Abstrakt Modern petroleum geology is built on the theory of the organic origin of hydrocarbons. It is claimed that they are formed as a result of dipping of organic carbon-rich sedimentary layers and their thermal transformation by which hydrocarbons are generated. Conventional looking at the formation of hydrocarbons is based on buried in a sedimentation pool dead biomass of organisms and their long-lasting microbial degradation in an anaerobic environment with the simultaneous influence of temperature and pressure. This process creates a transformed organic material of high molecular weight called kerogen. About 1% of the live mass of the organic may be stored in kerogen in favorable conditions. Regardless of the type of kerogen, increasing temperature and pressure leads to the dissociation temperature or the cracking and forms a crude oil or natural gas. The secondary cracking at a higher temperature and pressure may result in the smallest particles of hydrocarbons, methane (Sephton, Hazen 2013). This theory does not answer the question of why there are massive accumulations of hydrocarbons reaching hundreds of millions of tons when their hitherto regarded as the mother layers, source rocks, is so little spread in the geological profile?

Accompanying CD-ROM contains color illustrations.--cf. page 4 of cover.

Petroleum and natural gas still remain the single biggest resource for energy on earth. Even as alternative and renewable sources are developed, petroleum and natural gas continue to be, by far, the most used and, if engineered properly, the most cost-effective and efficient, source of energy on the planet. Contrary to some beliefs, the industry can, in fact, be sustainable, from an environmental, economic, and resource perspective. Petroleum and natural gas are, after all, natural sources of energy and do not have to be treated as pariahs. This groundbreaking new text describes hydrocarbons in basement formations, how they can be characterized and engineered, and how they can be engineered properly, to best achieve sustainability. Covering the basic theories and the underlying scientific concepts, the authors then go on to explain the best practices and new technologies and processes for utilizing basement formations for the petroleum and natural gas industries. Covering all of the hottest issues in the industry, from oil shale, tar sands, and hydraulic fracturing, this book is a must-have for any engineer working in the industry. This textbook is an excellent resource for petroleum engineering students, reservoir engineers, supervisors & managers, researchers and environmental engineers for planning every aspect of rig operations in the most sustainable, environmentally responsible manner, using the most up-to-date technological advancements in equipment and processes.

The Olympia conference Frontiers of Fundamental Physics was a gathering of about hundred scientists who carryon their research in conceptually important areas of physical science (they do "fundamental physics"). Most of them were physicists, but also historians and philosophers of science were well represented. An important fraction of the participants could be considered "heretical" because they disagreed with the validity of one or several fundamental assumptions of modern physics. Common to all participants was an excellent scientific level coupled with a remarkable intellectual honesty: we are proud to present to the readers this certainly unique book. Alternative ways of considering fundamental matters should of course be vitally important for the progress of science, unless one wanted to admit that physics at the end of the XXth century has already obtained the final truth, a very unlikely possibility even if one accepted the doubtful idea of the existence of a "final" truth. The merits of the Olympia conference should therefore not be judged a priori in a positive or in a negative way depending on one's refusal or acceptance, respectively, but considered after reading the actual of basic principles of contemporary science, new proposals and evidences there presented. They seem very important to us.

Rock fractures play a major role in many geological processes, such as plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and fluid transport in the earth’s crust. The present volume contains the abstracts of all presentations of the symposium „Rock Fractures in Geological Processes“, held on 26-27 November 2013 in London honouring the 60th birthday of Agust Gudmundsson, chair in Structural Geology, Royal Holloway University of London, a leading expert in the field and author of a well known text book of the same title. The symposium covered all topics related to fractures in the earth’s crust, e.g., crustal stresses, rock mechanical properties, field analysis of fractures – from joints and faults to mineral veins and dykes -, analytical, analogue and numerical models of fractures and related fluid transport, as well as the activity of faults and volcanoes including calderas, and economic aspects such as exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons and geothermal energy.