Masters Theses in the Pure and Applied Sciences was first conceived, published, and dis seminated by the Center for Information and Numerical Data Analysis and Synthesis (CINDAS) * at Purdue University in 1957, starting its coverage of theses with the academic year 1955. Beginning with Volume 13, the printing and dissemination phases of the ac tivity were transferred to University Microfilms/Xerox of Ann Arbor, Michigan, with the thought that such an arrangement would be more beneficial to the academic and general scientific and technical community. After five years of this joint undertaking we had concluded that it was in the interest of all concerned if the printing and distribution of the volume were handled by an international publishing house to assure improved service and broader dissemination. Hence, starting with Volume 18, Masters Theses in the Pure and Applied Sciences has been disseminated on a worldwide basis by Plenum Publishing Corporation of New York, and in the same year the coverage was broadened to include Canadian universities. All back issues can also be ordered from Plenum. We have reported in Volume 22 (thesis year 1977) a total of 10,658 theses titles from 28 Canadian and 227 United States universities. We are sure that this broader base for theses titles reported will greatly enhance the value of this important annual reference work. While Volume 22 reports theses submitted in 1977, on occasion, certain universities do report theses submitted in previous years but not reported at the time.

Although geodetic monitoring techniques have been widely used in areas of seismic or volcanic activity, the difficulty inherent to their discrete nature means that they must be deployed carefully to ensure the best possible detection or sensitivity of these points (see e. g. , BALDI and UNGUENDOLI, 1987; JOHNSON and WYATT, 1994; SEGALL and MATTHEWS, 1997; Yu et al. , 2000). In many cases, a more global monitoring method, is required yet at the same time one that offers the highest level of sensitivity which enables detection of the phenomenon. Interferometry radar (InSAR) techniques have been shown to play an important role in seismic and volcanic monitoring because they cover large areas (100 x 100 km) and can be easily systematized in monitoring (see e. g. , MASSONNET and FEIGL, 1998; BDRGMANN et al. , 2000; MASSONNET and SIGMUNDSON, 2000; HANSSEN, 2001). The limitations inherent to the GPS and InSAR techniques (mainly observations at discrete surface points in the case of GPS and existence of non-coherent areas and the fact that, at present, the three displacement components cannot be obtained in SAR interferometry) can be overcome by using them together or other techniques (e. g. , PUGLISI and COLTELLI, 2001; RODRiGUEZ-VELASCO et al. , 2002; FERNANDEZ et al. , 2003).

This impressive scientific resource presents up-to-date information on ten thousand years of volcanic activity on Earth. In the decade and a half since the previous edition was published new studies have refined assessments of the ages of many volcanoes, and several thousand new eruptions have been documented. This edition updates the book’s key components: a directory of volcanoes active during the Holocene; a chronology of eruptions over the past ten thousand years; a gazetteer of volcano names, synonyms, and subsidiary features; an extensive list of references; and an introduction placing these data in context. This edition also includes new photographs, data on the most common rock types forming each volcano, information on population densities near volcanoes, and other features, making it the most comprehensive source available on Earth’s dynamic volcanism.