American And Tethyan Inventories Cross Sections Of Fold Thrust Belts

Orogenic belts and their shallow-soled fringes, the fold-thrust belts, are globally distributed in up to 20,000 km long mountain chains along the edges of the continents. Their locations, their geological origin in a mobile Earth, and their natural resources have drawn attention from the time of the Spanish and Portuguese global explorers to modernage geologists such as Emile Argand, Rein van Bemmelen, Albert Bally. Walter Bucher, Peter Coney, Augusto Gansser, A.M. Spencer, Hans Stille, Eduard Suess, and many others. Petroleum explorers have also accumulated and interpreted data from fold-thrust belts, but their collections have largely remained unpublished. The book is of interest to all geologists, resources engineers, technical consultants, and of course to the academic readership from all fields of the geosciences.

Expert petroleum geologists David Roberts and Albert Bally bring you Regional Geology and Tectonics: Principles of Geologic Analysis, volume one in a three-volume series covering Phanerozoic regional geology and tectonics. It has been written to provide you with a detailed overview of geologic rift systems, passive margins, and cratonic basins, it features the basic principles necessary to grasping the conceptual approaches to hydrocarbon exploration in a broad range of geological settings globally. Named a 2013 Outstanding Academic Title by the American Library Association's Choice publication A "how-to" regional geology primer that provides a detailed overview of tectonics, rift systems, passive margins, and cratonic basins The principles of regional geological analysis and the main geological and geophysical tools are discussed in detail. The tectonics of the world are captured and identified in detail through a series of unique geographic maps, allowing quick access to exact tectonic locations. Serves as the ideal introductory overview and complementary reference to the core concepts of regional geology and tectonics offered in volumes two and three in the series.

Onshore fold-thrust belts are commonly perceived as 'difficult' places to explore for hydrocarbons and are therefore often avoided. However, these belts host large oil and gas fields and so these barriers to effective exploration mean that substantial unexploited resources may remain. Over time, evaluation techniques have improved. It is possible in certain circumstances to achieve good 3D seismic data. Structural restoration techniques have moved into the 3D domain and increasingly sophisticated palaeo-thermal indicators allow better modelling of burial and uplift evolution of source and reservoirs. Awareness of the influence of pre-thrust structure and stratigraphy and of hybrid thick and thin-skinned deformation styles is augmenting the simplistic geometric models employed in earlier exploration. But progress is a slow, expensive and iterative process. Industry and academia need to collaborate.

The Alps, with their outstanding outcrop conditions, represent a superb natural laboratory for many geological processes, and have played a crucial role in the history of geology. This book gives an up-to-date and holistic overview of the key aspects of Alpine geology. After a brief presentation of the plate tectonic framework, the rock suites are discussed, starting with the pre-Triassic crystalline basement, followed by Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary sequences. The lithological description of the rock types is supplemented by a discussion of their paleogeographic and plate tectonic contexts. The book goes on to describe the structure of the Alps (including the Jura Mountains and the Alpine foreland to the north and south) illustrated by numerous cross-sections. The evolution of the Alps as a mountain chain incorporates a discussion of the Alpine metamorphic history and a compilation of orogenic timetables. The final sections cover the evolution of Alpine drainage patterns and the region’s glacial history. Readership: The book is essential reading for students and lecturers on Alpine courses and excursions, and all earth-scientists interested in the geology of the region.