Summaries of the major features of the geology of North America and the adjacent oceanic regions are presented in 20 chapters. Topics covered include concise reviews of current thinking about Precambrian basement, Phanerozoic orogens, cratonic basins, passive-margin geology of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions, marine and terrestrial geology of the Caribbean region and economic geology.

The Appalachian region of North America is a Paleozoic geological mountain belt or orogen occupying a position peripheral to the continent's stable interior craton. The Appalachian miogeocline and its extensions such as those found in Greenland form an open-ended continental margin. This volume details the geology of the Appalachian and related Greenland Caledonian Orogens, with a focus on the Canadian Appalachian Orogen. It describes the rocks of the Canadian Appalachian region under four broad temporal divisions: Lower Paleozoic and older, Middle Paleozoic, Upper Paleozoic, and Mesozoic. Separate sections cover the geophysical characteristics of the Orogen, plutonic rocks, metallogeny, paleontological contributions to Paleozoic paleogeographic and tectonic reconstructions, and East Greenland Caledonides. The volume is also intended as a report of progress in Appalachian geological research.

1919/28 cumulation includes material previously issued in the 1919/20-1935/36 issues and also material not published separately for 1927/28. 1929/39 cumulation includes material previously issued in the 1929/30-1935/36 issues and also material for 1937-39 not published separately.