Subduction is a major process that plays a first-order role in the dynamics of the Earth. The sinking of cold lithosphere into the mantle is thought by many authors to be the most important source of energy for plates driving forces. It also deeply modifies the thermal and chemical structure of the mantle, producing arc volcanism and is responsible for the release of most of the seismic energy on Earth. There has been considerable achievements done during the past decades regarding the complex interactions between the various processes acting in subduction zones. This volume contains a collection of contributions that were presented in June 2007 in Montpellier (France) during a conference that gave a state of the art panorama and discussed the perspectives about "Subduction Zone Geodynamics". The papers included in this special volume offer a unique multidisciplinary picture of the recent research on subduction zones geodynamics. They are organized into five main topics: Subduction zone geodynamics, Seismic tomography and anisotropy, Great subduction zone earthquakes, Seismogenic zone characterization, Continental and ridge subduction processes. Each of the 13 papers collected in the present volume is primarily concerned with one of these topics. However, it is important to highlight that papers always treat more than one topic so that all are related lighting on different aspects of the complex and fascinating subduction zones geodynamics.

For several decades Peter Friend has been one of the leading figures in sedimentary geology and throughout that time he has helped scores of other people by supervising doctoral students, collaborating with colleagues, especially in developing countries, and selflessly sharing ideas with fellow geologists. This collection of papers is a survey of the research frontier in basin dynamics, a field Peter Friend helped initiate, and a token of thanks from people who have benefited from an association with Peter during their careers. The papers in this book fall into four themes - Tectonics and sedimentation, Landscape evolution and provenance, Depositional systems and Fluvial sedimentation - which reflect Peter's research interests and are all important areas of current research in sedimentary geology. There are both case studies and review articles on these themes which reflect recent work, but the collection can also be considered to be a 'sampler' of sedimentary geology for anyone with broad interests in the Earth sciences.

Geodynamics of the Alps consists of three volumes. This third volume is entirely dedicated to Alpine collision. It describes and interprets elements of the Alpine chain, including Alpine magmatism, the formation of external massifs, the foreland basin, the exhumation of the internal part of the chain and the northern deformation front of the Alps. The aim of this book is to create a space for experts on Alpine research to present the state of the art of specific subjects and provide their own interpretations.

Thermochronology - the use of temperature-sensitive radiometric dating meth-ods to reconstruct the thermal histories of rocks - has proved to be an important means of constraining a wide variety of geological processes. Fission track and (U-Th)/He analyses of apatites, zircons and titanites are the best-established methods for reconstructing such histories over time scales of millions to hun-dreds of millions of years. The papers published in this volume are divided into two sections. The first sec-tion on 'New approaches in thermochronology', presents the most recent ad-vances of existing thermochronological methods and demonstrates the progress in the development of alternative thermochronometers and modelling tech-niques. The second section, 'Applied thermochronology', comprises original papers about denudation, long-term landscape evolution and detrital sources from the European Alps, northwestern Spain, the Ardennes, the Bohemian Massif, Fenno-scandia and Corsica. It also includes case studies from the Siberian Altai, Mozam-bique, South Africa and Dronning Maud Land (East Antarctica) and reports an ancient thermal anomaly within a regional fault in Japan.

Families of the Missing interrogates the current practice of transitional justice from the viewpoint of the families of those disappeared and missing as a result of conflict and political violence. Studying the needs of families of the missing in two contexts, Nepal and Timor-Leste, the practice of transitional justice is seen to be rooted in discourses that are alien to predominantly poor and rural victims of violence, and that are driven by elites with agendas that diverge from those of the victims. In contrast to the legalist orientation of the global transitional justice project, victims do not see judicial process as a priority. Rather, they urgently seek an answer concerning the fate of the missing, and to retrieve human remains. As important are livelihood issues where families are struggling to cope with the loss of breadwinners and seek support to ensure economic security. Although rights are the product of a discourse that claims to be global and universal, needs are necessarily local and particular, the product of culture and context. And it is from this perspective that this volume seeks both to understand the limitations of transitional justice processes in addressing the priorities of victims, and to provide the basis of an emancipatory victim-centred approach to transitional justice.