ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: The discovery of dinosaurs and other large extinct ‘saurians’ - a term under which the Victorians commonly lumped ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs and their kin - makes exciting reading and has caught the attention of palaeontologists, historians of science and the general public alike. The papers in this collection go beyond the familiar tales about famous ‘fossil hunters’ and focus on relatively little-known episodes in the discovery and interpretation (from both a scientific and an artistic point of view) of dinosaurs and other inhabitants of the Mesozoic world. They cover a long time span, from the beginnings of ‘modern’ scientific palaeontology in the 1700s to the present, and deal with many parts of the world, from the Yorkshire coast to Central India, from Bavaria to the Sahara. The characters in these stories include professional palaeontologists and geologists (some of them well-known, others quite obscure), explorers, amateur fossil collectors, and artists, linked together by their interest in Mesozoic creatures.

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

Description / Table of Contents: This volume combines original data in various fields from the offshore Levant Basin and adjacent continental slopes and platforms. The first group of papers document the tectonic structures and sedimentological patterns associated with the development of the Levant Basin. They identify the successive rifting events from the Late Palaeozoic to the Early Cretaceous, followed by a moderate tectonic activity. The contribution of external factors like global sea-level and climate changes to the sedimentation processes during the Mid-Cretaceous is discussed in the second set of papers. The final group presents new kinematics and age constraints on the Late Cretaceous to Neogene tectonic phases and discusses the relationship of the structures with the closure of the Neo-Tethys and separation of the Arabia plate. This collection of research papers demonstrates new concepts on the opening and crustal thinning of the Levant Basin and gives updated interpretations of the latter tectonic structures of the Levant.

Description / Table of Contents: The invasion of the land by plants (‘terrestrialization’) was one of the most significant evolutionary events in the history of life on Earth, and correlates in time with periods of major palaeoenvironmental perturbations. The development of a vegetation cover on the previously barren land surfaces impacted on the global biogeochemical cycles and the geological processes of erosion and sediment transport. The terrestrialization of plants preceded the rise of major new groups of animals, such as insects and tetrapods, the latter numbering some 24 000 living species, including ourselves. Early land-plant evolution also correlates with the most spectacular decline of atmospheric CO2 concentration of Phanerozoic times and with the onset of a protracted period of glacial conditions on Earth. This book includes a selection of papers covering different aspects of the terrestrialization, from palaeobotany to vertebrate palaeontology and geochemistry, promoting a multidisciplinary approach to the understanding of the co-evolution of life and its environments during Early to Mid-Palaeozoic times.

Description / Table of Contents: Several different databases and models have been developed over many years of petrological study carried out by several European and non-European groups on mantle xenoliths, peridotite massifs, ophiolites and mafic magmas spanning in age from Archaean to Recent times. This volume aims to bring together these different approaches and to integrate the geochemical perceptions of the European upper mantle. The papers include regional petrological studies of the European lithospheric mantle, from Spain to the Pannonian Basin, from Corsica and Serbia as far north as Svalbard. Six contributions are based on studies of mantle xenoliths, while the remaining three deal with ophiolitic and peridotitic complexes. A further article provides an update on the textural classification of mantle rocks using a computer-aided approach and there is an introductory overview.

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

Description / Table of Contents: Natural stone is considered to be a versatile, durable and aesthetically pleasing building material. From the beginning of civilization, important structures and monuments have been built from, or based on, natural stone. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the use of local stone resources was mostly in balance with the local environment. Strict environmental legislation has resulted in the closing of many long-standing quarries in industrialized countries, which has led to a shortage of traditional stone varieties. This has caused problems for restoration practice. Cheap, imported stone from less industrialized countries has become more widely available in recent years. Some of the issues related to built stone conservation and restoration covered by this volume are: the establishment of inventories of possible replacement stones; understanding the decay mechanism and use of preventive conservation methods for slowing down decay processes; evaluation of the properties of natural stone; and assessing the risks of using replacement stones of different qualities.

Description / Table of Contents: Disequilibrium textures versus equilibrium modelling: geochronology at the crossroads / Igor M. Villa / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 1-15, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.1 --- Argon enters the retentive zone: reassessment of diffusion parameters for K-feldspar in the South Cyclades Shear Zone, Ios, Greece / M. A. Forster and G. S. Lister / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 17-34, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.2 --- Serrated quartz grain boundaries, temperature and strain rate: testing fractal techniques in a syntectonic granite / Manish A. Mamtani and R. O. Greiling / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 35-48, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.3 --- Microstructure and elastic anisotropy of naturally deformed leucogneiss from a shear zone in Montalto (southern Calabria, Italy) / Rosolino Cirrincione, Eugenio Fazio, Renée Heilbronner, Hartmut Kern, Kurt Mengel, Gaetano Ortolano, Antonino Pezzino and Rosalda Punturo / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 49-68, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.4 --- Geometry of intercrystalline brine in plastically deforming halite rocks: inference from electrical resistivity / Tohru Watanabe / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 69-78, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.5 --- Brittle plus plastic deformation of gypsum aggregates experimentally deformed in torsion to high strains: quantitative microstructural and texture analysis from optical and diffraction data / M. Zucali, V. Barberini, D. Chateigner, B. Ouladdiaf and L. Lutterotti / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 79-98, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.6 --- Numerical modelling of spontaneous slab breakoff dynamics during continental collision / Cyrill Baumann, Taras V. Gerya and James A. D. Connolly / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 99-114, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.7 --- Present-day vertical isostatic readjustment of the Western Alps revealed by numerical modelling and geodetic and seismotectonic data / Annalisa Gardi, Stéphane Baize and Oona Scotti / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 115-128, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.8 --- Block model versus thermomechanical model: new insights on the present-day regional deformation in the surroundings of the Calabrian Arc / Raffaele Splendore, Anna Maria Marotta, Riccardo Barzaghi, Alessandra Borghi and Letizia Cannizzaro / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 129-147, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.9 --- The role of mantle hydration in continental crust recycling in the wedge region / Marco Meda, Anna Maria Marotta and Maria Iole Spalla / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 149-172, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.10 --- Three-dimensional evaluation of fabric evolution and metamorphic reaction progress in polycyclic and polymetamorphic terrains: a case from the Central Italian Alps / Francesca Salvi, Maria Iole Spalla, Michele Zucali and Guido Gosso / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 173-187, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.11 --- The interaction of deformation and metamorphic reactions / Bruce E. Hobbs, Alison Ord, Maria Iole Spalla, Guido Gosso and Michele Zucali / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 332, 189-223, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP332.12

Description / Table of Contents: Elevation data are a critical element in most geoscience applications. From geological mapping to modelling Earth systems and processes geologists need to understand the shape of the Earth's surface. Vast amounts of digital elevation data exist, from large-scale global to smaller scale regional datasets, and many datasets have been merged to improve scale and accuracy. For each application, decisions are made on which elevation data to use driven by cost, resolution and accuracy. This publication shows the current status of available digital elevation data and illustrates the key applications. The types of data assessed include: ASTER stereo satellite imagery, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mapping data, airborne laser and radar such as NEXTMap, and Multibeam Bathymetry. Applications covered include: glacial deposits, landslides, coastal erosion and other geological hazards. Technical issues discussed include: accuracy analysis, derived product creation, software comparisons and copyright considerations. This volume is a comprehensive look at elevation models for geoscience.

Description / Table of Contents: The Earth's climate varies through geological time as a result of external, orbital processes, as well as the positions of continents, growth of mountains and the opening and closure of oceanic gateways. Climate modelling suggests that the intensity of the Asian monsoon should correlate, at least in part, with the uplift history of the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalaya, as well as the evolution of gateways and the retreat of shallow seas in Central Asia. Long-term reconstructions of both mountain building and monsoon activity are key to testing the proposed links. This collection of papers presents a series of new studies documenting the variations of the Asian monsoon on orbital and tectonic timescales, together with the impact this has had on environmental conditions. The issue of which proxies are best suited to measuring monsoons is addressed, as is the effect that the monsoon has had on erosion and the formation of the stratigraphic record both on and offshore.

Description / Table of Contents: The Zagros fold-thrust belt (ZFTB) extends from Turkey to the Hormuz Strait, resulting from the collision of the Arabian and Eurasian plates during Cenozoic times, and separates the Arabian platform from the large plateaux of central Iran. To the east a pronounced syntaxis marks the transition between the Zagros collision belt and the Makran accretionary wedge. In the ZFTB, the Proterozoic to Recent stratigraphic succession pile is involved in huge folds, and offers the opportunity to study the stratigraphic and tectonic evolution of the Palaeo-Tethyan margin. Few recent data were widely available on the southern Tethys margin preserved in the Zagros Mountains. The Middle East Basins Evolution (MEBE) program was an excellent opportunity to go back to the field and to collect new data to better constrain the evolution of this margin. In this volume the structure of the Zagros Mountains is explored through different scales and using different methodologies.

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

Description / Table of Contents: Fjords are glacially over-deepened, semi-enclosed marine basins, but are often neglected as a sedimentary realm. They represent the transition from the terrestrial to the marine environment and as such have the potential to preserve evidence of environmental change. Typically most fjords have been glaciated a number of times and some high-latitude fjords still possess a resident glacier. The stratigraphic record in fjords largely preserves a glacial–deglacial cycle of deposition. Sheltered water and high sedimentation rates potentially make fjords ideal depositional environments for preserving continuous records of climate and environmental change with high temporal resolution. Fjords are also referred to as miniature oceans providing the unique opportunity to study marine processes in great detail. With predictions of warming climates, changing ocean circulation and rising sea levels, this volume is a timely look at these environmentally sensitive coastlines.

Description / Table of Contents: Onshore fold–thrust belts are commonly perceived as ‘difficult’ places to explore for hydrocarbons and are therefore often avoided. However, these belts host large oil and gas fields and so these barriers to effective exploration mean that substantial unexploited resources may remain. Over time, evaluation techniques have improved. It is possible in certain circumstances to achieve good 3D seismic data. Structural restoration techniques have moved into the 3D domain and increasingly sophisticated palaeo-thermal indicators allow better modelling of burial and uplift evolution of source and reservoirs. Awareness of the influence of pre-thrust structure and stratigraphy and of hybrid thick and thin-skinned deformation styles is augmenting the simplistic geometric models employed in earlier exploration. But progress is a slow, expensive and iterative process. Industry and academia need to collaborate in order to develop and continually improve the necessary understanding of subsurface geometries, reservoir and charge evolution and timing; this publication offers papers on specific techniques, outcrop and field case studies.

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

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

Description / Table of Contents: Limestone is a highly successful and widely used building material, found in many important historic buildings and new monuments around the world. Whilst its success reflects its durability under a wide range of environmental conditions, there are still important questions surrounding the selection, use and conservation of building limestones. In order to make best use of new limestone today, and to conserve old limestone most effectively, we need to bring modern research methods to bear on understanding the characteristics of different limestones, what mortars to use, and how key limestones have responded to polluted atmospheres. This volume brings together recent inter-disciplinary research on these issues, illustrating the diversity of innovative techniques that are now being applied to furthering our understanding of building limestones.

Description / Table of Contents: Introduction: Australian geomorphology into the 21st century / Paul Bishop and Brad Pillans / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 1-6, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.1 --- A theory (involving tropical cyclones) on the formation of coarse-grained sand beach ridges in NE Australia / Jonathan Nott / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 7-22, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.2 --- Sheltered sandy beaches of southwestern Australia / A. Travers, M. J. Eliot, I. G. Eliot and M. Jendrzejczak / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 23-42, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.3 --- Are the Murray Canyons offshore southern Australia still active for sediment transport? / S. Schmidt, P. De Deckker, H. Etcheber and S. Caradec / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 43-55, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.4 --- East Australian marine abrasion surface / Bruce G. Thom, Jock B. Keene, Peter J. Cowell and Marc Daley / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 57-69, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.5 --- Geoarchaeology in Australia: understanding human-environment interactions / Simon J. Holdaway and Patricia C. Fanning / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 71-85, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.6 --- Ecogeomorphology in the Australian drylands and the role of biota in mediating the effects of climate change on landscape processes and evolution / David Dunkerley / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 87-120, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.7 --- History of Australian aridity: chronology in the evolution of arid landscapes / Toshiyuki Fujioka and John Chappell / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 121-139, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.8 --- The Australian desert dunefields: formation and evolution in an old, flat, dry continent / Paul P. Hesse / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 141-164, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.9 --- Advances in Quaternary studies in Tasmania / Eric A. Colhoun, Kevin Kiernan, Timothy T. Barrows and Albert Goede / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 165-183, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.10 --- ‘Of droughts and flooding rains’: an alluvial loess record from central South Australia spanning the last glacial cycle / David Haberlah, Peter Glasby, Martin A. J. Williams, Steven M. Hill, Frances Williams, Edward J. Rhodes, Victor Gostin, Anthony O'Flaherty and Geraldine E. Jacobsen / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 185-223, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.11 --- Eroding Australia: rates and processes from Bega Valley to Arnhem Land / Arjun M. Heimsath, John Chappell and Keith Fifield / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 225-241, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.12 --- Tectonic geomorphology of Australia / Mark C. Quigley, Dan Clark and Mike Sandiford / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 243-265, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.13 --- Lithology and the evolution of bedrock rivers in post-orogenic settings: constraints from the high-elevation passive continental margin of SE Australia / Paul Bishop and Geoff Goldrick / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 267-287, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.14 --- Rethinking eastern Australian caves / R. A. L. Osborne / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 289-308, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.15 --- Oxygen-isotope dating the Yilgarn regolith / Allan. R. Chivas and Julius. R. Atlhopheng / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 346, 309-320, 1 January 2010, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP346.16

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

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