Most of the deformation on Earth is concentrated in relatively narrow high-strain zones (e.g. plate boundaries). The purpose of this volume was to address different aspects dealing with high-strain zones, from the map scale to the processes active in high-strain zones to the physical properties of highly strained rocks. Several of the contributions were originally presented in a special session entitled 'High-Strain Zones' at the EGSAGU-EUG meeting 2003 in Nice, France, which inspired the compilation of this book. <...>

The art and science of crystal chemistry lies in the interpretation of threedimensional electron and nuclear density data from diffraction experiments in terms of interatomic bonding and forces. With the exception of meticulous high-resolution studies (e.g. Downs 1983, Downs et al. 1985, Zuo et al. 1999), these density data reveal little more than the possible atomic species and their distributions within the unit cell. Other parameterizations of crystal structures, including atomic radii, bond distances, packing indices, polyhedral representations, and distortion indices, are model-dependent. These secondary parameters have proven essential to understanding structural systematics, but they are all based on interpretations of the primary diffraction data. <...>

The study of hillslopes is of concern to many scientists - geologists, pedologists, hydrologists, engineers, and geomorphologists. As a result the literature on the subject is dispersed through many books and journals and the approaches to the subject are varied. In writing this text I have attempted to draw on all the relevant disciplines and particularly to use the contributions of the exponents of rock and soil mechanics.