The papers in this volume cover micromorphological studies of a wide variety of topics, at various scales from ultramicro- to mesoscopic. Topics included are:soil management; soil structure; surface crusts; hardpans and cemented layers; soil biota; soil genesis; hydromorphic soils; paleosols; archeology; and general pedology. The range of papers reflects the growing use of soil micromorphology in understanding soil problems in land-use and the increasing use of quantitative techniques, together with more traditional applications in pedology. The book is well illustrated with micrographs and contains both author and keyword indices.

Providing fundamental discussion of regolith properties andchemistry, this book considers many landscape situations andfeatures, whilst linking process to position, geochemistry andtime. Presenting information from an Australian perspective itprovides new insights into the subject, which are developed awayfrom the yoke of traditional Northern Hemisphere ideas andconcepts. * Presents a new approach to the problems of understanding regolithgeology and landscapes * Presents the general aspects and principles of regolith * Chapters present views on landscapes and their evolution, thenature of minerals, the behaviour of water at a landscape level andthe exploration of water behaviour at various scales in regolithmaterials * Investigates methods of conveying information about regolith viamaps and in GIS packages

This volume is the final outcome of a conference designed to wrap up IOCP Project 157 (" Early Organic Evolution and Mineral and Energy Resources ") after a decade of prolific activity. The picturesque solitude of Maria Laach Abbey in the Eifel Mountains (FRO) provided the appropriate setting for a conclave of some 80 specialists from the various walks of the field who, during the week of Sept. 19 - 23, 1988, strived hard to define the state of the art in the principal segments of this Earth Science frontier. The following pages contain the essence of the conference transactions, giv ing a vivid cross-section of the activities pursued by IOCP Project 157 during its final years. The coverage of topics is not necessarily complete, but rather eclec tic in part. With regard to single papers dealing with modern analogues of ancient processes, the book title might even be considered a grave misnomer. Neverthe less, all contributions relate to the subject in the widest sense, and the reader should be reminded that much of the heterogeneity reflected by the volume de rives from the fact that it is primarily a research report from a highly inter disciplinary field rather than a textbook.

Iron-Formation: Facts and Problems