The researches resulting in this massive book have been initiated by S. Vacaru fifteen years ago when he prepared a second Ph. Thesis in Mathematical Physics. Studying Finsler–Lagrange geometries he became aware of the potential applications of these geometries in exploring nonlinear aspects and nontrivial symmetries arising in various models of gravity, classical and quantum field theory and geometric mechanics. <...>

In recent years media attention has focused on global climate change and the impacts on the human experience that this may cause. This interest has stimulated earth scientists into a re-appraisal of the rates of change seen in the geological record and which, for years, had been taken for granted. Climatic modelling and other palaeoclimate assessments have reversed the geological adage that the 'present is the key to the past' into 'the past may be the key to the future'. This renewed interest was the driving force behind the European Palaeontological Association's Congress in Vienna <...>

Climatic Geomorphology constitutes a new look at a fairly old subject that has been largely ignored in other more recent trends in the field, particularly in much process geomorphology. But now Mateo Guti6rrez, well-known Professor of Geomorphology at the University of Zaragoza in northeast Spain, has presented us with this new volume, translated into English by ten of his colleagues.

This volume comprises the invited keynote papers given at the International Symposium on Coal and Coal-bearing Strata held at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (University of London) from April 8th to 10th 1986. The authors were asked to consider progress in their field over the past 15 years in particular. Some additional contributions were solicited to fill gaps in the coverage. In this volume I have tried to put together a balanced view of the field and where possible asked the authors to use a similar terminology and to make reference to other contributions in the volume. Other contributions at the conference have been published in the Journal of the Geological Society of London. It is hoped that this volume will not only be of interest to researchers but also to lecturers and students alike.
I thank the Geological Society of London, the Geology Department of Royal Holloway and Bedford New College and British Coal for financial help for organizing the conference. I thank Professor A. J. Smith and Miss S. Clay for their support. Finally I thank all the authors for their presentations at the conference and all the referees who undertook the task of reviewing the papers.