Sedimentation and Tectonics in Rift Basins: Red Sea - Gulf of Aden presents new case studies and synthesises the results of recent research on the sedimentological evolution of the Red Sea - Gulf of Aden rift system. This rift basin is generally regarded as the best natural geological laboratory in the world in which to study the processes of rift formation. Uplift of the rift margins in an arid climate results in extensive three-dimensional exposures of pre- and syn-rift strata and associated structures. These serve as analogues for the understanding and hydrocarbon exploration of deeper buried rift-systems on continental margins such as the North Sea and the Atlantic margins. The Red Sea - Gulf of Aden rift is also exceptional in that its stratigraphy spans all stages from pre-rift environments, syn-rift continental to marine environments through the rift to drift transition to post-rift sea-floor spreading. The work is arranged in eight sections: following a review of the sedimentology and stratigraphy of rift basins, the magmatism and structural evolution of the Red Sea - Gulf of Aden rift is reviewed. Subsequently, new case studies are presented of the early rifting environment, syn-rift sedimentation, tectonics and diagenesis, evaporites and salt tectonics. Post-rift sediments of the axial trough are then discussed along with studies of reefs, coastal zone and shelf sediments, and the tectonic geomorphology of the rift margin escarpment. This work results from extensive new research in the rift basin largely carried out under collaborative research projects by European and Middle Eastern geologists. It will be an invaluable reference work for geoscientists in the hydrocarbon, groundwater and mineral extraction industries, as well as for researchers in university departments of earth sciences, mining and physical geography.

There are many different approaches to the study of past climates. This is well illustrated by the special publication of the Geological Society. The volume comprises seventeen papers which were presented at the Second European Palaeontological Congress held in Vienna in 1997. In this volume more than half the papers deal with the Quaternary. Despite the title I see no papers dealing with present climates.

This is the first book in English reviewing and updating the geology of the whole Apennines, one of the recent most uplifted mountains in the world. The Apennines are the place from which Steno (1669) first stated the principles of geology. The Apennines also represent amongst others, the finding/testing sites of processes and products like volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, olistostromes and mélanges (argille scagliose), salinity crisis, geothermal fluids, thrust-top basins, and turbidites (first represented in a famous Leonardo's painting). As such, the Apennines are a testing and learning ground readily accessible and rich of any type of field data. A growing literature is available most of which is not published in widely available journals. The objective of the book is to provide a synthesis of current data and ideas on the Apennines, for the most part simply written and suitable for an international audience. However, sufficient details and in-depth analyses of the various complex settings have been presented to make this material useful to professional scholars and to students of senior university courses.

Tectonic motion of the Adria microplate exerts a first-order control on the tectonics, geology, seismology, resource distribution, and the geological hazards across a broad zone of south-central Europe and the north-central Mediterranean. Since its first application to geodynamical problems, GPS geodesy has gradually revealed the nature of motion and deformation for most active areas of deformation across the Earth. One of the last remaining regional-scale problems on the planet is the motion and associated deformation in the peri-Adriatic region. Selected local-scale studies have examined aspects of this motion, but to date no truly regional analysis or regional team has systematically attacked the full breadth of this problem. A NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) was held in Veszprém, Hungary from April 4-7, 2004. This workshop brought together a distinguished international group of scientists working in the peri-Adriatic region to: (1) review research activities and results, (2) share technical expertise, and (3) provide a springboard for future collaborative research on Adria geodynamics. Areas of agreement were identified, as well as remaining areas of debate. In addition, attention focused on important scientific questions and the potential for international and interdisciplinary research in the future.

This book provides an updated 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-orogenic 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, marine geology.

This volume arises from the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on 'North African Cretaceous rudist and coral formations and their contributions to carbonate platform development , which was held in Tunisia, on 13-18 May, 2002. It was convened by M. El Hedi Negra (Universite 7 Novembre de Carthage, now Universite de Tunis El Manar, Tunisia) and Eulalia Gili (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain). The aims of the ARW were: (1) to review and critically assess currently available data on rudist/coral formations in North African Cretaceous carbonate platforms, and their correlations, and to integrate these data with other studies around the Mediterranean; (2) to place the findings in a global context, noting both similarities with other regions of platform development as well as local differences, and (3) exploring possible reasons for these; and to help promote the creation of a vibrant peri-Mediterranean collaborative research community, embracing researchers from the entire region, to carry forward this ambitious research programme. Twenty-two presentations (oral and poster) provided both topical reviews (covering rudist evolution, and ecology, mineralogical changes, applications of strontium isotope, and graphic correlation methods, and platform typology) as well as regional syntheses (Tunisian reservoirs, Moroccan platform history, Tunisian platforms and rudist/coral facies, Algerian platforms, and Egyptian platforms). Fifteen of these presentations are expanded here as papers. The workshop was attended by 24 academic staff, 4 geologists from the oil industry, plus several observers and students.