This book deals with recent developments in evolutionary models for convergent margins. Reflecting transient modes for oceanic plate convergence, such boundaries are sites of varied tectonic processes, which provoke vigorous material recycling and frequent natural disasters such as massive earthquakes and catastrophic volcanism. Therefore, the origin of their diversity has long been one of the most significant themes in Earth science. The important scientific results obtained by prominent researchers who contributed chapters to this book pave the way for further in-depth studies on mobile belt frontiers, where harsh conditions hinder efforts to understand the Earth's spatiotemporal changes.

This publication shows the three-dimensional configuration of the gigantic tectonic sag of the Osaka Bay sedimentary basin on the eastern Eurasian margin based on reflection seismic data never before published. The basin has developed relatively quickly since the dawn of the Quaternary. High-resolution subsurface images on the profiles provide highly valuable information about the architecture of active faults, paleoenvironmental changes, and mass balance on the convergent margin. The book presents an excellent case study of a tectonically controlled basin because morphologies and evolutionary processes of such basins show an enormous diversity, reflecting spatiotemporal variation in tectonic stress. Furthermore, this volume provides insight into the general mechanism of sedimentary basin formation. The quantitative analyses contained here will be thought-provoking for industry experts, academics, and graduate and undergraduate students engaged in geologic survey and civil engineering. The contents will be especially useful to professionals in the fields of Quaternary geology, neotectonics, and active fault research.

Subduction is a major process that plays a first-order role in the dynamics of the Earth. The sinking of cold lithosphere into the mantle is thought by many authors to be the most important source of energy for plates driving forces. It also deeply modifies the thermal and chemical structure of the mantle, producing arc volcanism and is responsible for the release of most of the seismic energy on Earth. There has been considerable achievements done during the past decades regarding the complex interactions between the various processes acting in subduction zones. This volume contains a collection of contributions that were presented in June 2007 in Montpellier (France) during a conference that gave a state of the art panorama and discussed the perspectives about "Subduction Zone Geodynamics". The papers included in this special volume offer a unique multidisciplinary picture of the recent research on subduction zones geodynamics. They are organized into five main topics: Subduction zone geodynamics, Seismic tomography and anisotropy, Great subduction zone earthquakes, Seismogenic zone characterization, Continental and ridge subduction processes. Each of the 13 papers collected in the present volume is primarily concerned with one of these topics. However, it is important to highlight that papers always treat more than one topic so that all are related lighting on different aspects of the complex and fascinating subduction zones geodynamics.

Convergent plate margins are important places for material and energy recycling of the Earth, in particular major sites for continental growth, reworking, and recycling. They exhibit as narrow belt structure in the rigid outer layer of the Earth, corresponding to subduction zones at lithospheric mantle depths and orogenic belts at crustal depths. The type, geometry, and thermal structure of subduction zones have critical impacts on subduction processes and nature of products, resulting in a variety of magmatic rocks and ore deposits at convergent margins. Identification and classification of the physical structure and chemical variation at convergent margins as well as confirming their correlation with specific subduction types and stages are of pivotality to understand the spatiotemporal interaction between asthenosphere and lithosphere in orogenic belts. For places where magmatic arcs get partially or entirely destroyed by surface and/or subduction erosion, adjacent sedimentary rocks are ideal geological records for paleotectonic reconstruction.

Despite decades of study, fundamental aspects of the development of the Earth’s crust remain enigmatic. This book presents geophysical and geological studies obtained from different tectonic structures and geological time intervals. It contains three sections: “Crustal Evolution and Tectonic Problems”, “Geophysical Methods in Geological Applications” and “Seismic Forecasting, Seismotectonics and Geodynamic Evolution of the Himalayan Belt”. Chapters address such topics as the evolution of tectonic structures of Earth, how geophysical and geological data can be used for modelling this evolution, and the geodynamic processes in the Earth’s crust with the present tectonic activity.

Hardcover plus CD

This book deals with the evolution of active plate margins, with a focus on the Pacific NW. A multidisciplinary study aiming at the elucidation of complicated tectonic processes is based on structural geology, sedimentology, numerical modeling, and the latest methodology of geophysics. A high-resolution 3D seismic data acquisition system was developed for visualization of the shallow subsurface and has revealed recent architectures and sedimentary facies in a pull-apart basin along an arc-bisecting fault of southwest Japan. Based on this geophysical achievement, paleoenvironments during the latest Pleistocene are vividly restored by means of seismic attribute analyses. The scientific results presented here pave the way for further investigations on mobile belt frontiers where harsh conditions hinder efforts to decipher the Earth’s dynamics.

Investigating the complex interplay between tectonics and sedimentation is a key endeavor in modern earth science. Many of the world's leading researchers in this field have been brought together in this volume to provide concise overviews of the current state of the subject. The plate tectonic revolution of the 1960's provided the framework for detailed models on the structure of orogens and basins, summarized in a 1995 textbook edited by Busby and Ingersoll. Tectonics of Sedimentary Basins: Recent Advances focuses on key topics or areas where the greatest strides forward have been made, while also providing on-line access to the comprehensive 1995 book. Breakthroughs in new techniques are described in Section 1, including detrital zircon geochronology, cosmogenic nuclide dating, magnetostratigraphy, 3-D seismic, and basin modelling. Section 2 presents the new models for rift, post-rift, transtensional and strike slip basin settings. Section 3 addresses the latest ideas in convergent margin tectonics, including the sedimentary record of subduction intiation and subduction, flat-slab subduction, and arc-continent collision; it then moves inboard to forearc basins and intra-arc basins, and ends with a series of papers formed under compessional strain regimes, as well as post-orogenic intramontane basins. Section 4 examines the origin of plate interior basins, and the sedimentary record of supercontinent formation. This book is required reading for any advanced student or professional interested in sedimentology, plate tectonics, or petroleum geoscience. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/busby/sedimentarybasins.