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Peri-tethyan platforms
TECTONOPHYSICS ELSEVIER
Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 369- 371
Book Reviews Peri-Tethyan PlaO~orms, edited by Francois Roure. Editions Technip, Paris, France, 1994. Paperback, XVI + 275 pp., ISBN 2 - 7 1 0 8 - 0 6 7 9 - 7 . In March 1993, a research conference was held in Aries with 110 participants, mainly from the European region, to launch a new international programme, the Peri-Tethys Programme. This volume is a collection of key papers from this congress. Such a book is an excellent way to launch a new programme: to review the state of knowledge, to define the governing concepts and aims, and to discuss the strategy to take to meet these aims. It succeeds because it does mark the reference point from which the programme proceeds and is therefore also a reference work for those not necessarily directly connected with the programme. The book is divided into four sections. The Introduction contains an extended abstract by P.A. Ziegler, basically a general paleogeographic reconstruction of the Tethyan region since the Triassic, and an excellent review by M. Wilson of magmatism and the geodynamics of basin formation with a section focussing on this with regard specifically to the PeriTethyan domain. Three papers given in a section on Deformations at Plate Boundaries examine the Neogene development of the Sicilian-North African plate boundary (P. Casero and F. Roure), palinspastic reconstructions of the Carpathians and adjacent areas since the Cretaceous (N. Ellouz and E. Roca), and basin inversion in the Saharan Atlas of Algeria (Vially et al.). The paper by Vially et al. also develops models of the inversion process and effects associated with halokinesis. The third section on Paleostress is the largest and contains seven papers. A short paper by M.L. Zoback on present-day stress in plate boundary zones also contains a caution to those doing paleostress analy-
ses that the maximum horizontal stress is not always parallel to the plate motions (e.g., oblique convergence may cause stresses almost parallel to the plate boundary). Angelier et al. present some new insights into the construction of trajectory maps based on local paleostress determinations, using the Taiwan region as a test case. The Arabian platform and the Ebro basin are used as test cases for methods of paleostress determination from joints (Hancock); and Bergerat uses examples from western and central Europe for his overview of the evolution over the past three decades of inversion methods in paleostress field reconstructions. A brittle tectonic analysis was used by Bouaziz et al. in analysing paleostress in the Southern Tunisian Platform. Preliminary results of paleostress in the Paris Basin are presented by Lacombe et al. from an analysis of calcite twins from drill cores. Intra-plate stresses and basin inversion are the subject of a study by Huyghe and Mugnier of the southern North Sea. A short final section on Stratigraphic Correlations contains a paper by Amon and De Wever on the upper Cretaceous biostratigraphy of the western Siberian and eastern Volga-Ural Basins, and a short discussion by Thierry of proposed work to create " a chart of interscale correlated biostratigraphic units" or biozones using all the available micro- and macrofossil groups of the Mesozoic. A criticism of the book might be the uneven treatment of the subject matter and the apparently random juxtaposition of data from specific local areas (even outside the Peri-Tethyan domain in the case of Taiwan) with discussions of methods which the authors plan to apply in the Peri-Tethyan domain.
0040-1951/96/$15.00 © 1996 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
370
Book reviews
This is not a very serious criticism in my mind because of the substantial body of information and ideas presented. I have indicated the nature of each of the papers in order that those considering buying the book might understand that it is not the final word on the Peri-Tethyan Platforms but rather preliminary words on a new programme and the methods that will be used in it, along with some interesting new results from parts of the region based on the methods discussed. It is a useful book from this point of view, and contains both raw data and interpreta-
tions (including five colour plates of the palinspastic reconstructions of the Carpathians) as well as a guide to the methods. I would recommend the book to those whose interest is Tethyan geology but also to those who are carrying out the same sort of analyses in other parts of the world. J.M. Woodside (Amsterdam)
SSDI 0040- !951(95)00127- 1
Faulting, Friction, and Earthquake Mechanics, edited by Marone and Blanpied. Pure Applied Geophysics, Topical Volumes, published by Birkhauser, 1994.
This book consists of thirty-five articles which were based on papers presented at a special session of the May 1993 American Geophysical Union meeting. The book is in two parts and the articles are reprinted from issues of "Pure and Applied Geophysics" which appeared in 1994. The papers are divided into three broad groups: theoretical, field and laboratory related work, and the purpose is bringing together and increasing the interaction between scientists working in these different aspects of earthquake faulting. Part I begins with seven papers on theoretical studies of earthquake mechanics. In the first paper, Cochard and Madariaga use a rate-dependent (but not state-dependent) friction law in a two-dimensional problem to show that ruptures can 'heal' locally before the diffracted healing phases from the edge of the crack arrive there. Further, they show how the slip-weakening friction law can lead to non-uniformity of the final stress distribution providing insight as to how non-uniform stresses can be sustained on the fault over many seismic cycles. McGarr has compared stick-slip laboratory earthquakes with mining-induced ones and shown that for both these two kinds of events most of the strain-energy released is used in overcoming friction and relatively little is radiated as seismic waves. In this section, papers include studies on statistical physics and the relation between seismicity and source of heterogeneous faulting. Part I continues with five papers on field observa-
tion and modelling related to faulting and crustal deformation, with examples from Japan and Utah. Sibson shows that the Byerlee friction coefficients are widely applicable to faults in the top few kilometers of the earth's crust. This part concludes with five papers on laboratory studies of faulting and friction. Here laboratory experiments on dynamic rupturing show that the strong motion duration on the fault can be much shorter than the slip duration and that the normal displacement across a fault is sufficient to significantly reduce the heat generation on a fault, the latter offering an explanation for the low heat flow over the San Andreas fault. Part II is also divided into three parts covering theory, observation and experiment. Six theoretical papers focus on the calculated or measured deformation properties of simple physical systems to obtain insight into the earthquake faulting process and the seismic cycle. The lack of high heat flow on the San Andreas, mentioned above, is considered with the explanation of high fluid pressure at the time of fault rupturing being given as the reason for this well known problem. Simulated dynamic modelling is used to show that in theory it is possible for fault surfaces to separate during the rupturing process. Interactions between cracks and its effect on crack growth and seismic radiation is studied. Four papers on field observations of fault zones and faulting examine the deformation microstructure around faults. Modern techniques are used in some
Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 369- 371
Book Reviews Peri-Tethyan PlaO~orms, edited by Francois Roure. Editions Technip, Paris, France, 1994. Paperback, XVI + 275 pp., ISBN 2 - 7 1 0 8 - 0 6 7 9 - 7 . In March 1993, a research conference was held in Aries with 110 participants, mainly from the European region, to launch a new international programme, the Peri-Tethys Programme. This volume is a collection of key papers from this congress. Such a book is an excellent way to launch a new programme: to review the state of knowledge, to define the governing concepts and aims, and to discuss the strategy to take to meet these aims. It succeeds because it does mark the reference point from which the programme proceeds and is therefore also a reference work for those not necessarily directly connected with the programme. The book is divided into four sections. The Introduction contains an extended abstract by P.A. Ziegler, basically a general paleogeographic reconstruction of the Tethyan region since the Triassic, and an excellent review by M. Wilson of magmatism and the geodynamics of basin formation with a section focussing on this with regard specifically to the PeriTethyan domain. Three papers given in a section on Deformations at Plate Boundaries examine the Neogene development of the Sicilian-North African plate boundary (P. Casero and F. Roure), palinspastic reconstructions of the Carpathians and adjacent areas since the Cretaceous (N. Ellouz and E. Roca), and basin inversion in the Saharan Atlas of Algeria (Vially et al.). The paper by Vially et al. also develops models of the inversion process and effects associated with halokinesis. The third section on Paleostress is the largest and contains seven papers. A short paper by M.L. Zoback on present-day stress in plate boundary zones also contains a caution to those doing paleostress analy-
ses that the maximum horizontal stress is not always parallel to the plate motions (e.g., oblique convergence may cause stresses almost parallel to the plate boundary). Angelier et al. present some new insights into the construction of trajectory maps based on local paleostress determinations, using the Taiwan region as a test case. The Arabian platform and the Ebro basin are used as test cases for methods of paleostress determination from joints (Hancock); and Bergerat uses examples from western and central Europe for his overview of the evolution over the past three decades of inversion methods in paleostress field reconstructions. A brittle tectonic analysis was used by Bouaziz et al. in analysing paleostress in the Southern Tunisian Platform. Preliminary results of paleostress in the Paris Basin are presented by Lacombe et al. from an analysis of calcite twins from drill cores. Intra-plate stresses and basin inversion are the subject of a study by Huyghe and Mugnier of the southern North Sea. A short final section on Stratigraphic Correlations contains a paper by Amon and De Wever on the upper Cretaceous biostratigraphy of the western Siberian and eastern Volga-Ural Basins, and a short discussion by Thierry of proposed work to create " a chart of interscale correlated biostratigraphic units" or biozones using all the available micro- and macrofossil groups of the Mesozoic. A criticism of the book might be the uneven treatment of the subject matter and the apparently random juxtaposition of data from specific local areas (even outside the Peri-Tethyan domain in the case of Taiwan) with discussions of methods which the authors plan to apply in the Peri-Tethyan domain.
0040-1951/96/$15.00 © 1996 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
370
Book reviews
This is not a very serious criticism in my mind because of the substantial body of information and ideas presented. I have indicated the nature of each of the papers in order that those considering buying the book might understand that it is not the final word on the Peri-Tethyan Platforms but rather preliminary words on a new programme and the methods that will be used in it, along with some interesting new results from parts of the region based on the methods discussed. It is a useful book from this point of view, and contains both raw data and interpreta-
tions (including five colour plates of the palinspastic reconstructions of the Carpathians) as well as a guide to the methods. I would recommend the book to those whose interest is Tethyan geology but also to those who are carrying out the same sort of analyses in other parts of the world. J.M. Woodside (Amsterdam)
SSDI 0040- !951(95)00127- 1
Faulting, Friction, and Earthquake Mechanics, edited by Marone and Blanpied. Pure Applied Geophysics, Topical Volumes, published by Birkhauser, 1994.
This book consists of thirty-five articles which were based on papers presented at a special session of the May 1993 American Geophysical Union meeting. The book is in two parts and the articles are reprinted from issues of "Pure and Applied Geophysics" which appeared in 1994. The papers are divided into three broad groups: theoretical, field and laboratory related work, and the purpose is bringing together and increasing the interaction between scientists working in these different aspects of earthquake faulting. Part I begins with seven papers on theoretical studies of earthquake mechanics. In the first paper, Cochard and Madariaga use a rate-dependent (but not state-dependent) friction law in a two-dimensional problem to show that ruptures can 'heal' locally before the diffracted healing phases from the edge of the crack arrive there. Further, they show how the slip-weakening friction law can lead to non-uniformity of the final stress distribution providing insight as to how non-uniform stresses can be sustained on the fault over many seismic cycles. McGarr has compared stick-slip laboratory earthquakes with mining-induced ones and shown that for both these two kinds of events most of the strain-energy released is used in overcoming friction and relatively little is radiated as seismic waves. In this section, papers include studies on statistical physics and the relation between seismicity and source of heterogeneous faulting. Part I continues with five papers on field observa-
tion and modelling related to faulting and crustal deformation, with examples from Japan and Utah. Sibson shows that the Byerlee friction coefficients are widely applicable to faults in the top few kilometers of the earth's crust. This part concludes with five papers on laboratory studies of faulting and friction. Here laboratory experiments on dynamic rupturing show that the strong motion duration on the fault can be much shorter than the slip duration and that the normal displacement across a fault is sufficient to significantly reduce the heat generation on a fault, the latter offering an explanation for the low heat flow over the San Andreas fault. Part II is also divided into three parts covering theory, observation and experiment. Six theoretical papers focus on the calculated or measured deformation properties of simple physical systems to obtain insight into the earthquake faulting process and the seismic cycle. The lack of high heat flow on the San Andreas, mentioned above, is considered with the explanation of high fluid pressure at the time of fault rupturing being given as the reason for this well known problem. Simulated dynamic modelling is used to show that in theory it is possible for fault surfaces to separate during the rupturing process. Interactions between cracks and its effect on crack growth and seismic radiation is studied. Four papers on field observations of fault zones and faulting examine the deformation microstructure around faults. Modern techniques are used in some