Many geologists, particularly those in industry, have commented adversely on the adequacy of university geology courses as a realistic precursor to a vocational career in any branch of the earth sciences other than in the universities themselves. This volume, among other things, is evidence that university staff are concerned about this situation and are introducing the reality, stringency and urgency of industry into areas where, until recently, they have been absent or poorly represented. In this context the study of volcanic processes belongs almost entirely to academics, whereas ore genesis, although a fascinating intellectual subiect, is of prime concern to the mining industry.

Production of this book has depended on generous financial support from sponsors of the Key Centre for Ore Deposit and Exploration Studies, in particular, the Tasmanian Department of «Mines, Aberfoyle Resources, ВНР Exploration, CRA Exploration, Geopeko, Pancontinental, Pasminco, RGC Exploration and Western Mining Corporation.

Although the material presented comes principally from the collections of J.McP and RLA. we made use of some thin-sections, hand specimens and photographs contributed by colleagues: Stephen Abborr, Guillermo Alvarado. David Cooke. Keith Corbea, Bruce Gemmell. Bruce Houghton, John Waters, Matthew While and Colin Wilson. We are further indebted tо Aberfoyle Resources and Pasminco for usc of many sample from drillcore stores at Hellyer and Rosebery.

Professor Ross large initiated the projecr and provided much appreciated cncouragement throughout irs realisation. The first draft was substantially revised after reviews by Stuart Bull and Ross Large (CODES); Fergus Fitzgerald (Pasminco Exploration), Malcolm Howells (British Geological Survey/, Noel White (ВНР) and Hiromitsu Yamagishi (Geological Survey of Hokkaido).

The production team included June Pongratz (design and desktop publishing), Jcancttc I lankin and Kirst)' Whalcy (typing!- Debbie Flardmg (draughting). Simon Stephens and Naomi Dcards (thin-section and slab preparation). Fred Koolhof (technical advice and some photography) and Alison Jones (final editing).

The distribution of volcanism in the African plate refl ects a variety of processes, many of which are poorly understood, involving interaction between the lithosphere and the underlying convective mantle. Despite the maturity of the plate tectonic paradigm, our knowledge of the processes involved in the breakup of continents and the formation of new ocean basins remains limited.

Natural geologic hazards arise from the interaction between humansс and the Earth’s natural processes. Recent natural disasters such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed more than a quarter million people and earthquakes in Iran, Turkey, and Japan have shown how the motion of the Earth’s tectonic plates can suddenly make apparently safe environments dangerous or even deadly. Th e slow sinking of the land surface along many seashores has made many of the world’s coastal regions prone to damage by ocean storms, as shown disastrously by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.