2002 Issues

Edited by: Mark Jessell

General Contributions in 2002 include a study of hydrothermal alteration and platinum deposition in the Oman Ophiolite, and a 3D Model of an active extensional system.

Edited by: Wouter Schellart

Analogue modelling has been applied to study geological processes since the beginning of the 19th century to provide qualitative and quantitative insights into specific geological problems. The advantage of analogue models is that they offer the opportunity to investigate the individual influence of different parameters on geological processes. Furthermore, boundary conditions can be set according to the needs of the experimenter. Also, they offer the opportunity to study the 3D structural evolution of a specific model, thus supplying a clear coherent kinematic picture, which can help with the interpretation of natural prototypes. Since the modelling technique can be readily applied to offer solutions for three-dimensional problems involving large strains, it can offer invaluable new insights into geological problems, which are intrinsically three-dimensional and often involve large amounts of strain.

Edited by: Gordon S. Lister

The Alpine-Himalayan belt is a young orogen, a continuous belt of Mesozoic and Cenozoic deformation stretching from Spain to New Zealand.

The advent of plate tectonics 35 years ago provided an explanation for the large-scale plate kinematics associated with Alpine-Himalayan orogeny. However, when it comes to details, plate tectonics has proved to be insufficient to reconstruct this complex system. In reality, the Alpine-Himalayan orogen has been subjected to numerous processes involving motions of smaller continental ribbons, retreating subduction systems, back-arc extension and accretion of magmatic arcs.

In order to reconstruct the Alpine-Himalayan system, we need to analyse data derived from multidisciplinary sources and develop sets of spatio-temporal constraints. We can then test these constraints against a set of possible alternative reconstructions.

Edited by: Andy Bobyarchick

This volume deals with visualization, teaching and learning in structural geology, with contributions including the animation of refold structures, quicktime movies of rotating porphyroblasts, a virtual strain machine, and interactive 3D geologic blocks.