic importance in fisheries, aquaculture and biomedicine. The present volume contains the abstracts of lectures and posters presented during the 7th European Conference on Echinoderms (ECE) as well as excursion guides. This year’s conference was held at the northern campus of the Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany, from October 2-9, 2010. More than 100 biologists, palaeontologists and other scientists from 25 countries participated.

Description / Table of Contents: Slope tectonics: a short introduction / Michel Jaboyedoff, Giovanni B. Crosta and Doug Stead / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 1-10, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.1 --- Paraglacial gravitational deformations in the SW Alps: a review of field investigations, 10Be cosmogenic dating and physical modelling / S. El Bedoui, T. Bois, H. Jomard, G. Sanchez, T. Lebourg, E. Trics, Y. Guglielmi, S. Bouissou, A. Chemenda, Y. Rolland, M. Corsini and J. L. Pérez / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 11-25, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.2 --- Inheritance of ductile and brittle structures in the development of large rock slope instabilities: examples from western Norway / A. Saintot, I. H. C. Henderson and M.-H. Derron / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 27-78, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.3 --- Regional spatial variations in rockslide distribution from structural geology ranking: an example from Storfjorden, western Norway / Iain H. C. Henderson and Aline Saintot / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 79-95, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.4 --- Rock slope instabilities in Sogn and Fjordane County, Norway: a detailed structural and geomorphological analysis / Martina Böhme, Aline Saintot, Iain H. C. Henderson, Helge Henriksen and Reginald L. Hermanns / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 97-111, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.5 --- Controlling factors for deep-seated gravitational slope deformation (DSGSD) in the Aosta Valley (NW Alps, Italy) / G. Martinotti, D. Giordan, M. Giardino and S. Ratto / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 113-131, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.6 --- Palaeostress analysis of a giant Holocene rockslide near Boaco and Santa Lucia (Nicaragua, Central America) / Ivo Baron̆, Markéta Kernstocková, Roman Novotný, David Buriánek, Petr Hradecký, Pavel Havlic̆ek and Rostislav Melichar / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 133-145, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.7 --- Complex landslide behaviour and structural control: a three-dimensional conceptual model of Åknes rockslide, Norway / Michel Jaboyedoff, Thierry Oppikofer, Marc-Henri Derron, Lars Harald Blikra, Martina Böhme and Aline Saintot / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 147-161, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.8 --- Structural analysis of Turtle Mountain: origin and influence of fractures in the development of rock slope failures / Andrea Pedrazzini, Michel Jaboyedoff, Corey R. Froese, C. Willem Langenberg and Francisco Moreno / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 163-183, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.9 --- A structural, geomorphological and InSAR study of an active rock slope failure development / I. H. C. Henderson, T. R. Lauknes, P. T. Osmundsen, J. Dehls, Y. Larsen and T. F. Redfield / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 185-199, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.10 --- Numerical modelling of Plio-Quaternary slope evolution based on geological constraints: a case study from the Caramanico Valley (Central Apennines, Italy) / G. Bianchi Fasani, E. Di Luzio, C. Esposito, S. Martino and G. Scarascia-Mugnozza / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 201-214, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.11 --- Valley shape influence on deformation mechanisms of rock slopes / Christian Ambrosi and Giovanni B. Crosta / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 215-233, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.12 --- The Celentino deep-seated gravitational slope deformation (DSGSD): structural and geomechanical analyses (Peio Valley, NE Italy) / M. Ghirotti, S. Martin and R. Genevois / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 235-251, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.13 --- Megafans and outsize fans from catastrophic slope failures in Alpine glacial troughs: the Malser Haide and the Val Venosta cluster, Italy / David Jarman, Federico Agliardi and Giovanni B. Crosta / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 351, 253-277, 1 January 2011, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP351.14

Description / Table of Contents: This wide area of the Alpine–Himalayan belt evolved through a series of tectonic events related to the opening and closure of the Tethys Ocean. In doing so it produced the largest mountain belt of the world, which extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. The basins associated with this belt contain invaluable information related to mountain building processes and are the locus of rich hydrocarbon accumulations. However, knowledge about the geological evolution of the region is limited compared to what they offer. This has been mainly due to the difficulty and inaccessibility of cross-country studies. This Special Publication is dedicated to the part of the Alpine–Himalayan belt running from Bulgaria to Armenia, and from Ukraine to the Arabian Platform. It includes twenty multidisciplinary studies covering topics in structural geology/tectonics; geophysics; geochemistry; palaeontology; petrography; sedimentology; stratigraphy; and subsidence and lithospheric modelling. This volume reports results obtained during the MEBE (Middle East Basin Evolution) Programme and related projects in the circum Black Sea and peri-Arabian regions.