Vallée (1998) indicated that few exploration and mining companies have explicit and systematic quality-assurance policies, and identified three main approaches: laissez-fair, catch-as-catch-can, and systematic quality control, the latter being very uncommon. In the author’s experience, this situation has not significantly improved in the intervening twelve years.
Prehistoric birds are often overshadowed in the public consciousness by their larger dinosaurian relatives; Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, and decidedly non-bird-like (fictional) portrayals of “raptors” dominate the prehistoric landscape in popular culture from film to TV to video games. Ask even enthusiastic young dinosaur fans to name a few prehistoric birds, and most will be stumped after the obvious choice: Archaeopteryx, the famous “first bird” (or “urvogel”, an increasingly popular term for the Bavarian fossil species). However, we now know that Mesozoic birds were incredibly diverse, and discoveries since the late 1990s have shown that some of the most popular and well-known dinosaurs, including the “raptors”, may be included among them <...>
There is an ever-growing wealth of mammalian fossil material being collected from palaeontological and archaeological sites in southern Africa. This reference provides comprehensive information on the taxonomy and distribution in time and space of all currently recognised southern African fossil mammals. After an introductory background chapter on southern Africa, mammals, sites and dating, the following chapters are presented by epoch, covering the Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene. Individual maps provide information on where in the landscape specific taxa have been found, and a comprehensive index lists all the fauna and site locations. It ends with a chapter on how the book can be used, and lines of future research. Collecting a vast amount of information together in an accessible format, this is an essential reference for non-specialist taxonomists and palaeontologists, as well as for those using fossil data for other applications, such as archaeology, neontology and nature conservation. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
The Seventh Edition of A Geology for Engineers has been written to provide students of engineering with a recent text in geology for use during their first degree in Civil Engineering or Mining. As with previous editions, we have attempted to explain both the subject of geology and its relevance to engineering work in rock and soil.
A Geology of Media forms the third and final part of the trilogy of media ecologies: from the viral worlds of Digital Contagions (2007) to the swarms of Insect Media (2010), the focus has been on the digital materialism that tied animals and ecology as part of theory and narratives of history. A Geology of Media is more focused on the nonorganic and yet connects with the concerns of the two: how to think the continuum between nature and technology? <...>
“Prevention is better than cure” has been the leitmotiv of UNESCO, since its creation, in addressing world problems: prevention through education at all levels and in all sectors, the advancement of science and its applications, cultural development and adequate information. Whether in facing wars, conflicts or in coping with hazards, natural and technological in origin, UNESCO has constantly favoured an educational, scientific and cultural approach that sees anticipation as the only possible solution. It is the only possible cost-effective way of dealing with potential risks and disasters. It is of vital importance that the world community takes the long-term view and learns to be proactive rather than reactive.
In 1988, at the request of members of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME), Inc., the President of SME formed Working Party #79, Ore Reserve Definition, with the mission to develop guidelines for the public reporting of exploration information, resources, and reserves. A Subcommittee was appointed by the Working Party to draft these guidelines and submit recommendations to SME. The Subcommittee’s recommendations were published by SME in the April 1991 issue of “Mining Engineering”, and as a document entitled “A Guide for Reporting Exploration Information, Resources, and Reserves” in January 1992. Work continued on an ad-hoc basis until 1996, when Working Party #79 was renamed the SME Committee on Resources and Reserves and became a standing committee. <...>
Foraminifera have an evolutionary history that extends back to the Cambrian, more than 525 million years ago. Since then, they have radiated and evolved. To date, approximately 60,000 fossil and modern species have been validly recognized (LANGER, 2011), and an estimated 10,000 species (including only 40-50 planktonic species) are still living (VICKERMAN, 1992), constituting the most diverse group of shelled microorganisms in modern oceans (SEN GUPTA, 1999). These small-sized organisms, usually 0.1 to 1 mm, may be very abundant, and tens of thousands living specimens per square meter may be found in some environments (WETMORE, 1995). Their mineralized tests (shells) usually get preserved in the sediment after the death of the organism and may constitute a major, sometimes the dominant, part of many modern or fossil sediments (fig. 1). They are easy to collect, and their high-density populations provide an adequate statistical base, even in small volume samples, to perform environmental analyses, making them a powerful tool for environmental assessment. <...>
