Field trip guide for the Geological Society of America Field Forum, April 16-21st, 2002.

This collection of research and review papers addresses the question of structural evolution during deformation to high strains and the physical properties of rocks that have been affected by high-strain zones. The discussions range from natural examples at outcrop to microscopic studies. They include experiments and numerical models based on the active processes in high-strain zones as well as studies on the physical properties of highly strained rocks in the field and laboratory. Specific questions addressed include magnetotelluric imaging of faults, magnetic fabrics, fabric development, seismic properties of highly strained rocks, change of rheology with strain, influence of melt on the localization of deformation, the relationship between deformation and metamorphism as well as new methods in the analysis of deformation. The book is aimed at an interdisciplinary group of readers interested in the effects of high strain in rocks.

Faults and their deeper level equivalents, shear zones, are localized regions of intense deformation within the Earth. They are recognized at all scales from micro to plate boundary, and are important examples of the nature of heterogeneous deformation in natural rocks. Faults and shear zones are significant as they profoundly influence the location, architecture and evolution of a broad range of geological phenomenao The topography and bathymetry of the Earth's surface is marked by mountain belts and sedimentary basins that are controlled by faults and shear zoneso In addition, faults and shear zones control fluid migration and transport including hydrothermal and hydrocarbon systems. Once faults and shear zones are established, they are often long-lived features prone to multiple reactivation over very large time-scales. This collection of papers addresses lithospheric deformation and the rheology of shear zones, together with processes of partitioning and the unravelling of fault and shear zone histories.

This volume includes sections on: Evolution of ideas on channel flow and ductile extrusion in the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau system; Modeling channel flow and ductile extrusion processes; Geological constraints on channel flow and ductile extrusion as an important orogenic process in the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau, the Hellenides and Appalachians, and the Canadian Cordillera.

This review of shear-sense indicators in natural geological deformation structures provides an overview of geological flow and detailed explanations on the use of foliations, stiff inclusions, folds, and veins as indicators of shear-sense. The review's aim is to examine types of flow, and the kinematically significant structures which form in them, from a perspective which should be accessible to all interested geologists.

The elucidation of the mechanisms and kinematics of shear zone deformation, at both local and regional scales, is the subject of a great deal of interest to scientists in the hydrocarbon industry, in seismology, and in structural geology more generally. This book comprises a collection of five theoretical and twelve regional contributions to the subject from a number of leading researchers in the field, with particular emphasis on work carried out in the Indian subcontinent. The book will be invaluable to advances students and researchers involved in the kinematics of shear.

This book consists of 18 papers on deformation mechanisms, rheology and tectonics. The main approaches include experimental rock deformation, microstructural analysis, field structural studies, analogue and numerical modelling. New results on various topics are presented, ranging from brittle to ductile deformation and grain-scale to lithospherescale mechanisms. The volume contains review papers on several major current topics, such as the rheology of the lithospheric mantle and the mechanisms of exhumation of high-pressure tectonic units, as well as research papers on kinematic and mechanical analysis of rock deformation and related new techniques. Several contributions emphasize the increasing ability and wish of researchers to strengthen the links between small-scale physical mechanisms and large-scale tectonics. The volume will be of interest to academic and industrial researchers in the fields of structural geology, interactions between metamorphism, fluids and deformation, and large-scale tectonic processes.

The Geological Survey's 1907 Memoir 'The Geological Structure of the North-West Highlands of Scotland' outlined many of the principles of field-based structural and tectonic analysis that have subsequently guided generations of geologists working in other mountain belts, both ancient and modern. These 32 papers celebrate the centenary of the 1907 Memoir by placing the original findings in both historical and modern contexts, and juxtaposing them against present-day studies of deformation processes operating not only in the NW Highlands, but also in other mountain belts.