Field, petrographic, microstructural and isotopic studies of mylonitic gneisses and associated pegmatites along the Hope Valley shear zone in southern Rhode Island indicate that late Palaeozoic deformation (c. 275 Ma)in this zone occurred at very high temperatures (>650
C). High-energy cuspate ⁄ lobate phase boundary microstructures, a predominance of equant to sub-equant grains with low internal lattice strain, and mixed phase distributions indicate that diffusion creep was an important and possibly predominant deformation mechanism. Field and petrographic evidence are consistent with the presence of an intergranular melt phase during deformation, some of which collected into syntectonic pegmatites. Rb ⁄ Sr isotopic analyses of tightly sampled pegmatites and wall rocks confirm that the pegmatites were derived as partial melts of the immediately adjacent, isotopically heterogeneous mylonitic gneisses. The presence of syntectonic interstitial melts is inferred to have permitted a switch from dislocation creep to melt-enhanced diffusion creep as the dominant mechanism in these relatively coarse-grained mylonitic gneisses (200–500 lm syn-deformational grain size). A switch to diffusion creep would lead to significant weakening, and may explain why the Hope Valley shear zone evolved into a major regional tectonic boundary. This work identifies conditions under which diffusion creep operates in naturally deformed granitic rocks and illuminates the deformation processes involved in the development of a tectonic boundary between two distinct Late Proterozoic (Avalonian)basement terranes.

Geologists often need to apply diffusion theory and data to understand the degree of mass transfer, infer temperature-time histories, and address a wide range of geological problems. The aim of this volume is to provide practitioners the necessary background and data for such applications. We have made efforts to present a comprehensive overview, with discussion and assessment of diffusion data in a broad range of rock-forming minerals and all geologically relevant melts. Extensive data tables are provided as online supplements (as well as at websites maintained by individual authors), both for general usage by readers, and for experimentalists and theoreticians in the field to develop greater understanding of diffusion and plan future research directions.

In 2003 the Council of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) decided to accept the offer from the Irish Association for Economic Geology (IAEG) to organize its’ 9th Biennial Meeting. The title proposed was “Digging Deeper”, not meant in the this literal sense (although this is partly true in some ore districts) but metaphorically in terms of using more scientific applications and methodologies to understand mineral deposits and also to use advanced techniques in mineral exploration. The IAEG believed that this would have a broad interest to industry which is presently booming and would, we believed, still be in the throws of this boom in 2007. <...>

Mining activity monitoring, volume calculations, data for information systems of mining companies, decision making and planning, reclamation proposals are some of the most important fields, where photogrammetry can be used in open pit mining. Nowadays mostly digital methods find their utility in providing stereoscopic digitisation of a current situation of mining, precise orthophotos and digital terrain models. There are requirements for high precision especially in heights due to volume calculations and therefore high-resolution aerial images with low flight altitude are taken for the open pit mining purposes.