Hendrix (geology, U. of Montana) and Davis (earth sciences, U. of Southern California) present 19 articles detailing ground-based work on the history of assembly and intracontinental deformation of central and eastern Asia. Chapters look at the structural, thermochronologic, and sedimentary records of the history of Paleozoic assembly in Mongolia and central and western China. Further information is presented on Mesozoic deformation in orogenic belts of central and eastern Asia. Asia's sedimentary basins are examined and the intracontinental deformation they record is documented. Many of these contributions, particularly the papers examining Mongolian geology, are the first ground-based articles written in English. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Hendrix (geology, U. of Montana) and Davis (earth sciences, U. of Southern California) present 19 articles detailing ground-based work on the history of assembly and intracontinental deformation of central and eastern Asia. Chapters look at the structural, thermochronologic, and sedimentary records of the history of Paleozoic assembly in Mongolia and central and western China. Further information is presented on Mesozoic deformation in orogenic belts of central and eastern Asia. Asia's sedimentary basins are examined and the intracontinental deformation they record is documented. Many of these contributions, particularly the papers examining Mongolian geology, are the first ground-based articles written in English. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

This volume provides a state-of-the-art account of the geology of part of Central Asia named The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). This Belt formed by accretion of island arcs, ophiolites, oceanic islands, seamounts, accretionary wedges, oceanic plateaux and microcontinents (c. 1000-250 Ma ago) by similar processes to those in the circum- Pacific Mesozoic-Cenozoic accretionary orogens. Also known as Altaids, this region is one of the largest orogenic belts on Earth, extending from the Ural Mountains in the West to far eastern Siberia. It is the product of a complex evolution lasting for more than 800 million years from the latest Mesoproterozoic to the end of the Palaeozoic. The CAOB consists of numerous accreted terranes, made up of island arcs, oceanic plateaux and islands, Precambrian microcontinents and remnants of oceanic crust that are preserved as fragmented ophiolites. Although the broad history if this huge territory is now reasonably well understood there are still major unanswered questions such as the rate and volume of crustal growth, the origin of continental fragments, the detailed mechanism of accretion and collision, the role of terrane rotations during the orogeny, and the age and composition of the lower crust in Central Asia. Large parts of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Siberia and parts of Mongolia) treated in this volume have only been poorly covered in scholarly western publications. Most contributions of this book are by Russian scientists actively involved in field and laboratory research of the CAOB and therefore have an intimate knowledge of the terranes which they describe and analyze. In view of the increasing significance of Central Asia because of its wealth of mineral resources this volume is of interest to readers from all fields of the geosciences and from academics to industry.

The geological evolution of Central Asia commenced with the formation of a complex Precambrian–Palaeozoic orogen. Cimmerian blocks were then accreted to the southern margin in the Mesozoic, leading to tectonic reactivation of older structures and discrete episodes of basin formation. The Indian and Arabian blocks collided with Asia in the Cenozoic, leading to renewed structural reactivation, intracontinental deformation and basin development. This complex evolution resulted in the present-day setting of an elongated Tien Shan range flanked by large Mesozoic–Cenozoic sedimentary basins with smaller intramontane basins distributed within the range. This volume presents multidisciplinary results and reviews from research groups in Europe and Central Asia that focus on the western part of the Tien Shan and some of the adjacent large sedimentary basins. These works elucidate the Late Palaeozoic–Cenozoic tectono-sedimentary evolution of the area. Emphasis is given to the collision of terranes and continents and the ensuing fault reactivations. The impact of climatic changes on sedimentation is also examined.

This volume provides the first comprehensive account of the geology of Sumatra since the masterly synthesis of van Bemmelen (1949). Following the establishment of the Geological Survey of Indonesia, after WW II, the whole island has been mapped geologically at the reconnaissance level, with the collaboration of the geological surveys of the United States and the United Kingdom. The mapping programme, completed in the mid-1990s, together with supplementary data obtained by academic institutions and petroleum and mineral exploration companies, has resulted in a vast increase in geological information, which is summarized in this volume. The synthesis of structural controls on sedimentation and magmatism during the tectonic evolution of Sumatra since the late Palaeozoic has provided a background for the formation of economic deposits of metallic minerals, coal, oil and gas. The volume provides a sound basis for future geological research and for the exploration of the energy and mineral resources of the island.

The evolution of Asia has largely occurred over the last 400 million years, and continues today. Seeing a continent in the act of assembly provides a rare opportunity to study the processes by which continents are constructed and internally modified. This book is a collection of twenty-one contributions on the tectonic evolution of Asia. The book is divided into five parts: geodynamic models of the Cenozoic deformation in Asia, seismotectonics, geological evolution of the Himalaya–Karakoram Ranges, tectonics of the Cenozoic Indo–Asia collision, and Mesozoic–Paleozoic assembly of Asia. Several important problems are addressed in detail, including the origin of the Tibetan Plateau, the nature of ultra-high pressure metamorphism in east-central Asia, the accretion of microcontinents to Asia, and the accommodation mechanisms of the Indo-Asian collision. The Tectonic Evolution of Asia provides an authoritative description of our current understanding of Asian tectonics and continental growth for graduate students and researchers.

This book describes the geography of Uzbekistan and its unique history and culture. It focuses on the development of Uzbekistan as a result of its location on the crossroads of the Silk Road. The influence of global and regional environmental challenges on the current landscape and similar issues are discussed and analyzed from a historical perspective. Contemporary tensions and reforms in social, economical and cultural life are described with the aim to draw a picture of modern paths to transformation and development. The Geography of Uzbekistan includes also information on geology, nature and natural resources, in particular water. The book discusses the social and environmental impacts of the Aral Sea disaster and shows new paths of transformation and development for this Central Asian country.

The extinction that wiped out 95% of the living species at the end of the Paleozoic era can be explained by the fact that when it happened, all landmasses were one continent, Pangea, with an inner ocean, the Paleo-Tethys. This ocean included the richest n