Since its first application to geodynamical problems, GPS geodesy has gradually revealed the nature of motion and deformation for most active areas of deformation across the Earth. One of the last remaining regionalscale problems is the motion and associated deformation in the peri-Adriatic region. Selected local-scale studies have examined aspects of this motion, but to date no regional team has systematically attacked the full regional scope of designed to bring together an international group of scientists working in the peri-Adriatic region to: (1) review research activities and results completed to date, (2) share technical expertise, and (3) provide a springboard for future collaborative research on Adria geodynamics <...>

The vast region of Siberia is expected to experience potentially rapid land-cover changes, which are among the earliest indicators of the Earth’s response to climate warming. Moreover, climate change affects both the boreal ecosystems and socioeconomic infrastructure.

The promise of the Spacefaring Age - the era of human activities in space - is that it will link human expertise to the unlimited resources of space. When that linkage is established, the people of Earth will be supplied with an abundance of energy and material resources from space; the solar system will be explored in depth; human settlements will be established on multiple planets and moons; and voyages to the stars will be undertaken. The present “closed Earth” mindset - of limits to human potential related to the depletion of Earth’s resources and the vital need to preserve Earth’s environment - will be replaced by a much grander “open space’’ vision of broad-scale human advancements based upon access to unlimited resources and the opening of endless frontiers. <...>

At a time of surplus of nearly all metals and the inevitable closing of many mining operations, it is a matter of the industry's survival to seek new commodities that are in high demand. The lanthanides, better known as the rare-earth elements (REE), tantalum (Ta) and niobium (Nb) are among the promising alternatives. Bibliographies of the metallogeny and related aspects of these elements are surprisingly short, despite their rapidly increasing importance in modern technology. A need to review and condense the available expertise has been ernerging in the recent past <...>

Structural geology is the study of deformation features in rocks from microscopic to map scale. The required data are collected in field and supplemented by laboratory studies, aerial photographs, satellite imageries, and subsurface data (mostly obtained by geophysical methods). A geologist must explore an area with an open mind and interpretations and hypothesis must be based on actual field observations.

This book is a reflection of my enthusiasm for the quantitative treatment of geological problems. However, I am originally a field geologist and over the years I had to rely on the help of many who are more numerically literate than myself to teach me the wonders of quantitative geodynamics. Many of those are acknowledged in the first edition of this book. Of those who helped me with this 2nd edition, my special thanks go to S Hergarten and J Robl.

When the high mountains call, then they come: The hikers and mountaineers, pupils, students, scientists, the juniors, the seniors, and the moderate or the extreme ones. All of them come and they come with pleasure. There are no exact numbers, but it might be millions annually who travel into the high mountains of the world.

This volume is the latest of eight books as a result of the activities of the scientific program on ”The Response of the Earth System to Impact Processes” (IMPACT) of the European Science Foundation (ESF). The ESF is the European association of national funding organisations of fundamental research, with more than 60 member organisations from more than 20 countries.

The objectives of this book are twofold. On the one hand, it is aimed at describing the present physical state of the Aral Sea (Chapter 3) as well as identifying likely future scenarios (Chapter 4) based on the data recently collected from the lake.

The book MATLAB Recipes for Earth Sciences is designed to help undergraduate and PhD students, postdocs, and professionals to fi nd quick solutions for common problems in data analysis in earth sciences.