This multi-author book has been prepared by an international group of geoscientists that have been active in rift research since the late 1960s. In 1984, an informal, grass-roots study group was initiated to compare individual research results and to explore in greater depth the apparent differences and similarities in the interpretations from various rift systems. The group became known as the CREST working group, an acronym of Continental Rifts: Evolution, Structure and Tectonics, which not surprisingly became the title of this book. Continental Rifts: Evolution, Structure, Tectonics presents an overview of the present state of understanding and knowledge of the processes of continental rifting from a multidisciplinary, lithospheric scale perspective. The chapters have been structured on each rift system in approximately the same synoptic sequence, so as to facilitate comparisons of rifts by the reader. The book complements its predecessors by presenting a more unified picture. It succeeds in presenting the status of a representative majority of the continental rift systems that have been at the forefront of recent research. For students and experienced researchers alike, this book will be of significant value in assessing the current state of knowledge and in serving as a framework for future research.

This work reviews the mechanism of rifting with a focus on pre-existing tectonic weaknesses in pre-rift and/or basement rocks, i.e., on tectonic inheritance. The passive margins that are studied in this book are the Norwegian Continental Shelf, the Eastern North America and the East and West Indian Continental Margins. The continental rifts that have been analysed are the East African Rift System, the Brazilian Continental Rift Systems and the European Cenozoic Rift System. It states how rifts and passive margins serve as valuable locations for hydrocarbon exploration. Tectonic inheritance/heritage examines the influence of pre-existing/pre-rift elements on the geometry, genesis and propagation of rift-related faults. Such elements include anisotropies in the shallow crustal levels, as well as the rheology of the lithosphere. Inheritance greatly influences the architecture of rifted passive margins including the attitude of faults and geometry of horsts, (half-) grabens, transfer zones etc. Inheritance is also a determining factor in the width of rifts and rift shoulder topography.

This volume contains papers giving an interdisciplinary review of 12 major rift systems from North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. These papers are written by an international group of academic and industrial specialists each of whom is most knowledgeable about the respective rift. The analyzed rifts were selected on the basis of availability of an as-complete-as-possible geological and geophysical data base. Thirteen papers deal with geodynamic processes governing the evolution of rifts. A comprehensive digest of the available stratigraphic, structural, geophysical and petrological data, together with an extensive list of references, is provided for each of the analyzed rift systems. The megatectonic setting and dynamics of evolution of each basin is discussed. Geodynamic models are tested against the record of the analyzed rifts. The question of "active" as against "passive" rifting is addressed. The rifts analyzed range in age from Precambrian to Recent and cover a wide spectrum of megatectonic settings. There is discussion of the evolution of rifts in a plate-tectonic frame. The case histories are followed by discussions addressing the global setting of rifts and geodynamic processes active during the development of rifted basins.

The NATO Advanced Study Institute "Paleorift Systems with Emphasis on the Permian Oslo Rift" was held at Sundvollen near Oslo, Norway, 26. July - 5. August, 1977. The meeting included 6 field trips to various parts of the Oslo Region. 70 official participants and 16 observers from 14 countries attended the meeting. The majority of the invited lectures, short research papers and progress reports presented at the meeting are published in two volumes, of which this is volume No. II. A table of con tents for both volumes is include8 herein. The field trip guide is being published in the Nor~gian Geological Survey Series, Vol. 327 (1978). We are especially pleased to acknowledge the efforts of the many authors of contributed papers, and the able assistance of secretaries, proof-readers and other staffmembers without whose help these volumes would not have been possible. Oslo, 20. February 1978. Ivar B. Ramberg Else-Ragnhild Neumann xi Organizing Committee members: O. Eldholm Department of Geology, University G. Gr¢nlie of Oslo J. Naterstad I.B. Ramberg (chairman) J.A. Dons Mineralogical-Geological Museum, B.T. Larsen (secretary) University of Oslo E.-R. Neumann (secretary) K.S. Heier (chairman) Norwegian Geological Survey S. Huseby B. Sundvoll M.A. Sellevoll Seismological Observatory, University of Bergen K. Storetvedt Geophysics Institute, University of Bergen P.M. Ihlen Geological Institute, University of Chr. Oftedahl Trondheim F.M. Vokes E.S. Husebye NTNF/NORSAR, 2007 Kjeller This volume is Scientific Report No. 40 of the Geodynamics Project.

This volume discusses the importance of rift systems and the structural evolution of the Earth. It analyses active rifts in East Africa, China and Siberia, and presents overviews of sequence stratigraphy in rifts and structural controls on clastic and carbonate sedimentation.