The scientific achievements of the European Geotraverse Committee (EGT) are presented in this unique study of the tectonic evolution of the continent of Europe and the first comprehensive cross section of the continental lithosphere.
Presenting a coherent synthesis of lithosphere studies, this book covers a range of geophysical methods (seismic reflection, refraction, and receiver function methods; elastic and anelastic seismic tomography; electromagnetic and magnetotelluric methods; thermal, gravity and rheological models), complemented by petrologic and laboratory data on rock properties. It also provides a critical discussion of the uncertainties, assumptions, and resolution issues that are inherent in the different methods and models of the lithosphere. Multidisciplinary in scope, global in geographical extent, and covering a wide variety of tectonics settings across 3.5 billion years of Earth history, this book presents a comprehensive overview of lithospheric structure and evolution. It is a core reference for researchers and advanced students in geophysics, geodynamics, tectonics, petrology, and geochemistry, and for petroleum and mining industry professionals.
The eruption of deep-seated xenoliths in basaltic, alnoitic, kimberlitic, etc volcanoes provides the geologist with an important direct means of examining the fragments of the earth's mantle and lower crust.
In this book, the first dedicated entirely to the petrology of lamproites and their relationships to other potassium-rich rocks, the objective of the authors is to provide a comprehensive critical review of the occurrence, mineralogy, geochemistry, and petrogenesis of the clan. Although lamproites represent one of the rarest of all rock types, they are both economically and scientifically important and we believe the time is ripe for a review of the advances made in their petrology over the past two decades. Many of these advances stem from the recognition of diamond-bearing lamproites in Western Australia and the reclassification of several anomalous diamond-bearing kim berlites as lamproites. Consequently lamproites, previously of interest only to a small number of mineralogists specializing in exotica outside the mainstream of igneous petrol ogy, have become prime targets for diamond exploration on a worldwide basis. Contemporaneously with these developments, petrologists realized that lamproites possess isotopic signatures complementary to those of midoceanic ridge basalts, alkali basalts, kimberlites, and other mantle-derived melts. These isotopic studies provided new insights into the long-term development of the mantle by suggesting that the source regions of lamproites were metasomatically enriched in light rare earth and other incompatible elements up to 1-2 Ga prior to the melting events leading to generation of the magma.