The continental margins of the world constitute the most impressive and largest physiographic feature of the earth's surface, and one of fundamentally great geological significance. Continental margins have been the subject of increasing attention in recent years, an interest focused by a body of new data that has provided new insights into their character. This interest was further stimulated by the realization that, in addition to the abundant living resources, continental margins contain petroleum and mineral resources that are accessible with existing technology. This realization, along with their basic geological importance, has provoked further research into the nature of continental margins throughout the world. A summary of these findings, as related to both recent and ancient continental margins, is the subject of this book. At various times in the past we had been approached individually to prepare a basic reference to continental margins; we then proposed to do such a volume jointly. However, the stimulus for the present volume eventually arose from a Penrose Conference arranged through the Geological Society of America. This conference was attended by specialists of numerous disciplines and from throughout the world, many of whom insisted that such a volume would be both timely and useful. Consequently, we agreed to undertake the task of assembling this book, with the objectives of making it available as soon and as inexpensively as possible.

The explosion of interest, effort, and information about the ocean since about 1950 has produced many thousand scientific articles and many hun dred books. In fact, the outpouring has been so large that authors have been unable to read much of what has been published, so they have tended to concentrate their own work within smaller and smaller subfields of oceanog raphy. Summaries of information published in books have taken two main paths. One is the grouping of separately authored chapters into symposia type books, with their inevitable overlaps and gaps between chapters. The other is production of lightly researched books containing drawings and tables from previous pUblications, with due credit given but showing assem bly-line writing with little penetration of the unknown. Only a few books have combined new and previous data and thoughts into new maps and syntheses that relate the contributions of observed biological, chemical, geological, and physical processes to solve broad problems associated with the shape, composition, and history of the oceans. Such a broad synthesis is the objective of this book, in which we tried to bring together many of the pieces of research that were deemed to be of manageable size by their originators. The composite may form a sort of plateau above which later studies can rise, possibly benefited by our assem bly of data in the form of new maps and figures.

A review of the extensive advances made in the understanding the petroleum geology of the Atlantic margin of northwest Europe, of the North Sea and of adjacent areas since the;ast conference in 1992. In particular, the volume focuses on: the development of and application of 3D seismic, time-lapse ('4D') and other innovative seismic tools; the ongoing refinement of sequence and other stratigraphic approaches, including the integration of detailed biostratigraphic data; the development of modelling at both the reservoir and basin scale which can respond to new data acquisition and be used to assess uncertainties at the reservoir scale and scenarios at the basin scale.

Continental margins form the relatively narrow transition zones between the different domains of land masses and deep-ocean basins. They are the main regions of sediment input and transfer of sediments to the oceans and thus represent important zones of sediment flux. This work addresses three topics of significance to continental margin development: sedimentation, mass-wasting and stability. It should be of interest to marine geologists, sedimentologists, palaeoceanographers and physical properties specialists.

A group of geoscientists from a number of NATO countries met under NATO sponsorship in Copenhagen on February 27 and 28, 1978, and formulated a proposal entitled "EVOLUTION OF THE GREENLAND ICELAND-FAEROE-SCOTLAND RIDGE, A KEY AREA IN MARINE GEOSCIENCE". This part of the North Atlantic Ocean is of particular interest because of its anomalously shallow bathymetry which has profoundly influenced many aspects of the evolution of the North Atlantic. The proposed investigations therefore aim to study the deep crustal structure including relationship of continental and oceanic crust, history of subsidence of the ridge including its past role as a land bridge, age of the oceanic basement along it and its history of formation, and the influence of the ridge on Tertiary and Quaternary depositional palaeoenvironments. In furtherance of this proposal, it is intended to carry out a series of seismic and drilling operations on the Ridge during the coming years. These major marine investigations will be mainly funded from national sources. An important preliminary stage to the project is the collec tion and synthesis of available data. NATO has already approved a small budget for this purpose which has enabled a geoscientist to work partly at the Department of Geological Sciences of Durham University, UK, and partly at Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, USA, for about six months to compile the data. The most important map showing magnetic anomalies and lineations in the area, is included in a pocket at the back of this volume.

This Special Report comprehensively describes the stratigraphy and correlation of the Tertiary (Paleogene–Neogene) rocks of NW Europe and the adjacent Atlantic Ocean and is the summation of fifty years of research on Tertiary sediments by Chris King. His book is essential reading for all geologists who deal with Tertiary rocks across NW Europe, including those in the petroleum industry and geotechnical services as well as academic stratigraphers and palaeontologists. Introductory sections on chronostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and other methods of dating and correlation are followed by a regional summary of Tertiary sedimentary basins and their framework and an introduction to Tertiary igneous rocks. The third and largest segment comprises the regional stratigraphic summaries. Regions covered are the North Sea Basin, onshore areas of southern England and the eastern English Channel area, the North Atlantic margins (including non-marine basins in the Irish Sea and elsewhere) and the Paleogene igneous rocks of Scotland.

Volume 1A: Principles of Geologic AnalysisA "how-to" primer describes the basic concepts petroleum geologists and students need to understand hydrocarbon exploration in a broad range of geological settings globally. Volume 1B: Phanerozoic Rift Systems and Sedimentary BasinsIncorporates industry data to present regional seismic lines and cross sections to accurately document and analyze proven hydrocarbon systems. It also includes summaries of analogue and theoretical models as an essential backdrop to the structure and stratigraphy of a variety of geological settings. Volume 1C: Phanerozoic Passive Margins, Cratonic Basins and Global Tectonic MapsFocuses on both volcanic and non-volcanic passive margins as well as cratonic basins—critical habitats for hydrocarbons. It provides a unique basis for comparison of different passive margins and for an understanding of their structural and stratigraphic evolution, as well as their petroleum systems—especially useful to explorationists working in deep-water basins and researchers examining the tectonic evolution of the continent-ocean transition. A vast amount of data to enable hydrocarbon play assessments and analysis on passive margins is also included in this thorough yet accessible reference. Individual volumes can also be purchased:978044453042497804445635699780444563576 Volume 1A discusses in detail the principles of regional geological analysis and the main geological and geophysical tools used in basin analysis Volume 1B features simple documentation and analysis of major rift systems developed in contrasting geological settings as well as in-depth analyses of active rifts in various regions all over the world for immediately implementable petroleum exploration applications Volume 1C features real-world case studies and analyses, useful summaries of analogue and theoretical models, thorough documentation of numerous passive margins that are the focus of deep water oil exploration, and unique tectonic maps facilitating access to exact basin locations and their tectonic settings A companion website offers select downloadable images from the books: http://booksite.elsevier.com/9780444530424/index.php