Here is an examination of the nature of landforms, soil and geomorphological processes in deserts. It is the first volume in English to attempt a review of the many important geomorphological aspects of dry lands - areas which cover almost a third of the Earth's land surface. The field is vast and contributions to its study are enormously varied. The authors provide some valuable generalizations, illuminate certain long-standing problems and establish baselines from which future research can proceed.

This book has been compiled and written by members of the Commission on Geomorphological Survey and Mapping of the International Geographical Union. Originally proposed in 1976 as a text to accompany and explain the lnternationtll Geomorphological Map of Europe (1: 2.5 million), the oudine of the book was prepared by the Commission at a meeting in Nove Mesto, Czechoslovakia, in 1977. Since then, there has been a considerable delay in publishing the International Map; meanwhile, work on this book progressed and has overtaken the schedule for printing the Map. At the same time, the book has been enlarged and its aims have changed to some extent: it is no longer envisaged simply as an explanation of the Map but as a work in its own right, providing the first comprehensive survey of the geomorphology of Europe <...>

Geomorphology is the study of the shape of the Earth. In this book we take this quite literally, and address the shape of the Earth at many scales. We ask why it is spherical, or not quite spherical, why it has a distribution of elevations that is bimodal, one mode characterizing a quite well-organized set of ocean basins, another the terrestrial landscape. At smaller scales, we address why hilltops are convex, why glacial troughs are U-shaped, why rivers are concave up. At yet smaller scales, sand is rippled, beaches are cusped, hillslopes are striped, and mud is cracked. These are some of nature’s most remarkable and visible examples of self-organizing systems. Each cries out for both explanation and appreciation. <...>

The deposit is situated in southeastern New South Wales at Lat.35°04*S, Long.1A9°34*E. (Fig.l) The first phase of testing proved up a body of poljmietallic massive sulphides and an adjacent zone of dominantly copper ore. The massive sulphides body consisted of about 6.3 million tonnes of copper, lead and zinc ore (1.7% Cu: 5.5% Pb; 14.4% Zn) and was the main target for geophysical investigation. The copper ore zone contains about 3.7 million tonnes averaging about 1.9% Cu, 0.1%Pb, 0.5% Zn in a number of ore shoots both along strike from and below the massive sulphides. Subsequent drilling indicated several concealed bodies of massive sulphides, separate from the first discovered body but these are at depths of more than 200m and hence too deep to have influenced the geophysical investigations.  <...>