ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: Contents: New techniques in sediment core analysis: an introduction, R G Rothwell and F R Rack .- The Eagle III BKA system, a novel sediment core X-ray fluorescence analyser with very high spatial resolution, M Haschke. - The AVAATECH XRF Core Scanner: technical description and applications to NE Atlantic sediments, T O Richter, S Van Der Gaast, R Koster, A Vaars, R Gieles, H C de Stigter, H de Haas and T C E van Weering . - ITRAX: description and evaluation of a new multi-function X-ray core scanner, I W Croudace, A Rindby and R G Rothwell. - A geochemical application of the ITRAX scanner to a sediment core containing eastern Mediterranean sapropel units, J Thomson, I W Croudace and R G Rothwell . - Turbidite emplacement on the southern Balearic Abyssal Plain (western Mediterranean Sea) during Marine Isotope Stages 1-3: an application of ITRAX XRF scanning of sediment cores to lithostratigraphic analysis, R G Rothwell, B Hoogakker, J Thomson, I W Croudace and M Frenz. - Colour logging as a tool in high-resolution palaeoceanography, M Rogerson, P P E Weaver, E J Rohling, L J Lourens, J W Murray and A Hayes . - Sediment colour analysis from digital images and correlation with sediment composition, A J Nederbragt, R B Dunbar, A T Osborn, A Palmer, J W Thurow and T Wagner . - Sediment mineralogy based on visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy, R D Jarrard and M D Vanden Berg . - Applications of confocal macroscope microscope luminescence imaging to sediment cores, A C Ribes, F R Rack, G Tsintzouras, S Damaskinos and A E Dixon . - Pressure coring, logging and sub-sampling with the HYACINTH system, P J Schultheiss, T J G Francis, M Holland, J A Roberts, H Amann, Thjunjoto, R J Parkes, D Martin, M Rothfuss, F Tyunder, and P D Jackson . - On-site geological core analysis using a portable X-ray computed tomographic system, B M Freifeld, T J Kneafsey and F R Rack . - Nuclear magnetic resonance pore-scale investigation of permafrost and gas hydrate sediments, R L Kleinberg . - Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging methods for core analysis, Q Chen, F R Rack and B J Balcom . - Rapid non-contacting resistivity logging of core, P D Jackson, M A Lovell, J A Roberts, P J Schultheiss, D Gunn, R C Flint, A Wood, R Holmes and T Frederichs . - Logging-while-coring - new technology from the simultaneous recovery of downhole cores and geophysical measurements, D Goldberg, G Myers, G J Iturrino, K Grigar, T Pettigrew and S Mrozewski . - Integration of the stratigraphic aspects of the very large sea-floor databases using information processing, C Jenkins, J Flocks and M Kulp . - Core data stewardship: a long-term perspective, C J Moore and R E Habermann. - The Janus database: providing worldwide access to ODP and IODP data, R Mithal and D G Becker.

Description / Table of Contents: The Eastern Mediterranean region is a classic area for the study of tectonic processes and settings related to the development of the Tethyan orogenic belt. The present set of research and synthesis papers by Earth scientists from countries in this region and others provides an up-to-date, interdisciplinary overview of the tectonic development of the Eastern Mediterranean region from Precambrian to Recent. Key topics include continental rifting, ophiolite genesis and emplacement, continental collision, extensional tectonics, crustal exhumation and intra-plate deformation (e.g. active faulting). Alternative tectonic reconstructions of the Tethyan orogen are presented and discussed, with important implications for other regions of the world. The book will be an essential source of information and interpretation for academic researchers (geologists and geophysicists), advanced undergraduates and also for industry professionals, including those concerned with hydrocarbons, minerals and geological hazards (e.g. earthquakes).

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

Description / Table of Contents: Analogue and numerical sandbox model. - Models of orogenic processes. - Models of sedimentary basins. - Models of surface processes and deformation. - Models of faults and fluid flow .

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

Description / Table of Contents: 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: Since Karl Pearson wrote his paper on spurious correlation in 1897, a lot has been said about the statistical analysis of compositional data, mainly by geologists such as Felix Chayes. The solution appeared in the 1980s, when John Aitchison proposed to use Iogratios. Since then, the approach has seen a great expansion, mainly building on the idea of the ‘natural geometry’ of the sample space. Statistics is expected to give sense to our perception of the natural scale of the data, and this is made possible for compositional data using Iogratios. This publication will be a milestone in this process. This book will be of interest to geologists using statistical methods. It includes the intuitive justification of the methodology, convincing through case studies and presenting user-friendly software, which includes a section for those who need to see the proof of the mathematical consistency of the methods used.

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

Description / Table of Contents: 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: This collection of 27 review and research papers provides an overview of the geodynamic concepts of channel flow and ductile extrusion in continental collision zones. The focal point tor this volume is the proposal that the middle or lower crust acts as a ductile, partially molten channel flowing out from beneath areas of over-thickened crust, such as the Tibetan plateau, towards the topographic surface at plateau margins. This controversial proposal explains many features related to the geodynamic evolution of the plateau and, for example, extrusion and exhumation of the crystalline core of the Himalayan mountain chain to the south. In this volume thermal-mechanical models for channel flow, extrusion and exhumation are presented, and geological and geophysical evidence both for and against the applicability of such models to the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau system, as well as older continental collision zones such as the Hellenides, the Appalachians and the Canadian Cordillera, are discussed.

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

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

Description / Table of Contents: The Eastern Mediterranean region is a classic area for the study of tectonic processes and settings related to the development of the Tethyan orogenic belt. The present set of research and synthesis papers by Earth scientist from countries in this region and others provides an up-to-date, interdisciplinary overview of the tectonic development of the Eastern Mediterrenean region from Precambrian to Recent. Key topics include continental rifting, ophiolite genesis and emplacement, continental collision, extensional tectonics, crustal exhumation and intraplate deformation (e.g. active faulting). Alternative tectonic reconstructions of the Tethyan orogen are presented and discussed, with important implications for other regions of the world. The book will be an essential source of information and interpretation for academic researchers (geologists and geophysicists), advanced undergraduates and also for industry professionals, including those concerned with hydrocarbons, minerals and geological hazards (e.g. earthquakes).

Description / Table of Contents: 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: Analogue and Numerical Sandbox Models --- Analogue benchmarks of shortening and extension experiments / Guido Schreurs, Susanne J. H. Buiter, David Boutelier, Giacomo Corti, Elisabetta Costa, Alexander R. Cruden, Jean-Marc Daniel, Silvan Hoth, Hemin A. Koyi, Nina Kukowski, Jo Lohrmann, Antonio Ravaglia, Roy W. Schlische, Martha Oliver Withjack, Yasuhiro Yamada, Cristian Cavozzi, Chiara Del Ventisette, Jennifer A. Elder Brady, Arne Hoffmann-Rothe, Jean-Marie Mengus, Domenico Montanari and Faramarz Nilforoushan / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 1-27, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.01 --- The numerical sandbox: comparison of model results for a shortening and an extension experiment / Susanne J. H. Buiter, Andrey Yu. Babeyko, Susan Ellis, Taras V. Gerya, Boris J. P. Kaus, Antje Kellner, Guido Schreurs and Yasuhiro Yamada / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 29-64, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.02 --- Models of Orogenic Processes --- Interaction between normal faults and pre-existing thrust systems in analogue models / Giacomo Corti, Serena Lucia, Marco Bonini, Federico Sani and Francesco Mazzarini / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 65-78, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.03 --- Surface topography and internal strain variation in wide hot orogens from three-dimensional analogue and two-dimensional numerical vice models / Alexander R. Cruden, Mohammad H. B. Nasseri and Russell Pysklywec / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 79-104, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.04 --- Relative importance of trenchward upper plate motion and friction along the plate interface for the topographic evolution of subduction-related mountain belts / Andrea Hampel and Adrian Pfiffner / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 105-115, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.05 --- Deformation transfer in viscous detachments: comparison of sandbox models to the South Pyrenean Triangle Zone / Hemin A. Koyi and Maura Sans / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 117-134, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.06 --- Analogue modelling of a reactivated, basement controlled strike-slip zone, Sierra de Albarracín, Spain: application of sandbox modelling to polyphase deformation / S. Merten, W. G. Smit, D. A. Nieuwland and H. E. Rondeel / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 135-152, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.07 --- Lithospheric scale gravitational flow: the impact of body forces on orogenic processes from Archaean to Phanerozoic / Patrice F. Rey and Gregory Houseman / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 153-167, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.08 --- Analogue and numerical modelling of accretionary prisms with a décollement in sediments / Yasuhiro Yamada, Kei Baba and Toshifumi Matsuoka / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 169-183, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.09 --- Models of Sedimentary Basins --- Integrated four-dimensional modelling of sedimentary basin architecture and hydrocarbon migration / S. M. Clarke, S. D. Burley, G. D. Williams, A. J. Richards, D. J. Meredith and S. S. Egan / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 185-211, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.10 --- Rifting through a heterogeneous crust: insights from analogue models and application to the Gulf of Corinth / L. Mattioni, L. Le Pourhiet and I. Moretti / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 213-231, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.11 --- 3D modelling of rifting through a pre-existing stack of nappes in the Gulf of Corinth (Greece): a mixed analogue/numerical approach / L. Le Pourhiet, L. Mattioni and I. Moretti / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 233-252, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.12 --- Inversion of a symmetric basin: insights from a comparison between analogue and numerical experiments / M. Panien, S. J. H. Buiter, G. Schreurs and O. A. Pfiffner / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 253-270, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.13 --- Lower crustal rheological expression in inverted basins / Mike Sandiford, David L. Hansen and Sandra N. McLaren / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 271-283, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.14 --- Geometric and experimental models of extensional fault-bend folds / Martha O. Withjack and Roy W. Schlische / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 285-305, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.15 --- Models of Surface Processes and Deformation --- Recent advances and current problems in modelling surface processes and their interaction with crustal deformation / Jean Braun / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 307-325, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.16 --- Macroscale dynamics of experimental landscapes / Stephane Bonnet and Alain Crave / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 327-339, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.17 --- Numerical modelling of erosion processes in the Himalayas of Nepal: effects of spatial variations of rock strength and precipitation / V. Godard, J. Lavé and R. Cattin / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 341-358, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.18 --- Models of Faults and Fluid Flow --- Effects of compaction processes on stresses, faults, and fluid flow in sedimentary basins: examples from the Norwegian margin / Knut Bjørlykke / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 359-379, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.19 --- Multiple faults in ductile simple shear: analogue models of flanking structure systems / Ulrike Exner, Bernhard Grasemann and Neil S. Mancktelow / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 381-395, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.20 --- Using an elastic dislocation model to investigate static Coulomb stress change scenarios for earthquake ruptures in the eastern Marmara Sea region, Turkey / Jordan R. Muller, Atilla Aydin and Tim J. Wright / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 397-414, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.21 --- Oil reservoirs in foreland basins charged by thrustbelt source rocks: insights from numerical stress modelling and geometric balancing in the West Carpathians / Michal Nemčok and Andreas Henk / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 415-428, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.22 --- Relation between effective friction and fault slip rate across the Northern San Andreas fault system / Ann-Sophie Provost and Jean Chéry / Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 253, 429-436, 1 January 2006, https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.23

Description / Table of Contents: Large caldera collapses represent catastrophic natural events, second only to large meteoritic impacts. In addition, some calderas are densely populated, making the risk extreme, even for moderate eruptions. Understanding caldera mechanisms, unrest and the danger of eruption is therefore a crucial challenge for Earth sciences. Several key features of caldera behaviour have yet to be fully understood. Through a combination of case studies and theoretical modelling, the following topics are addressed in this volume: the conditions required to produce and to release large volumes of magma erupted during caldera formation; how magmatic feeding systems evolve before and after a caldera has formed; the processes that limit the behaviour of precursors to eruptions; how pre-emptive precursors can be distinguished from those that drive unrest without an eruption; and given that post-collapse eruptions may occur across a wide area, the optimum procedures for designing hazard maps and mitigation strategies.

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

Description / Table of Contents: Marine sediment cores are the fundamental data source for information on seabed character, depositional history and environmental change. They provide raw data for a wide range of research including studies of climate change, palaeoceanography, slope stability, oil exploration, pollution assessment and control, seafloor survey for laying cables, pipelines and construction of seafloor structures. During the last three decades, a varied suite of new technologies have been developed to analyse cores, often non-destructively, to produce high-quality, closely spaced, co-located downcore measurements. These techniques can characterize sediment physical properties, geochemistry and composition in unprecedented detail. Palaeoenvironmentally significant proxies can now be logged at decadal, and in some cases, annual or sub-annual scales, allowing highly detailed insights into climatic history and associated environmental change. These advances have had a profound effect on many aspects of the Earth Sciences and our understanding of the Earth's history. In this volume, recent advances in analytical and logging technology and their application to the analysis of sediment cores are presented. Developments in providing access to core data and associated datasets, and advances in data mining technology in order to integrate and interpret new and legacy datasets within the wider context of seafloor studies are also discussed.

Description / Table of Contents: During the Permian, the single supercontinent Pangaea stretched from pole to pole. Early Permian glacial deposits are found in southern Gondwana. Along the sutures of Pangaea, mountain ranges towered over vast tropical lowlands. Interior areas included dry deserts where dune sands accumulated. Gypsum and halite beds document the evaporation of hot, shallow seas that formed the most extensive salt deposits in the geological record. The Permian period (251 to 299 Ma) encompasses nine ages (stages) arranged into three epochs (series). Most of the Permian marine timescale has been defined by global stratotype sections and points for the stage boundaries. This volume presents new data regarding the biostratigraphy and biochronology of the non-marine Permian and provides a basis for temporally ordering Permian geological and biotic history on land, and correlating that history to events in the marine realm.

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

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