Experts in the field offer the first comprehensive review of the tectonics and magmatism of backarc basins, covering their initial rift stage to mature spreading. Complete with numerous illustrations, each of the twelve chapters focuses on a young, active backarc basin of the circum-Pacific-where volcano-tectonic processes are best studied because of their activity. Key themes in this volume include volcano-tectonics setting; cause and location; rift magmas; and hydrothermal activity. Researchers also present models of the dynamic processes occurring in backarc basins.

The International Lateinamerika-Kolloquium, held in April 2009 at the Geosciences Centre of the Georg-August-Universitt̃ Gt̲tingen, brings together researchers from all fields of earth sciences. The abstracts contained in this volume cover a wide range of topics on the geological evolution of the South American continent and its margins, such as processes of mountain building, uplift and erosion as well as interaction between tectonic and climatic parameters. Topics of the Lateinamerika-Kolloquium also cover landscape evolution, ecology, natural resources, geo-hazards and economic geology.

This thought-provoking and ambitious volume surveys the causes and extent of environmental contamination in Antarctica, and looks critically at future prospects. It highlights the key role that modern techniques of analytical chemistry play in achieving reliable empirical data in this field and their impact on shaping legal provisions. Written by prominent scientists and experts in Antarctic sciences, this work gives an overview of the studies undertaken by countries to assess the impact of pollution phenomena on the uniquely clean environment of Antarctica. Empirical studies and regulatory issues are evaluated in context with the goal of providing a model approach to more polluted areas of the world.

This symposium, held in Argentina in March 2003, commemorates Otto Nordenskjold's 1901 expedition, and pays tribute to the Swedish and Argentinian explorers who took on the challenge of early fieldwork in Patagonia and Antarctica. This theme is extended to include recent fieldwork in the natural sciences in the Archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, the