ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: This volume of the IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Sciences presents a selection of papers given at the Donald D Harrington Symposium on the Geology of the Aegean held on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin on April 28-30, 2008. Donald D Harrington was born in Illinois in 1899 and moved westward after serving in the Army Air Corps during World War I. Mr Harrington took a position as a landman with Marlin Oil Company in Oklahoma. When the Texas Panhandle oil boom hit in 1926, he moved to Amarillo, Texas, where he met Sybil Buckingham—the granddaughter of one of Amarillo's founding families. They married in 1935 and went on to build one of the most successful independent oil and gas operations in Texas history. The couple created the Don and Sybil Harrington Foundation in 1951 to support worthy causes such as museums, medical research, education, and the arts. At the Harrington Symposium on the Geology of the Aegean, researchers presented papers organized under five general themes: (1) the geology of Aegean in general (2) the geologic history of specific domains within the Aegean (Cyclades, Menderes, Kazdag, Rhodope, Crete, southern Balkans, etc) (3) the dynamic tectonic processes that occur within the Aegean (4) its geo-archeological history, natural history and hazards and (5) comparisons of the Aegean to regions elsewhere (e.g., Basin and Ranges; Asian extensional terranes). The Aegean is a locus of dynamic research in a variety of fields, and the symposium provided an opportunity for geologists from a range of disciplines to interact and share new results and information about their research in the area...

Description / Table of Contents: The Beyond Kyoto conference in Aarhus March 2009 was organised in collaboration with other knowledge institutions, businesses and authorities. It brought together leading scientists, policy-makers, authorities, intergovernmental organisations, NGO's, business stakeholders and business organisations. The conference was a joint interdisciplinary project involving many academic areas and disciplines. These conference proceedings are organised in central and recurring themes that cut across many debates on climate change, the climatic challenges as well as the solutions. In the front there is a short presentation of the conference concept. Part I of the proceedings focuses on issues related to the society – covering climate policy, law, market based instruments, financial structure, behaviour and consumption, public participation, media communication and response from indigenous peoples etc. Part II of the proceedings concerns the scientific knowledge base on climate related issues – covering climate change processes per se, the potential impacts of projected climate change on biodiversity and adaptation possibilities, the interplay between climate, agriculture and biodiversity, emissions, agricultural systems, increasing pressure on the functioning of agriculture and natural areas, vulnerability to extreme weather events and risks in respect to sea-level rise etc...

Description / Table of Contents: Reconstructing past climate and past ocean circulation demands the highest possible precision and accuracy which urges the scientific community to look at different sediment records such as the ones from coastal zones to deep-sea with a more complete set of technical and methodological tools. However, the information given by each tool varies in precision, accuracy and in significance according to their environmental settings. It is therefore essential to compare tools. With that in mind, and as part of the International year of Planet Earth, a workshop entitled `From deep-sea to coastal zones: Methods and Techniques for studying palaeoenvironments' took place in Faro (Portugal), from 25–29 February 2008 in order to: present several methods and techniques that can be used for studying sediments from deep-sea to coastal zones, namely for reconstructing palaeoenvironments in order to document past climatic changes and short to long-term environmental processes; allow cross experience between different fields and specialties, either from deep-sea to coastal zones or from micropaleontology to geochemistry; give the opportunity to students from different universities and countries to attend the workshop; publish a special volume on the presented methods and techniques during the workshop. The workshop was organized in four non-parallel sessions dealing with the use of micropaleontology, isotopes, biogeochemistry and sedimentology, as tools for palaeoenvironmental studies. The present IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science proceedings reflect this organization and papers are published in each theme. The papers are either short reviews or case studies and are highlighted below. The remains of microorganisms found in sediments are the main proxies used in micropaleontological studies. However, the link between fossilized remains and their living origin is not easy to reconstruct only based on the geologic/sedimentary record. Accordingly, Barbosa presents a review of the actual knowledge of living phytoplankton dynamics and the processes, or environmental conditions, which could contribute to the production of fossilized biogenic remains. In the next paper, de Vernal presents a review, based on several case studies, on how palynological fossils observed in sediments are used in tracing biogenic fluxes, characterizing sedimentary environments, or even reconstructing hydrographical conditions and productivity. The two other papers presented in the micropaleontological proxy section are case studies on the use of dinoflagellates (Rochon) and calcareous plankton remains (Guerreiro et al), respectively, to better understand their local or regional environmental living characteristics ant therefore their specific interpretation for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction at a regional scale. Isotopic proxies can be used either as provenance tracers or as chronometers of different processes. Once again, each study can provide a very specific framework of the proxies' use and it is very important to know and evaluate the limits of these tools in each environment and/or type of analyzed material. Accordingly, the two first articles deal with the study of organic carbon either by carbon and oxygen stable isotopes (Hélie) or by radiocarbon (Mollhenhauer and Rethemeyer) analysis. The two other articles in this section deal with the use of radioisotopes. Ghaleb reviews the methods for measuring short-lived radiosisotopes in sediments, giving examples of their use for estimating recent sedimentary accumulation rates; whereas Hillaire-Marcel reviews the potential use of U-series isotopes as radiochronometers in biogenic carbonates. Geochemistry groups more than one field of expertise. However, in the present section, inorganic geochemistry is not treated and both articles present work on a very specific, and at the same time very complex, compound of the organic matter realm: black carbon. As such, Veilleux et al present a density fractionation method for isolating the small quantities of soot-like and graphitic material usually found in natural samples, whereas González-Vila et al. illustrate the potential of the combined use of analytical pyrolysis and solid state 13C NMR to determine the presence of black carbon and to characterize the refractory organic matter in marine sediments from the Gulf of Cadiz (Spain). In the last section, two papers are presented and discuss sedimentological proxies. In their paper, using diffuse spectral reflectance data, Veiga-Pires and Mestre try to determine if `twinned cores' (or paired cores) can be used as duplicate records to increase the volume of sediments collected in the field, whereas Drago et al discuss the use of fish remains in sediments for the reconstruction of paleoproductivity. Each of the above papers benefited from the constructive comments of at least two reviewers and we wish to sincerely thank the reviewers for their timely evaluation. We also thank the participants, volunteers and organizers of the workshop for their implication, making this first workshop on Methods and Techniques for studying palaeoenvironments (METECH) a success. The workshop and this proceeding would not have been possible without the financial and logistical support of GEOTOP, CIMA, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FACC07/1/1315) and IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science...

Description / Table of Contents: This volume of IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science presents a selection of papers that were given at the WMO/GEO Expert Meeting on an International Sand and Dust Storm Warning System hosted by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación in Barcelona (Spain) on 7-9 November 2007 (http://www.bsc.es/wmo). A sand and dust storm (SDS) is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions and arises when a gust front passes or when the wind force exceeds the threshold value where loose sand and dust are removed from the dry surface. After aeolian uptake, SDS reduce visibility to a few meters in and near source regions, and dust plumes are transported over distances as long as thousands of kilometres. Aeolian dust is unique among aerosol phenomena: (1) with the possible exception of sea-salt aerosol, it is globally the most abundant of all aerosol species, (2) it appears as the dominating component of atmospheric aerosol over large areas of the Earth, (3) it represents a serious hazard for life, health, property, environment and economy (occasionally reaching the grade of disaster or catastrophic event) and (4) its influence, impacts, complex interactions and feedbacks within the Earth System span a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. From a political and societal point of view, the concern for SDS and the need for international cooperation were reflected after a survey conducted in 2005 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in which more than forty WMO Member countries expressed their interest for creating or improving capacities for SDS warning advisory and assessment. In this context, recent major advances in research – including, for example, the development and implementation of advanced observing systems, the theoretical understanding of the mechanisms responsible for sand and dust storm generation and the development of global and regional dust models – represent the basis for developing applications focusing on societal benefit and risk reduction. However, at present there are interdisciplinary research challenges to overwhelm current uncertainties in order to reach full potential. Furthermore, the community of practice for SDS observations, forecasts and analyses is mainly scientifically based and rather disconnected from potential users. This requires the development of interfaces with operational communities at international and national levels, strongly focusing on the needs of people and factors at risk ... The general objective of the WMO/GEO Expert Meeting on an International Sand and Dust Storm Warning System was to discuss and recommend actions needed to develop a global routine SDS-WAS based on integrating numerical SDS prediction and observing systems, and on establishing effective cooperation between data producers and user communities in order to provide SDS-WAS products capable of contributing to the reduction of risks from SDS. The specific objectives were: to identify, present and suggest future real-time observations for forecast verification and dust surveillance: satellite, ground-based remote sensing (passive and active) and in-situ monitoring; to present ongoing forecasting activities; to discuss and identify user needs: health, air quality, air transport operations, ocean, and others; to identify and discuss dust research issues relevant for operational forecast applications; to present the concept of SDS-WAS and Regional Centers...

Description / Table of Contents: Natural hazards events such as earthquakes or volcanic eruptions involve activation of coupled thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical processes in rocks. The present book assembles unpublished contributions to the 7th Euro-Conference on Rock Physics and Geomechanics, held in 2007 in Erice, Italy. It presents new laboratory data, theoretical and numerical rock physics models and field observations relevant to the study of natural hazards. In particular, several papers are devoted to rock failure and explore the relationship between the competing deformation micro-mechanisms. Several others investigate shear-induced anisotropy of mechanical and/or transport properties, both in large-scale geologic objects and in laboratory samples. The remaining papers treat various aspects of rock physics and their industrial applications such as geothermics and reservoir characterization.

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: 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: 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: Seit nunmehr 20 Jahren findet regelmäßig alle zwei Jahre das Symposium "Tektonik, Struktur- und Kristallingeologie" statt. Die Tagung soll insbesondere jungen Nachwuchswissenschaftlern die Möglichkeit bieten, ihre Ergebnisse zu diskutieren und einem breiten Fachpublikum vorzustellen.In diesem Jahr wird schon TSK 11 durchgeführt - zum zweiten Mal nach 1994 wieder in Göttingen.

Description / Table of Contents: Geological correlations of East Antarctica with adjoining continents have been puzzling geologists ever since the concept of a Gondwana supercontinent surfaced. Despite the paucity of outcrops because of ice cover, difficulty of access and extreme weather, the past 50 years of Japanese Antarctic Research Expeditions (JARE) has successfully revealed vital elements of the geology of East Antarctica. This volume presents reviews and new research from localities across East Antarctica, especially from Dronning Maud Land to Enderby Land, where the geological record preserves a history that spans the Archaean and Proterozoic. The reviews include extensive bibliographies of results obtained by geologists who participated in the JARE. Comprehensive geological, petrological and geochemical studies, form a platform for future research on the formation and dispersion of Rodinia in the Mesoproterozoic and subsequent assembly of Gondwana in the Neoproterozoic to Early Palaeozoic.

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: 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: 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: Twenty years have passed since Menzies & Hawkesworth extended the concept of metasomatism to mantle processes. The aim of this book is to gather together progress made on this topic since then. Most of the 14 papers reported in the volume rely on in situ major and trace element analyses of minerals and glasses in mantle xenoliths, and deal with different kinds of metasomatic agents at variable fluid/rock ratios in tectonic settings as different as intra-plate, mid-ocean ridge (ophiolites) and supra-subduction. The book contributes to the wide debate on the nature of the fluids migrating into the mantle wedge, as well as on the different residential times of the subduction signature. In addition papers on intra-plate settings deal with the problem of relating various metasomatic signatures to one single metasomatic event through an infiltration-reaction process.

Description / Table of Contents: The many kinds of porous geomaterials (rocks, soils, concrete, etc.) exhibit a range of responses when undergoing inelastic deformation. In doing so they commonly develop well-ordered fabric elements, forming fractures, shear bands and compaction bands, so creating the planar fabrics that are regarded as localization. Because these induced localization fabrics alter the bulk material properties (such as permeability, acoustic characteristics and strength), it is important to understand how and why localization occurs, and how it relates to its setting. The concept of damage (in several uses) describes both the precursor to localization and the context within which it occurs. A key theme is that geomaterials display a strong material evolution during deformation, revealing a close linkage between the damage and localization processes. This volume assembles perspectives from a number of disciplines, including soil mechanics, rock mechanics, structural geology, seismic anisotropy and reservoir engineering. The papers range from theoretical to observational, and include contributions showing how the deformed geomaterials emergent bulk characteristics, like permeability and seismic anisotropy, can be predicted. This book will be of interest to a wide range of geoscientists and engineers who deal with characterization of deformed materials.

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: During the past decade, work on cool water carbonates has expanded to become a mainstream research area. Studies on modern and Quaternary deposits will continue to be important; however, there is increasing momentum towards unravelling sediment processes, biota-sediment interactions and diagenetic products in Cenozoic and older cool-water carbonates. Many contributions in this book document Cenozoic and Quaternary carbonates from landlocked (microtidal) water-bodies. These carbonates display important differences in biota and fabric distributions when compared with world ocean examples. Consequently, the scientific community is now better placed to reinterpret pre-Tertiary carbonates where there is a suspicion that they have developed under microtidal conditions. Some papers in the book provide new approaches to interpreting environmental change within macrotidal regimes and others lay firm foundations for future cool-water carbonate diagenetic research. The aim of the book is to illustrate recent international contributions to cool-water carbonates research, with an emphasis on Neogene and Recent case studies. Contributions are divided into three sections: microtidal carbonates from the Mediterranean realm; macrotidal examples from New Zealand, Australia and Mexico; and early diagenetic fabrics.

Description / Table of Contents: Twenty-four years have elapsed since the publication of Halbouty’s AAPG Memoir of 1982, The Deliberate Search for the Subtle Trap. Since then, the technologies employed in hydrocarbon exploration have become extraordinarily sophisticated, yet current exploration for stratigraphic traps is to some extent restricted to areas where seismic data simplifies exploration by allowing direct inference of fluid fill and reservoir development. This Special Publication draws upon contributions that examine current industry perceptions of stratigraphic trap exploration and the technologies, tools and philosophies employed in such exploration, given the changing industry environment. This book contains a collection of papers examining a number of themes related to exploration for stratigraphic traps, ranging from play and risk assessment, through regional assessments of stratigraphic trapping potential, specific exploration programmes targeted at stratigraphic traps to specific working traps and plays where stratigraphic trapping is prevalent.

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: Understanding how fluids flow through though rocks is very important in a number of fields. Almost all of the world's oil and gas are produced from underground reservoirs. Knowledge of how they got where they are, what keeps them there and how they migrate through the rock is very important in the search for new resources, as well as for maximising the extraction of as much of the contained oil/gas as possible. Similar understanding is important for managing groundwater resources and for predicting how hazardous or radioactive waste or carbon dioxide will behave if stored or disposed of underground. Unravelling the complex behaviour of fluids as they flow through rock is difficult, but important. We cannot see through rock, so we need to predict how and where fluids flow. Understanding the type of rock, its porosity, the character and pattern of fractures within it and how fluids flows through it are important. Some contributors to this volume have been trying to understand real rocks in real situations and others have been working on computer models and laboratory simulations. Put together, these approaches have yielded very useful results, many of which are discussed in this volume.

Description / Table of Contents: In this book geological the conditions of speleogenesis in the Miocene gypsum in the Western Ukraine are characterized, particularly the role of lithological and structural prerequisites in speleogenesis. The special attention is given to structural and textural unhomogeneities in the gypsum stratum and to their role in the formation of fractures. Fracture systems in the gypsum and the structure of the unique maze cave systems are examined in details. It is shown that speleo-initiating fractures in the gypsum strata belong to the lithogenetic type and form largely independent multi-storey networks, with each storey being confined within a certain vertical structural/textural zone (unit) of the stratum. This determines the multi-storey structure of the caves in the region. Two problems related to structural and textural characteristics of the gypsum stratum are discussed in details: the formation of giant dome structures by way of gypsum recrystallization during the synsedimentary and early diagenesis stages, and the genesis of fractures. Speleogenetic realization of the existing structural prerequisites occurred under conditions of a confined multi-storey artesian aquifer system due to an upward flow across the gypsum from the under-gypsum aquifer.

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides an overview of the principal environments, main processes and manifestations of hypogenic speleogenesis, and refines the relevant conceptual framework. It consolidates the notion of hypogenic karst as one of the two major types of karst systems (the other being epigenetic karst). Karst is viewed in the context of regional groundwater flow systems, which provide the systematic transport and distribution mechanisms needed to produce and maintain the disequilibrium conditions necessary for speleogenesis. Hypogenic and epigenic karst systems are regularly associated with different types, patterns and segments of flow systems, characterized by distinct hydrokinetic, chemical and thermal conditions. Epigenic karst systems are predominantly local systems, and/or parts of recharge segments of intermediate and regional systems. Hypogenic karst is associated with discharge regimes of regional or intermediate flow systems. Various styles of hypogenic caves that were previously considered unrelated, specific either to certain lithologies or chemical mechanisms are shown to share common hydrogeologic genetic backgrounds. In contrast to the currently predominant view of hypogenic speleogenesis as a specific geochemical phenomenon, the broad hydrogeological approach is adopted in the book. Hypogenic speleogenesis is defined with reference to the source of fluid recharge to the cave-forming zone, and type of flow system. It is shown that confined settings are the principal hydrogeologic environment for hypogenic speleogenesis. However, there is a general evolutionary trend for hypogenic karst systems to lose their confinement due to uplift and denudation and due to their own expansion. Confined hypogenic caves may experience substantial modification or be partially or largely overridden under subsequent unconfined (vadose) stages, either by epigenic processes or continuing unconfined hypogenic processes, especially when H2S dissolution mechanisms are involved. Hypogenic confined systems evolve to facilitate cross-formational hydraulic communication between common aquifers, or between laterally transmissive beds in heterogeneous soluble formations, across cave-forming zones. The latter originally represented low-permeable, separating units supporting vertical rather than lateral flow. Layered heterogeneity in permeability and breaches in connectivity between different fracture porosity structures across soluble formations are important controls over the spatial organization of evolving ascending hypogenic cave systems. Transverse hydraulic communication across lithological and porosity system boundaries, which commonly coincide with major contrasts in water chemistry, gas composition and temperature, is potent enough to drive various disequilibrium and reaction dissolution mechanisms. Hypogenic speleogenesis may operate in both carbonates and evaporites, but also in some clastic rocks with soluble cement. Its main characteristic is the lack of genetic relationship with groundwater recharge from the overlying or immediately adjacent surface. It may not be manifested at the surface at all, receiving some expression only during later stages of uplift and denudation. In many instances, hypogenic speleogenesis is largely climate-independent. There is a specific hydrogeologic mechanism inherent in hypogenic transverse speleogenesis (restricted input/output) that suppresses the positive flow-dissolution feedback and speleogenetic competition in an initial flowpath network. This accounts for the development of more pervasive channeling and maze patterns in confined settings where appropriate structural prerequisites exist. As forced-flow regimes in confined settings are commonly sluggish, buoyancy dissolution driven by either solute or thermal density differences is important in hypogenic speleogenesis. In identifying hypogenic caves, the primary criteria are morphological (patterns and meso-morphology) and hydrogeological (hydrostratigraphic position and recharge/flow pattern viewed from the perspective of the evolution of a regional groundwater flow system). Elementary patterns typical for hypogenic caves are network mazes, spongework mazes, irregular chambers and isolated passages or crude passage clusters. They often combine to form composite patterns and complex 3-D structures. Hypogenic caves are identified in various geological and tectonic settings, and in various lithologies. Despite these variations, resultant caves demonstrate a remarkable similarity in cave patterns and meso-morphology, which strongly suggests that the hydrogeologic settings were broadly identical in their formation. Presence of the characteristic morphologic suites of rising flow with buoyancy components is one of the most decisive criteria to identify hypogenic speleogenesis. Hypogenic speleogenesis is much more widespread than it was previously presumed. Hypogenic caves include many of the largest, by integrated length and by volume, documented caves in the world. The refined conceptual framework of hypogenic speleogenesis has broad implications in applied fields and promises to make karst and cave expertise more demanded by practicing hydrogeology, geological engineering, economic geology and mineral resource industries. Any generalization of hydrogeology of karst aquifers, as well as approaches to practical issues and resource prospecting in karst regions, should take into account the different nature and characteristics of hypogenic and epigenic karst systems. Hydraulic properties of karst aquifers, evolved in response to hypogenic speleogenesis, are characteristically different from epigenic karst aquifers. In hypogenic systems, cave porosity is roughly an order of magnitude greater, and areal coverage of caves is five times greater than in epigenic karst systems. Hypogenic speleogenesis commonly results in more isotropic conduit permeability pervasively distributed within highly karstified areas measuring up to several square kilometers. Although being vertically and laterally integrated throughout conduit clusters, hypogenic systems, however, do not transmit flow laterally for considerable distances. Hypogenic speleogenesis can affect regional subsurface fluid flow by greatly enhancing initially available cross-formational permeability structures, providing higher local vertical hydraulic connections between lateral stratiform pathways for groundwater flow, and creating discharge segments of flow systems, the areas of low-fluid potential recognizable at the regional scale. Discharge of artesian karst springs, which are modern outlets of hypogenic karst systems, is often very large and steady, being moderated by the high karstic storage developed in the karstified zones and by the hydraulic capacity of an entire artesian system. Hypogenic speleogenesis plays an important role in conditioning related processes such as hydrothermal mineralization, diagenesis, and hydrocarbon transport and entrapment. The appreciation of the wide occurrence of hypogenic karst systems, marked specifics in their origin, development and characteristics, and their scientific and practical importance, calls for revisiting and expanding of the current predominantly epigenic paradigm of karst and cave science.

Description / Table of Contents: This second special issue of Pure and Applied Geophysics in honor of Keiiti Aki focuses on recent advances in quantifying and interpreting heterogeneities in lithosperic structures and earthquake behavior. The volume provides a combination of reviews, methodological studies and applications on topics related to Aki's pioneering contributions. It also includes material on Keiiti Aki and a list of his publications. The discussed subjects include research associated with dynamic earthquake rupture, studies on imaging earthquake locations and structures using P and S seismic phases, and studies associated with imaging source and structure properties using scattered coda waves. The volume will be useful to students and researchers alike, who are interested in the nature of large- and small-scale heterogeneities in the earth's lithosphere and earthquake properties.

Description / Table of Contents: The importance of sulfide minerals in ores has long been, and continues to be, a major reason for the interest of mineralogists and geochemists in these materials. Determining the fundamental chemistry of sulfides is key to understanding their conditions of formation and, hence, the geological processes by which certain ore deposits have formed. This, in turn, may inform the strategies used in exploration for such deposits and their subsequent exploitation. In this context, knowledge of structures, stabilities, phase relations and transformations, together with the relevant thermodynamic and kinetic data, is critical. As with many geochemical systems, much can also be learned from isotopic studies. The practical contributions of mineralogists and geochemists to sulfide studies extend beyond areas related to geological applications. The mining of sulfide ores, to satisfy ever increasing world demand for metals, now involves extracting very large volumes of rock that contains a few percent at most (and commonly less than one percent) of the metal being mined. This is true of relatively low value metals such as copper; for the precious metals commonly occurring as sulfides, or associated with them, the mineable concentrations (grades) are very much lower. The "as-mined" ores therefore require extensive processing in order to produce a concentrate with a much higher percentage content of the metal being extracted. Such mineral processing (beneficiation) involves crushing and grinding of the ores to a very fine grain size in order to liberate the valuable metal-bearing (sulfide) minerals which can then be concentrated. In some cases, the metalliferous (sulfide) minerals may have specific electrical or magnetic properties that can be exploited to enable separation and, hence, concentration. More commonly, froth flotation is used, whereby the surfaces of particles of a particular mineral phase are rendered water repellent by the addition of chemical reagents and hence are attracted to air bubbles pulsed through a mineral particle-water-reagent pulp. An understanding of the surface chemistry and surface reactivity of sulfide minerals is central to this major industrial process and, of course, knowledge of electrical and magnetic properties is very important in cases where those particular properties can be utilized. In the years since the publication of the first ever Reviews in Mineralogy volume (1974, at that time called MSA "Short Course Notes") which was entitled Sulfide Mineralogy, sulfides have become a focus of research interest for reasons centering on at least two other areas in addition to their key role in ore deposit studies and mineral processing technology. It is in these two new areas that much of the research on sulfides has been concentrated in recent years. The first of these areas relates to the capacity of sulfides to react with natural waters and acidify them; the resulting Acid Rock Drainage (ARD), or Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) where the sulfides are the waste products of mining, has the capacity to damage or destroy vegetation, fish and other aquatic life forms. These acid waters may also accelerate the dissolution of associated minerals containing potentially toxic elements (e.g., As, Pb, Cd, Hg, etc.) and these may, in turn, cause environmental damage. The much greater public awareness of the need to prevent or control AMD and toxic metal pollution has led to regulation and legislation in many parts of the world, and to the funding of research programs aimed at a greater understanding of the factors controlling the breakdown of sulfide minerals. The second reason for even greater research interest in sulfide minerals arose initially from the discoveries of active hydrothermal systems in the deep oceans. The presence of life forms that have chemical rather than photosynthetic metabolisms, and that occur in association with newly-forming sulfides, has encouraged research on the potential of sulfide surfaces in catalyzing the reactions leading to assembling of the complex molecules needed for life on Earth. These developments have been associated with a great upsurge of interest in the interactions between microbes and minerals, and in the role that minerals can play in biological systems. In the rapidly growing field of geomicrobiology, metal sulfides are of major interest. This interest is related to a variety of processes including, for example, those where bacteria interact with sulfides as part of their metabolic activity and cause chemical changes such as oxidation or reduction, or those in which biogenic sulfide minerals perform a specific function, such as that of navigation in magnetotactic bacteria. The development of research in areas such as geomicrobiology and environmental mineralogy and geochemistry, is also leading to a greater appreciation of the role of sulfides (particularly the iron sulfides) in the geochemical cycling of the elements at or near the surface of the Earth. For example, the iron sulfides precipitated in the reducing environments beneath the surface of modern sediments in many estuarine areas may play a key role in the trapping of toxic metals and other pollutants. In our understanding of "Earth Systems," geochemical processes involving metal sulfides are an important part of the story. The main objective of the present text is to provide an up-to-date review of sulfide mineralogy and geochemistry. The emphasis is, therefore, on such topics as crystal structure and classification, electrical and magnetic properties, spectroscopic studies, chemical bonding, high and low temperature phase relations, thermochemistry, and stable isotope systematics. In the context of this book, emphasis is on metal sulfides sensu stricto where only the compounds of sulfur with one or more metals are considered. Where it is appropriate for comparison, there is brief discussion of the selenide or telluride analogs of the metal sulfides. When discussing crystal structures and structural relationships, the sulfosalt minerals as well as the sulfides are considered in some detail (see Chapter 2; also for definition of the term "sulfosalt"). However, in other chapters there is only limited discussion of sulfosalts, in part because there is little information available beyond knowledge of chemical composition and crystal structure.

Description / Table of Contents: Medical Mineralogy and Geochemistry is an emergent, highly interdisciplinary field of study. The disciplines of mineralogy and geochemistry are integral components of cross-disciplinary investigations that aim to understand the interactions between geomaterials and humans as well as the normal and pathological formation of inorganic solid precipitates in vivo. Research strategies and methods include but are not limited to: stability and solubility studies of earth materials and biomaterials in biofluids or their proxies (i.e., equilibrium thermodynamic studies), kinetic studies of pertinent reactions under conditions relevant to the human body, molecular modeling studies, and geospatial and statistical studies aimed at evaluating environmental factors as causes for activating certain chronic diseases in genetically predisposed individuals or populations. Despite its importance, the area of Medical Mineralogy and Geochemistry has received limited attention by scientists, administrators, and the public. The objectives of this volume are to highlight some of the existing research opportunities and challenges, and to invigorate exchange of ideas between mineralogists and geochemists working on medical problems and medical scientists working on problems involving geomaterials and biominerals. Examples presented in this volume (Table of contents below) include the effects of inhaled dust particles in the lung (Huang et al. 2006; Schoonen et al. 2006), biomineralization of bones and teeth (Glimcher et al. 2006), the formation of kidney-stones, the calcification of arteries, the speciation exposure pathways and pathological effects of heavy metal contaminants (Reeder et al. 2006; Plumlee et al. 2006), the transport and fate of prions and pathological viruses in the environment (Schramm et al. 2006), the possible environmental-genetic link in the occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases (Perl and Moalem 2006), the design of biocompatible, bioactive ceramics for use as orthopaedic and dental implants and related tissue engineering applications (Cerruti and Sahai 2006) and the use of oxide-encapsulated living cells for the development of biosensors (Livage and Coradin 2006).

Description / Table of Contents: For over half a century neutron scattering has added valuable information about the structure of materials. Unlike X-rays that have quickly become a standard laboratory technique and are available to all modern researchers in physics, chemistry, materials and earth sciences, neutrons have been elusive and reserved for specialists. A primary reason is that neutron beams, at least so far, are only produced at large dedicated facilities with nuclear reactors and accelerators and access to those has been limited. Yet there are a substantial number of experiments that use neutron scattering. While earth science users are still a small minority, neutron scattering has nevertheless contributed valuable information on geological materials for well over half a century. Important applications have been in crystallography (e.g. atomic positions of hydrogen and Al-Si ordering in feldspars and zeolites, Mn-Fe-Ti distribution in oxides), magnetic structures, mineral physics at non-ambient conditions and investigations of anisotropy and residual strain in structural geology and rock mechanics. Applications range from structure determinations of large single crystals, to powder refinements and short-range order determination in amorphous materials. Zeolites, feldspars, magnetite, carbonates, ice, clathrates are just some of the minerals where knowledge has greatly been augmented by neutron scattering experiments. Yet relatively few researchers in earth sciences are taking advantage of the unique opportunities provided by modern neutron facilities. The goal of this volume, and the associated short course by the Mineralogical Society of America held December 7-9 in Emeryville/Berkeley CA, is to attract new users to this field and introduce them to the wide range of applications. As the following chapters will illustrate, neutron scattering offers unique opportunities to quantify properties of earth materials and processes. Focus of this volume is on scientific applications but issues of instrumental availabilities and methods of data processing are also covered to help scientists from such diverse fields as crystallography, mineral physics, geochemistry, rock mechanics, materials science, biomineralogy become familiar with neutron scattering. A few years ago European mineralogists spearheaded a similar initiative that resulted in a special issue of the European Journal of Mineralogy (Volume 14, 2002). Since then the field has much advanced and a review volume that is widely available is highly desirable. At present there is really no easy access for earth scientists to this field and a more focused treatise can complement Bacon's (1955) book, now in its third edition, which is still a classic. The purpose of this volume is to provide an introduction for those not yet familiar with neutrons by describing basic features of neutrons and their interaction with matter as well illustrating important applications. The volume is divided into 17 Chapters. The first two chapters introduce properties of neutrons and neutron facilities, setting the stage for applications. Some applications rely on single crystals (Chapter 3) but mostly powders (Chapters 4-5) and bulk polycrystals (Chapters 15-16) are analyzed, at ambient conditions as well as low and high temperature and high pressure (Chapters 7-9). Characterization of magnetic structures remains a core application of neutron scattering (Chapter 6). The analysis of neutron data is not trivial and crystallographic methods have been modified to take account of the complexities, such as the Rietveld technique (Chapter 4) and the pair distribution function (Chapter 11). Information is not only obtained about solids but about liquids, melts and aqueous solutions as well (Chapters 11-13). In fact this field, approached with inelastic scattering (Chapter 10) and small angle scattering (Chapter 13) is opening unprecedented opportunities for earth sciences. Small angle scattering also contributes information about microstructures (Chapter 14). Neutron diffraction has become a favorite method to quantify residual stresses in deformed materials (Chapter 16) as well as preferred orientation patterns (Chapter 15). The volume concludes with a short introduction into neutron tomography and radiography that may well emerge as a principal application of neutron scattering in the future (Chapter 17).

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: Hydrogen may be the most abundant element in the universe, but in science and in nature oxygen has an importance that is disproportionate to its abundance. Human beings tend to take it for granted because it is all around us and we breathe it, but consider the fact that oxygen is so reactive that in a planetary setting it is largely unstable in its elemental state. Were it not for the constant activity of photosynthetic plants and a minor amount of photo dissociation in the upper atmosphere, we would not have an oxygen-bearing atmosphere and we would not be here. Equally, the most important compound of oxygen is water, without which life (in the sense that we know it) could not exist. The role of water in virtually all geologic processes is profound, from formation of ore deposits to igneous petrogenesis to metamorphism to erosion and sedimentation. In planetary science, oxygen has a dual importance. First and foremost is its critical role in so many fundamental Solar System processes. The very nature of the terrestrial planets in our own Solar System would be much different had the oxygen to carbon ratio in the early solar nebula been somewhat lower than it was, because elements such as calcium and iron and titanium would have been locked up during condensation as carbides, sulfides and nitrides and even (in the case of silicon) partly as metals rather than silicates and oxides. Equally, the role of water ice in the evolution of our Solar System is important in the early accretion and growth of the giant planets and especially Jupiter, which exerted a major control over how most of the other planets formed. On a smaller scale, oxygen plays a critical role in the diverse kinds of physical evolution of large rocky planets, because the internal oxidation state strongly influences the formation and evolution of the core, mantle and crust of differentiated planets such as the Earth. Consider that basaltic volcanism may be a nearly universal phenomenon among the evolved terrestrial planets, yet there are basalts and basalts. The basalts of Earth (mostly), Earth's Moon, Vesta (as represented by the HED meteorites) and Mars are all broadly tholeiitic and yet very different from one another, and one of the primary differences is in their relative oxidation states (for that matter, consider the differences between tholeiitic and calc-alkaline magma series on Earth). But there is another way that oxygen has proven to be hugely important in planetary science, and that is as a critical scientific clue to processes and conditions and even sources of materials. Understanding the formation and evolution of our Solar System involves reconstructing processes and events that occurred more than 4.5 Ga ago, and for which the only contemporary examples are occurring hundreds of light years away. It is a detective story in which most of the clues come from the laboratory analysis of the products of those ancient processes and events, especially those that have been preserved nearly unchanged since their formation at the Solar System's birth: meteorites; comets; and interplanetary dust particles. For example, the oxidation state of diverse early Solar System materials ranges from highly oxidized (ferric iron) to so reducing that some silicon exists in the metallic state and refractory lithophile elements such as calcium exist occur in sulfides rather than in silicates or carbonates. These variations reflect highly different environments that existed in different places and at different times. Even more crucial has been the use of oxygen 3-isotope variations, which began almost accidentally in 1973 with an attempt to do oxygen isotope thermometry on high-temperature solar nebula grains (Ca-, Al-rich inclusions) but ended with the remarkable discovery (see Clayton 2008) of non-mass-dependent oxygen isotope variations in high-temperature materials from the earliest Solar System. The presolar nebula was found to be very heterogeneous in its isotopic composition, and virtually every different planet and asteroid for which we have samples has a unique oxygen-isotopic fingerprint.

Description / Table of Contents: The chapters in this volume represent an extensive review of the material presented by the invited speakers at a short course on Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Water-Rock Interaction held prior to the 19th annual V. M. Goldschmidt Conference in Davos, Switzerland (June 19-21, 2009). This volume stems from a convergence of a number of factors. First, there is a compelling societal need to resuscitate the field of the thermodynamics and kinetics of natural processes. This field is essential to quantify and predict the response of the Earth’s surface and crust to the disequilibria caused by the various natural and anthropic inputs of energy to our planet. As such, it serves as the basis for sustainable development and assuring the quality of life on the Earth; it serves as the key to understanding the long term future of radioactive waste storage, toxic metal mobility in the environment, the fate of CO2 injected into the subsurface as part of carbon sequestration efforts, quantifying the quality of petroleum reservoirs and generating novel methods of petroleum extraction, and the identification of new ore deposits. The recent interest in the weathering of continental surfaces and its impact on global elemental cycles and climate evolution has also brought new attention to the thermodynamics and kinetics of water-rock interactions as it has become evident that only a true mechanistic approach based on robust thermodynamic and kinetic laws and parameters can accurately model these processes. Yet, this field has, in many ways, atrophied over the past two decades. Relatively few students have pursued graduate research in this field; many of the great contributors to this field have retired or otherwise moved on. No doubt some of this atrophy was caused by economic factors. For roughly two decades from the mid-1980’s to the mid-2000’s the price of base metals and petroleum, when adjusted for inflation, were at lows not seen for over a generation. Some of this atrophy was also caused by past successes in this field; the development and success of computer generated thermodynamic databases, for example, giving the illusion that the work of scientists in this field was complete. A second factor motivating the creation of this volume was that it was requested by our graduate students. We currently coordinate two European Research Networks: MIR and MIN-GRO, and participate in two others GRASP and DELTA-MIN. As part of these networks we ran summer schools on the thermodynamics and kinetics of water-rock interaction in La Palma, Spain and in Anglet, France. In total theses classes were attended by roughly 100 students. By the end of these schools, we received numerous demands from our students requesting a book to help them follow the subject, as they, like most when introduced to thermodynamics and kinetics, got rapidly lost among the equations, symbols, and conventions, and standard states. This volume is an attempt to help these and others through these formalities towards applying the many advances available in thermodynamics and kinetics towards solving academic and societal problems. A third factor is that we felt this volume would be a great way of getting many of our friends to write up that review paper that we have been hoping they would write for years. The chapters in this volume represent our effort to do just this. We recall Dave Sherman first explaining to us how to perform first principle thermodynamics calculations at an European Research Conference in Crete, Greece during 1999. We recall that his explanations were so clear that we wished to have recorded it. Manolo Prieto gave in La Palma, Spain a lecture summarizing decades of research on the thermodynamics of solid solutions. This lecture opened up our eyes to how little we know about the chemistry of minor and trace elements, and how they can drastically alter the pathways of reactions in nature. He also made us aware of the thermodynamic formalism available for advancing our ability to quantify the behavior of these elements in complex natural systems. Another lecture we left knowing that we needed a permanent record of was that of Dmitrii Kulik on the thermodynamics of sorption in Jena, Germany. After leaving Dmitrii’s talk, we felt that we finally understood the differences between the various models used to describe sorption. Yet another chapter we felt essential to see published is a summary of the latest advances in mineral precipitation kinetics. We have followed the work of Bertrand Fritz for years as he developed a new formalism for quantifying mineral nucleation and growth, and in particular practical approaches to apply this formalism to complex systems. We are very pleased we were able to convince him to contribute his chapter to this volume. Other chapters we believed were essential to include was that of Andrew Putnis, who has gathered extensive evidence for the existence of mineral transformation reactions, a novel and widespread mechanism in nature. Through this volume we were able to get Andrew to bring all this evidence together in a single place, where we can see clearly the significance and pervasiveness of these reactions. Similarly Jichwar Ganor has, over the past two decades, gathered a variety of evidence showing how organic compounds affect both thermodynamics and kinetics. Jichwar’s chapter brings all this evidence together in one place for the first time. This volume is completed with the future of this field, the application of thermodynamics and kinetics to natural phenomena. Two of the leaders in the development and application of reactive transport modeling are Carl Steefel and Chen Zhu. Carl, who has written what may be the most advanced reactive transport modeling code currently available, together with Kate Malher has written an informative summary of recent advances in reactive transport modeling. Chen then shows how the use of these models provides insight into the relative role of dissolution and precipitation kinetics in natural processes. This volume finishes with insightful applications of reactive transport modeling together with field observations to understand chemical weathering from the centimeter to the regional scale by Susan Brantley, Art White and Yves Goddéris.

Description / Table of Contents: Minerals are intrinsically resistant to the processes that homogenize silicate liquids—their compositions thus yield an archive of volcanic and magmatic processes that are invisible at the whole rock scale. New experiments, and recent advances in micro-analytical techniques open a new realm of detail regarding the mineralogical record; this volume summarizes some of this progress. The alliance of the sub-fields reviewed in this volume bear upon fundamental issues of volcanology: At what depths are eruptions triggered, and over what time scales? Where and why do magmas coalesce before ascent? If magmas stagnate for thousands of years, what forces are responsible for initiating final ascent, or the degassing processes that accelerate upward motion? To the extent that we can answer these questions, we move towards formulating tests of mechanistic models of volcanic eruptions (e.g., Wilson, 1980; Slezin, 2003; Scandone et al., 2007), and hypotheses of the tectonic controls on magma transport (e.g., ten Brink and Brocher, 1987; Takada, 1994; Putirka and Busby, 2007). Our goal, in part, is to review how minerals can be used to understand volcanic systems and the processes that shape them; we also hope that this work will spur new and integrated studies of volcanic systems. Our review begins by tracing the origins of mineral grains, and methods to estimate pressures (P) and temperatures (T) of crystallization. Hammer shows how "dynamic" experiments (conducted with varying P or T) yield important insights into crystal growth. Chapters by Putirka, Anderson, and Blundy and Cashman review various igneous geothermometers and geobarometers and introduce new calibrations. Among these chapters are many familiar models involving olivine, amphibole, feldspar, pyroxene, and spinel. Blundy and Cashman introduce new methods based on phase equilibria, and in another chapter, Hansteen and Klügel review P estimation based on densities of entrapped fluids and appropriate equations of state. Rutherford's chapter returns to the issue of disequilibrium, with a review of methods to estimate magma ascent rates, and a summary of results. Our volume then moves to a review of melt inclusions. Kent shows how pre-mixed magma compositions can be preserved as inclusions, providing a window into pre-eruptive conditions. Métrich and Wallace review the volatile contents in basaltic melt inclusions and "magma degassing paths". Such methods rely upon vapor saturation pressures, which are derived from experimentally calibrated models. Chapters by Moore and Blundy and Cashman test two of the most important models, by Newman and Lowenstern (2002) (VolatileCalc) and Papale et al. (2006). Moore provides a guide to the appropriate use of these models, and their respective errors. The next four chapters document insights obtained from isotopic studies and diffusion profiles. Ramos and Tepley review developments of micro-analytical isotope measurements, which now have the potential to elucidate even the most cryptic of open system behaviors. Cooper and Reid examine the time scales for such processes through U-series age dating techniques, and Bindeman reviews oxygen isotopes and their uses as tracers of both magmas and crystals. Costa then reviews yet another means to estimate the rates of magmatic processes, using mineral diffusion profiles, with important implications for magma processing. In the next two chapters, Streck reviews an array of imaging methods and mineral textures, and their potential for disentangling mixed magmas, and Armienti takes a new look at the analysis of crystal size distributions (CSD), with applications to Mt. Etna. Our volume concludes with a chapter by Bachmann and Bergantz summarizing compositional zonations and a review of the thermal and compositional forces that drive open system behavior. Finally, descriptions of many of the most common analytical approaches are also reviewed within these chapters. Analytical topics include: secondary ion mass spectrometry (Blundy and Cashman; Kent); electron microprobe (Blundy and Cashman; Kent; Métrich and Wallace; laser ablation ICP-MS (Kent; Ramos and Tepley); Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (Moore; Métrich and Wallace); microsampling and isotope mass spectrometry (Ramos and Tepley); U-series measurement techniques (Cooper and Reid); Nomarski differential interference contrasts (Streck); micro-Raman spectroscopy (Métrich and Wallace); back-scattered electron microscopy, and cathodoluminescence (Blundy and Cashman). As noted, our hope is that integrated studies can bring us closer to understanding how volcanic systems evolve and why eruptions occur. Our primary goal is to review how minerals can be used to understand volcanic systems; we also hope that this review might spur new and integrated studies of volcanic systems.

Description / Table of Contents: Caldera-formation is one of the most awe-inspiring and powerful displays of nature's force. Resultant deposits may cover vast areas and significantly alter the immediate topography. Post-collapse activity may include resurgence, unrest, intra-caldera volcanism and potentially the start of a new magmatic cycle, perhaps eventually leading to renewed collapse. Since volcanoes and their eruptions are the surface manifestation of magmatic processes, calderas provide key insights into the generation and evolution of large-volume silicic magma bodies in the Earth's crust. Despite their potentially ferocious nature, calderas play a crucial role in modern society's life. Collapse calderas host essential economic deposits and supply power for many via the exploitation of geothermal reservoirs, and thus receive considerable scientific, economic and industrial attention. Calderas also attract millions of visitors world-wide with their spectacular scenic displays. To build on the outcomes of the 2005 calderas workshop in Tenerife (Spain) and to assess the most recent advances on caldera research, a follow-up meeting was proposed to be held in Mexico in 2008. This abstract volume presents contributions to the 2nd Calderas Workshop held at Hotel Misión La Muralla, Querétaro, Mexico, 19–25 October 2008. The title of the workshop `Reconstructing the evolution of collapse calderas: Magma storage, mobilisation and eruption' set the theme for five days of presentations and discussions, both at the venue as well as during visits to the surrounding calderas of Amealco, Amazcala and Huichapan. The multi-disciplinary workshop was attended by more than 40 scientist from North, Central and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Contributions covered five thematic topics: geology, geochemistry/petrology, structural analysis/modelling, geophysics, and hazards...

Description / Table of Contents: Exciting developments in earthquake science have benefited from new observations, improved computational technologies, and improved modeling capabilities. Designing realistic supercomputer simulation models for the complete earthquake generation process is a grand scientific challenge due to the complexity of phenomena and range of scales involved from microscopic to global. The book is divided into two parts: The present volume - Part I - focuses on microscopic simulation, scaling physics, dynamic rapture and wave propagation, earthquake generation, cycle and seismic pattern. Topics covered range from numerical developments, rupture and gouge studies of the particle model, Liquefied Cracks and Rayleigh Wave Physics, studies of catastrophic failure and critical sensitivity, numerical and theoretical studies of crack propagation, developments in finite difference methods for modeling faults, long time scale simulation of interacting fault systems, modeling of crustal deformation, through to mantle convection.

Description / Table of Contents: Exciting developments in earthquake science have benefited from new observations, improved computational technologies, and improved modeling capabilities. Designing realistic supercomputer simulation models for the complete earthquake generation process is a grand scientific challenge due to the complexity of phenomena and range of scales involved from microscopic to global. The present volume - Part II - incorporates computational environment and algorithms, data assimilation and understanding, model applications and iSERVO. Topics covered range from iSERVO and QuakeSim: implementing the international solid earth research virtual observatory by integrating computational grid and geographical information web services; LURR (Load-Unload Response Ratio) described in six papers involving this promising earthquake forecasting model; pattern informatics and phase dynamics and their applications, which was also a highlight in the Workshop; computational algorithms, including continuum damage models and visualization and analysis of geophysical datasets; evolution of mantle material; the state vector approach; and assimilation of data such as geodetic data, GPS data, and seismicity and laboratory experimental data.

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: 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: 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: The detachment era (1977–1982) and its role in revolutionizing continental tectonics / B. Wernicke / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 1-8, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.1 --- The frictional strength of granular fault gouge: application of theory to the mechanics of low-angle normal faults / Carolyn Boulton, Tim Davies and Mauri McSaveney / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 9-31, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.2 --- Upper and lower crustal evolution during lithospheric extension: numerical modelling and natural footprints from the European Alps / Anna Maria Marotta, Maria Iole Spalla and Guido Gosso / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 33-72, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.3 --- Reconciling short- and long-term measures of extension in continental back arcs: heat flux, crustal structure and rotations within central North Island, New Zealand / T. A. Stern / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 73-87, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.4 --- Cretaceous felsic volcanism in New Zealand and Lord Howe Rise (Zealandia) as a precursor to final Gondwana break-up / A. J. Tulloch, J. Ramezani, N. Mortimer, J. Mortensen, P. van den Bogaard and R. Maas / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 89-118, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.5 --- Structure and evolution of the western Corinth Rift, through new field data from the Northern Peloponnesus / Emmanuel Skourtsos and Haralambos Kranis / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 119-138, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.6 --- Timing and nature of formation of the Ios metamorphic core complex, southern Cyclades, Greece / Stuart N. Thomson, Uwe Ring, Stephanie Brichau, Johannes Glodny and Thomas M. Will / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 139-167, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.7 --- Timing of the Amorgos detachment system and implications for detachment faulting in the southern Aegean Sea, Greece / Uwe Ring, Stuart N. Thomson and Gideon Rosenbaum / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 169-178, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.8 --- Cenozoic tectonic evolution of Naxos Island through a multi-faceted approach of fission-track analysis / Diane Seward, Olivier Vanderhaeghe, Luc Siebenaller, Stuart Thomson, Christian Hibsch, Anatol Zingg, Patrick Holzner, Uwe Ring and Stephanie Duchêne / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 179-196, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.9 --- Syn-extensional granitoids in the Menderes core complex and the late Cenozoic extensional tectonics of the Aegean province / Yildirim Dilek, Şafak Altunkaynak and Zeynep Öner / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 197-223, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.10 --- A case study of lateral spreading: the Precambrian Svecofennian Orogen / Annakaisa Korja, Paula Kosunen and Pekka Heikkinen / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 321, 225-251, 14 October 2009, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP321.11

Description / Table of Contents: Accretionary orogens form at convergent plate boundaries and include the supra-subduction zone forearc, magmatic arc and backarc components. They can be broken into retreating and advancing types, based on their kinematic framework and resulting geological character. Accretionary systems have been active throughout Earth history, extending back until at least 3.2 Ga, and provide an important constraint on the initiation of horizontal motion of lithospheric plates on Earth. Accretionary orogens have been responsible for major growth of the continental lithosphere, through the addition of juvenile magmatic products, but are also major sites of consumption and reworking of continental crust through time. The aim of this volume is to provide a better understanding of accretionary processes and their role in the formation and evolution of the continental crust. Fourteen papers deal with general aspects of accretion and metamorphism and discuss examples of accretionary orogens and crustal growth through Earth history, from the Archaean to the Cenozoic.

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: 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: 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: This volume, in honour of Peter L. Forey, is about fishes as palaeobiogeographic indicators in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The last 250 million years in the history of Earth have witnessed the break-up of Pangaea, affecting the biogeography of organisms. Fishes occupy almost all freshwater and marine environments, making them a good tool to assess palaeogeographic models. The volume begins with studies of Triassic chondrichthyans and lungfishes, with reflections on Triassic palaeogeography. Phylogeny and distribution of Late Jurassic neoselachians and basal teleosts are broached, and are followed by five papers about the Cretaceous, dealing with SE Asian sharks, South American ray-finned fishes and coelacanths, European characiforms, and global fish palaeogeography. Then six papers cover Tertiary subjects, such as bony tongues, eels, cypriniforms and coelacanths. There is generally a good fit between fish phylogenies and the evolution of the palaeogeographical pattern, although a few discrepancies question details of current palaeogeographic models and/or some aspects of fish phylogeny.

Description / Table of Contents: Some 75 years after the visionary work of Wegener and du Toit, Neoproterozoic to Mesozoic geological correlations between South America and Africa are re-examined in the light of plate tectonics and modern geological investigation (structural and metamorphic studies, stratigraphic logging, geochemistry, geochronology and palaeomagnetism). The book presents both reviews and new research relating to the shared Gondwana origins of countries facing each other across the South Atlantic Ocean, especially Brazil, Argentina, Cameroon, Nigeria, Angola, Namibia and South Africa. This is the first comprehensive treatment to be readily available in book form. It covers the common elements of cratonic areas pre-dating Gondwana, and how they came together in late Precambrian and Cambrian times with the formation of the Pan-African/Brasiliano orogenic belts (Dom Feliciano, Brasília, Ribeira, Damara, Gariep, Kaoko, etc.). The subsequent shared Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary record (Karoo system) prior to Gondwana break-up is also reviewed.

Description / Table of Contents: The complexity of plate interactions and associated crustal deformation in the Eastern Mediterranean region is reflected by the numerous destructive earthquakes that have occurred throughout its history. Many of these have been well documented and studied. In addition, the Aegean region provides examples of core-complex formation, synchronous basin evolution and subsequent graben formation and continental extensional deformation following orogenic contraction. It is therefore considered to be a perfect natural laboratory for the study of these mechanisms. The region has been the subject of intensive research for several decades. This book contains current results and ideas regarding the geodynamics of the Aegean and Anatolia. It will be essential reading for all geoscientists with an interest in the structural evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean.

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: 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: Stromatolites are the most intriguing geobiological structures of the entire history of the earth since the early beginning of the fossil record in the Archaean. Traditionally, stromatolites and related microbial sediments are interpreted as biosedimentological remains of biofilms and microbial mats. Stromatolites are important environmental and evolutionary archives that give us plenty of information on ancient habitats, biodiversity, and evolution of complex benthic biosystems. However, many aspects of the formation, biology, and geobiology of these structures are still cryptic and poorly understood. The symposium is dedicated to Ernst Louis Kalkowsky (1851–1938), who introduced the terms “Stromatolith” and “Ooid” to the earth science community in 1908.

Description / Table of Contents: The North China craton is the only known place where an Archaean craton with a thick tectospheric root lost half of that root in younger tectonism by processes such as delamination, convection, hydration-weakening, compositional change or some other mechanism. In this volume, authors provide data constraining the geometry and timing of root loss, aimed at understanding why and how continental roots are lost in general. Modelling how often this process may have occurred in the geological past, and how much lithospheric material has been recycled to the convecting mantle through this mechanism, could drastically change our current understanding of crustal growth rates and processes. Possible triggering mechanisms for root loss include collision of the South China (Yangtze) and North China cratons in the Triassic, the India–Asia collision, closure of the Solonker and Monhgol–Okhotsk oceans, Mesozoic subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath eastern China, impingement of mantle plumes, mantle hydration from long-term subduction and several rifting events. In this volume, we link studies of crustal tectonics with investigations aimed at determining the nature of and timing of the formation and loss of the root, in order to better-understand mechanisms of continental root formation, evolution and recycling/removal.

Description / Table of Contents: The geological record contains a fascinating diversity of reefs and shell accumulations. As my other biosedimentary structures, their facies characterization requires careful observation at outcrop and sample scale, and in thin-section to provide information about the global geometries, fabrics and textures respectively. This collection of papers encompasses the breadth of sedimentary geometries and facies displayed by Palaeozoic reefs, shell accumulations, and transitional composite deposits. The definition of reefs and shell concentrations has given rise to variations in nomenclature. The papers in this volume cover specific problems regarding the nomenclature and facies characterization of reefs, shell accumulations and transitional composite deposits. However, rather than attempt a complete revision of terms, the authors have touched on some of the important issues at this stage of development in the field: the main climatic, environmental and evolutionary factors that controlled the Palaeozoic development of shell accumulation and reefs.

Description / Table of Contents: Stone buildings and monuments from the cultural centres of many of the world's urban areas. Frequently these areas are prone to high levels of atmospheric pollution that promote a variety of aggressive stone decay processes. Because of this, stone decay is now widely recognized as a severe threat to much of our cultural heritage. If this threat is to be successfully addressed it is essential that the symptoms of decay are clearly identified, that appropriate stone properties are accurately characterized and that decay processes are precisely identified. It is undoubtedly the case that successful conservation has to be underpinned by a comprehensive understanding of the causes of decay and the factors that control them. The accomplishment of these demanding goals requires an interdisciplinary approach based on co-operation between geologists, environmental scientists, chemists, material scientists, civil engineers, restorers and architects. In pursuit of this collaboration, this volume aims to strengthen the knowledge base dealing with the causes, consequences, prevention and solution of stone decay problems.

Description / Table of Contents: High-latitude settings are sensitive to climatically driven palaeoenvironmental change and the resultant biotic response. Climate change through the peak interval of Cretaceous warmth, Late Cretaceous cooling, onset and expansion of the Antarctic ice sheet, and subsequently the variability of Neogene glaciation, are all recorded within the sedimentary and volcanic successions exposed within the James Ross Basin, Antarctica. This site provides the longest onshore record of Cretaceous-Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks in Antarctica and is a key reference section for Cretaceous-Tertiary global change. The sedimentary succession is richly fossiliferous, yielding diverse invertebrate, vertebrate and plant fossil assemblages, allowing the reconstruction of both terrestrial and marine systems. The papers within this volume provide an overview of recent advances in the understanding of palaeoenvironmental change spanning the mid-Cretaceous to the Neogene of the James Ross Basin and related biotic change, and will be of interest to many working on Cretaceous and Tertiary palaeoenvironmental change.

Description / Table of Contents: The seismically and volcanically active East African Rift System is an ideal laboratory for continental break-up processes: it encompasses all stages of rift development. Its northernmost sectors within the Afar volcanic province include failed rifts, nascent seafloor spreading, and youthful passive continental margins associated with one or more mantle plumes. A number of models have been proposed to explain the success and failure of continental rift zones, but there remains no consensus on how strain localizes to achieve rupture of 125–250 km thick plates, or on the interaction between the plates and asthenospheric processes. This collection of papers provides new structural, stratigraphic, geochemical and geophysical data and numerical models needed to resolve fundamental questions concerning continental break-up and mantle plume processes. It focuses on how mantle melt intrudes and is distributed through the plate, and how this magma intrusion process controls along-axis segmentation and facilitates break-up.

Description / Table of Contents: This Special Publication has 24 papers with an international authorship, and is prefaced by an introductory overview which presents highlights in the field. The first section covers the acceptance by science of the reality of the falls of rock and metal from the sky, an account that takes the reader from BCE (before common era) to the nineteenth century. The second section details some of the world's most important collections in museums - their origins and development. The Smithsonian chapter also covers the astonishingly numerous finds in the cold desert of Antarctica by American search parties. There are also contributions covering the finds by Japanese parties in the Yamato mountains and the equally remarkable discoveries in the hot deserts of Australia, North Africa, Oman and the USA. The other seven chapters take the reader through the revolution in scientific research on meteoritics in the later part of the twentieth century, including terrestrial impact cratering and extraordinary showers of glass from the sky; tektites, now known to be Earth-impact-sourced. Finally, the short epilogue looks to the future. The History of Meteoritics and Key Meteorite Collections should appeal to historians of science, meteoriticists, geologists, astronomers, curators and the general reader with an interest in science.

Description / Table of Contents: CONTENTS PRINCIPAL FEATURES OF HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS Alexander Klimchouk HYPOGENE CAVE PATTERNS Philippe Audra, Ludovic Mocochain, Jean-Yves Bigot, and Jean-Claude Nobécourt MORPHOLOGICAL INDICATORS OF SPELEOGENESIS: HYPOGENIC SPELEOGENS Philippe Audra, Ludovic Mocochain, Jean-Yves Bigot, and Jean-Claude Nobécourt HYPOGENE CAVES IN DEFORMED (FOLD BELT) STRATA: OBSERVATIONS FROM EASTERN AUSTRALIA AND CENTRAL EUROPE R.A.L. Osborne IDENTIFYING PALEO WATER-ROCK INTERACTION DURING HYDROTHERMAL KARSTIFICATION: A STABLE ISOTOPE APPROACH Yuri Dublyansky and Christoph Spötl MICROORGANISMS AS SPELEOGENETIC AGENTS: GEOCHEMICAL DIVERSITY BUT GEOMICROBIAL UNITY P.J.Boston, M.N. Spilde, D.E. Northup, M.D. Curry, L.A. Melim, and L. Rosales-Lagarde SIDERITE WEATHERING AS A REACTION CAUSING HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS: THE EXAMPLE OF THE IBERG/HARZ/GERMANY Stephan Kempe SIMULATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOLUTION CONDUITS IN HYPOGENE SETTINGS C. Rehrl, S. Birk, and A.B. Klimchouk EVOLUTION OF CAVES IN POROUS LIMESTONE BY MIXING CORROSION: A MODEL APPROACH Wolfgang Dreybrodt, Douchko Romanov, and Georg Kaufmann SPELEOGENESIS OF MEDITERRANEAN KARSTS: A MODELLING APPROACH BASED ON REALISTIC FRACTURE NETWORKS Antoine Lafare, Hervé Jourde, Véronique Leonardi, Séverin Pistre, and Nathalie Dörfliger GIANT COLLAPSE STRUCTURES FORMED BY HYPOGENIC KARSTIFICATION: THE OBRUKS OF THE CENTRAL ANATOLIA, TURKEY C. Serdar Bayari, N. Nur Ozyurt, and Emrah Pekkans ON THE ROLE OF HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS IN SHAPING THE COASTAL ENDOKARST OF SOUTHERN MALLORCA (WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN) Joaquín Ginés, Angel Ginés, Joan J. Fornós, Antoni Merino and Francesc Gràcia HYPOGENE CAVES IN THE APENNINES (ITALY) Sandro Galdenzi STEGBACHGRABEN, A MINERALIZED HYPOGENE CAVE IN THE GROSSARL VALLEY, AUSTRIA Yuri Dublyansky, Christoph Spötl, and Christoph Steinbauer HYPOGENE CAVES IN AUSTRIA Lukas Plan, Christoph Spötl, Rudolf Pavuza, Yuri Dublyansky KRAUSHÖHLE: THE FIRST SULPHURIC ACID CAVE IN THE EASTERN ALPS (STYRIA, AUSTRIA) (Abstract only) Lukas Plan, Jo De Waele, Philippe Audra, Antonio Rossi, and Christoph Spötl HYDROTHERMAL ORIGIN OF ZADLAŠKA JAMA, AN ANCIENT ALPINE CAVE IN THE JULIAN ALPS, SLOVENIA Martin Knez and Tadej Slabe ACTIVE HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS AND THE GROUNDWATER SYSTEMS AROUND THE EDGES OF ANTICLINAL RIDGES Amos Frumkin SEISMIC-SAG STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS IN TERTIARY CARBONATE ROCKS BENEATH SOUTHEASTERN FLORIDA, USA: EVIDENCE FOR HYPOGENIC SPELEOGENESIS? Kevin J. Cunningham and Cameron Walker HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS IN THE PIEDMONT CRIMEA RANGE A.B. Klimchouk, E.I. Tymokhina and G.N. Amelichev STYLES OF HYPOGENE CAVE DEVELOPMENT IN ANCIENT CARBONATE AREAS OVERLYING NON-PERMEABLE ROCKS IN BRAZIL AND THE INFLUENCE OF COMPETING MECHANISMS AND LATER MODIFYING PROCESSES Augusto S. Auler MORPHOLOGY AND GENESIS OF THE MAIN ORE BODY AT NANISIVIK ZINC/LEAD MINE, BAFFIN ISLAND, CANADA: AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF PARAGENETIC DISSOLUTION OF CARBONATE BEDROCKS WITH PENE-CONTEMPORANEOUS PRECIPITATION OF SULFIDES AND GANGUE MINERALS IN A HYPOGENE SETTING Derek Ford THE INFLUENCE OF HYPOGENE AND EPIGENE SPELEOGENESIS IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE VAZANTE KARST MINAS GERAIS STATE, BRAZIL Cristian Bittencourt, Augusto Sarreiro Auler, José Manoel dos Reis Neto, Vanio de Bessa and Marcus Vinícios Andrade Silva HYPOGENIC ASCENDING SPELEOGENESIS IN THE KRAKÓW-CZĘSTOCHOWA UPLAND (POLAND) ? EVIDENCE IN CAVE MORPHOLOGY AND SURFACE RELIEF Andrzej Tyc EVIDENCE FROM CERNA VALLEY CAVES (SW ROMANIA) FOR SULFURIC ACID SPELEOGENESIS: A MINERALOGICAL AND STABLE ISOTOPE STUDY Bogdan P. Onac, Jonathan Sumrall, Jonathan Wynn, Tudor Tamas, Veronica Dărmiceanu and Cristina Cizmaş THE POSSIBILITY OF REVERSE FLOW PIRACY IN CAVES OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN BELT (Abstract only) Ira D. Sasowsky KARSTOGENESIS AT THE PRUT RIVER VALLEY (WESTERN UKRAINE, PRUT AREA) Viacheslav Andreychouk and Bogdan Ridush ZOLOUSHKA CAVE: HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS OR REVERSE WATER THROUGHFLOW? V. Eirzhyk (Abstract only) EPIGENE AND HYPOGENE CAVES IN THE NEOGENE GYPSUM OF THE PONIDZIE AREA (NIECKA NIDZIAŃSKA REGION), POLAND Jan Urban, Viacheslav Andreychouk, and Andrzej Kasza PETRALONA CAVE: MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS AND A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON ITS SPELEOGENESIS Georgios Lazaridis HYPOGENE SPELEOGENESIS IN MAINLAND NORWAY AND SVALBARD? Stein-Erik Lauritzen VILLA LUZ PARK CAVES: SPELEOGENESIS BASED ON CURRENT STRATIGRAPHIC AND MORPHOLOGIC EVIDENCE (Abstract only) Laura Rosales-Lagarde, Penelope J. Boston, Andrew Campbell, and Mike Pullin HYPOGENE KARSTIFICATION IN SAUDI ARABIA (LAYLA LAKE SINKHOLES, AIN HEETH CAVE) Stephan Kempe, Heiko Dirks, and Ingo Bauer HYPOGENE KARSTIFICATION IN JORDAN (BERGISH/AL-DAHER CAVE, UWAIYED CAVE, BEER AL-MALABEH SINKHOLE) Stephan Kempe, Ahmad Al-Malabeh, and Horst-Volker Henschel ASSESSING THE RELIABILITY OF 2D RESISTIVITY IMAGING TO MAP A DEEP AQUIFER IN CARBONATE ROCKS IN THE IRAQI KURDISTAN REGION Bakhtiar K. Aziz and Ezzaden N. Baban FEATURES OF GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF THE ORDINSKAYA UNDERWATER CAVE, FORE-URALS, RUSSIA Pavel Sivinskih

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 issue is addressed to researchers dealing with seismic studies as the result of an interactive process as part of macroseismic approaches and an a-priori determination of the elements if the territory is involved in the seismic risk evaluation. The significant features which distinguish the work can be identified in the use of new methods for the evaluation of the damage scenarios of historical earthquakes (the local intensity virtual distribution); the adoption of a quick procedure of 2nd level seismic microzonation, depicted on a reduced number of parameters and in situ surveys; the characterization of an innovative seismic vulnerability evaluation procedure based on the analyses of the safety reducers and social priority levels of the elements of territory. The proposed studies, carried out in Sicily and Calabria (Italy), define an operative level of approaches aimed at engineering and civil protection applications.

Description / Table of Contents: A Complutense International Seminar on "Earth Sciences and Mathematics" was organised and held in Madrid at the Facultad de Ciencias Matemáticas of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid September, 13th-15th, 2006. Scientists from both fields, Mathematics and Earth Sciences, took part in this International Seminar, addressing scientific problems related with our planet from clearly complementary approaches, seeking to gain and learn from this dual approach and proposing a closer collaboration in the near future. This volume is the first one of a Topical Issue on "Earth Sciences and Mathematics" and contains papers addressing different topics as deformation modelling applied to natural hazards, inverse gravimetric problem to determine 3D density structure, advanced differential SAR interferometry, climate change, geomagnetic field, Earthquake statistics, meteorological studies using satellite images, climate energy balance models, study of soils properties, and multifractal data sets.

Description / Table of Contents: The tragedy of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has led to a rapid expansion in science directed at understanding tsunami and mitigating their hazard. A remarkable cross-section of this research was presented in the session: Tsunami Generation and Hazard, at the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics XXIV General Assembly in Perugia, held in July of 2007. Over one hundred presentations were made at this session, spanning topics ranging from paleotsunami research, to nonlinear shallow-water theory, to tsunami hazard and risk assessment. A selection of this work, along with other contributions from leading tsunami scientists, is published in detail in the 28 papers of this special issue of Pure and Applied Geophysics: Tsunami Science Four Years After the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Part I of this issue includes 14 papers covering the state-of-the-art in tsunami modelling and hazard assessment. Another 14 papers are published in Part II focusing on observations and data analysis.

Description / Table of Contents: The tragedy of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has led to a rapid expansion in science directed at understanding tsunami and mitigating their hazard. A remarkable cross-section of this research was presented in the session: Tsunami Generation and Hazard, at the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics XXIV General Assembly in Perugia, held in July of 2007. Over one hundred presentations were made at this session, spanning topics ranging from paleotsunami research, to nonlinear shallow-water theory, to tsunami hazard and risk assessment. A selection of this work, along with other contributions from leading tsunami scientists, is published in detail in the 28 papers of this special issue of Pure and Applied Geophysics: Tsunami Science Four Years After the Indian Ocean Tsunami. While Part I focused on modelling and hazard assessment, Part II of this issue includes 14 papers covering new developments in observation and data analysis. These include new analyses of both recent and historical tsunami events, as well as state-of-the-art techniques for tsunami data analysis.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume of IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science presents a selection of papers that were given at the 24th Conference of the Danube Countries. Within the framework of the International Hydrological Program IHP of UNESCO. Since 1961 the Danube countries have successfully co-operated in organizing conferences on Hydrological Forecasting and Hydrological Water Management Issues. The 24th Conference of the Danube Countries took place between 2-4 June 2008 in Bled, Slovenia and was organized by the National Committee of Slovenia for the International Hydrological Program of UNESCO, under the auspices of the President of Republic of Slovenia. It was organized jointly by the Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO and the Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia, under the support of UNESCO, WMO, and IAHS...

Description / Table of Contents: Statistical Seismology aims to bridge the gap between physics-based and statistics-based models. This volume provides a combination of reviews, methodological studies, and applications, which point to promising efforts in this field. The volume will be useful to students and professional researchers alike, who are interested in using stochastic modeling for probing the nature of earthquake phenomena, as well as an essential ingredient for earthquake forecasting.

Description / Table of Contents: The Hiroshi Wakita Volume I is a collection of original papers regarding the role of terrestrial fluids in earthquake and volcanic processes. The importance of monitoring volcanic gases for studying volcanic eruptions is widely recognized by the scientific community. On the other hand, the usefulness of hydrologic and geochemical monitoring in earthquake studies, especially in earthquake prediction, has been controversial. This Pure and Applied Geophysics volume provides the results of some of the most recent studies on terrestrial fluids involved in both processes. The volume honors Hiroshi Wakita for his scientific contributions. Volume II will be published later in 2006. Both volumes should be useful to researchers and graduate students in the field.

Description / Table of Contents: The Hiroshi Wakita Volume II is a collection of original papers regarding the role of terrestrial fluids in earthquake and volcanic processes. The importance of monitoring volcanic gases for studying volcanic eruptions is widely recognized by the scientific community. On the other hand, the usefulness of hydrological and geochemical monitoring in earthquake studies, especially in earthquake prediction, has been controversial. This Pure and Applied Geophysics volume provides the results of recent studies on terrestrial fluids involved in both processes. The volume honors Hiroshi Wakita for his scientific contributions. It should be useful to researchers and graduate students in the field.

Description / Table of Contents: Weather and climate are of concern to virtually all countries worldwide. For many countries the economy depends largely on agriculture, which is significantly affected by variations in weather and climate. This volume contains many original findings on weather and climate related to atmospheric and oceanic processes through mathematical modeling, numerical simulations, and field experiments and it will be useful as a reading material in graduate level courses dealing with weather, climate, boundary layer and air quality. The scientific community at large, especially younger scientists, will find this book a useful addition to their personal and institutional libraries.

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

Description / Table of Contents: Fluids rich in water, carbon and sulfur species and a variety of dissolved salts are a ubiquitous transport medium for heat and matter in the Earth’s interior. Fluid transport through the upper mantle and crust controls the origin of magmatism above subduction zones and results in natural risks of explosive volcanism. Fluids passing through rocks affect the chemical and heat budget of the global oceans, and can be utilized as a source of geothermal energy on land. Fluid transport is a key to the formation and the practical utilization of natural resources, from the origin of hydrothermal mineral deposits, through the exploitation of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons as sources of energy and essential raw materials, to the subsurface storage of waste materials such as CO2. Different sources of fluids and variable paths of recycling volatile components from the hydrosphere and atmosphere through the solid interior of the Earth lead to a broad range of fluid compositions, from aqueous liquids and gases through water-rich silicate or salt melts to carbon-rich endmember compositions. Different rock regimes in the crust and mantle generate characteristic ranges of fluid composition, which depending on pressure, temperature and composition are miscible to greatly variable degrees. For example, aqueous liquids and vapors are increasingly miscible at elevated pressure and temperature. The degree of this miscibility is, however, greatly influenced by the presence of additional carbonic or salt components. A wide range of fluid–fluid interactions results from this partial miscibility of crustal fluids. Vastly different chemical and physical properties of variably miscible fluids, combined with fluid flow from one pressure – temperature regime to another, therefore have major consequences for the chemical and physical evolution of the crust and mantle. Several recent textbooks and review articles have addressed the role and diverse aspects of fluids in crustal processes. However, immiscibility of fluids and the associated phenomena of m ultiphase fluid flow are generally dealt with only in subsections with respect to specific environments and aspects of fluid mediated processes. This volume of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry attempts to fill this gap and to explicitly focus on the role that co-existing fluids play in the diverse geologic environments. It brings together the previously somewhat detached literature on fluid–fluid interactions in continental, volcanic, submarine and subduction zone environments. It emphasizes that fluid mixing and unmixing are widespread processes that may occur in all geologic environments of the entire crust and upper mantle. Despite different P-T conditions, the fundamental processes are analogous in the different settings.

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: 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: Part I: An integrated framework of disaster risk management --- An Integrated Risk Analysis Framework for Emerging Disaster Risks: Toward a better risk management of flood disaster in urban communities / S. Ikeda / pp. 1-21 --- Fundamental Characteristics of Flood Risk in Japan's Urban Areas / T. Sato / pp. 23-40 --- Integration Framework of Flood Risk Management: What should be integrated? / K. Seo / pp. 41-56 --- Public Preference and Willingness to Pay for Flood Risk Reduction / G. Zhai / pp. 57-87 --- New Mode of Risk Governance Enhanced by an e-community Platform / T. Nagasaka / pp. 89-107 --- Part II: Interdisciplinary studies of flood risk --- Uncertainty in Flood Risks and Public Understanding of Probable Rainfall / S. Shimokawa and Y. Takeuchi / pp. 109-119 --- Public Perception of Flood Risk and Community-based Disaster Preparedness / T. Motoyoshi / pp. 121-134 --- Residents' Perception about Disaster Prevention and Action for Risk Mitigation: The case of the Tokai flood in 2000 / K. Takao / pp. 135-151 --- Roles of Volunteers in Disaster Prevention: Implications of questionnaire and interview surveys / I. Suzuki / pp. 153-163 --- Issues and Attitudes of Local Government Officials for Flood Risk Management / K. Terumoto / pp. 165-176 --- The Niigata Flood in 2004 as a Flood Risk of "Low Probability but High Consequence" / T. Sato, T. Fukuzono, and S. Ikeda / pp. 177-192 --- Insurance Issues of Catastrophic Disasters in Japan: Lessons from the 2005 Hurricane Katrina Disaster / H. Tsubokawa / pp. 193-198 --- Part III: Pilot studies of implementing social platform of risk management in local community: Participatory flood risk communication support system (Pafrics) --- Participatory Flood Risk Communication Support System (Pafrics) / T. Fukuzono, T. Sato, Y. Takeuchi, K. Takao, S. Shimokawa, I. Suzuki, G. Zhai, K. Terumoto, T. Nagasaga, K. Seo, and S. Ikeda / pp. 199-211 --- Flood Risk Communication with Pafrics / Y. Takeuchi and I. Suzuki / pp. 213-224

Description / Table of Contents: During the last decades, measurements of various geodynamic processes have gained ever increasing importance. Temporal variations of the deformation and gravity fields monitored by geodetic measuring techniques reflect isostatic, tectonic or volcanic processes in the earth's interior. Recordings of hydrologic or oceanographic phenomena allow conclusions on surface processes. This volume reflects the major developments during recent years in these areas of research. Most of the papers in this book were presented at the workshop on "Deformation and Gravity Change: Indicators of Isostasy, Tectonics, Volcanism and Climate Change", which took place at the Casa de los Volcanes on Lanzarote, Spain, during March 1-4, 2005. It was jointly organized and supported by the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, the Spanish Council for Scientific Research and the Cabildo Insular de Lanzarote. The workshop also served as the first meeting of the members of the IAG Working Group ICCT2 on "Dynamic Theories of Deformation and Gravity Fields".

Description / Table of Contents: This topical volume of the Journal of Pure and Applied Geophysics utilizes new information not previously accessible for fog related research. It focuses on surface and remote sensing observations of fog, various numerical model applications using new parameterizations, fog climatology, and new statistical methods. The results presented in this special issue come from research efforts in North America and Europe, mainly from the Canadian Fog Remote Sensing And Modeling (FRAM) and European COST-722 fog/visibility related projects. Students, postgraduates, and researchers, interested in cloud physics, physical meteorology, aviation meteorology, climate, weather forecasting, and in other adjacent disciplines, can use this book as a basis for future developments in fog research. It is hoped that this book will lead to new scientific challenges in fog related research, teaching, and applications.

Description / Table of Contents: Understanding, modeling and prediction of mesoscale processes in the atmosphere, ocean and environmental systems have gained importance in the last decade or so. This is because of the availability of more sophisticated observational systems, provided by technological innovations and more realistic simulations using advanced dynamical models. This volume contains many original findings on mesoscale processes in atmospheric and oceanic systems through mathematical modeling, numerical simulations and field experiments. These scientific papers examine and provide the latest developments on a range of topics that include tropical cyclones/hurricanes, mesoscale variability and modeling, seasonal monsoons and land surface processes including atmospheric boundary layer.

Description / Table of Contents: In recent years, large earthquakes in the circum-Pacific region have repeatedly demonstrated its particular vulnerability to this potentially devastating natural hazard, including the M ~ 9.2 Northern Sumatra earthquake and tsunami of 2004 which resulted in the deaths of nearly 300,000 people. In the late-1990s, major advancements in seismic research greatly added to the understanding of earthquake fault systems, as large quantities of new and extensive remote sensing data sets, that provided information on the solid earth on scales previously inaccessible, were integrated with a combination of innovative analysis techniques and advanced numerical and computational methods implemented on high-performance computers. This book includes a variety of studies that focus on the modeling of tsunamis and earthquakes, both large-scale simulation and visualization programs, as well as detailed models of small-scale features. Particular attention is paid to computational techniques, languages, and hardware that can be used to facilitate data analysis, visualization, and modeling. Also included are studies of several earthquake forecasting techniques and associated comparisons of their results with historic earthquake data. Finally, the volume ends with theoretical analyses of statistical properties of seismicity by internationally recognized experts in the field. This volume will be of particular interest to researchers interested in the multiscale simulation and visualization of large earthquakes and tsunamis.

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Die Region - mit den markanten Erhebungen des Hohen Meißners und des Thüringer Waldes - stellt geologisch und bergbaugeschichtlich einen Teil der deutschen Mittelgebirge dar, der Fachleute sowie Amateure und Naturfreunde gleichermaßen fasziniert. Die vorliegende Bibliographie versucht erstmals länderübergreifend die umfangreiche Fachliteratur der Dreiländer-Region zu erschließen. Dabei wurden sowohl fachwissenschaftliche als auch heimatkundliche Publikationen und unveröffentlichtes Material berücksichtigt.

Description / Table of Contents: Die Region - mit den markanten Erhebungen des Hohen Meißners und des Thüringer Waldes - stellt geologisch und bergbaugeschichtlich einen Teil der deutschen Mittelgebirge dar, der Fachleute sowie Amateure und Naturfreunde gleichermaßen fasziniert. Die vorliegende Bibliographie versucht erstmals länderübergreifend die umfangreiche Fachliteratur der Dreiländer-Region zu erschließen. Dabei wurden sowohl fachwissenschaftliche als auch heimatkundliche Publikationen und unveröffentlichtes Material berücksichtigt.