One of the most important dynamic processes in the ocean is that of tidal movement. The tides obtain their energy from the earth's rotation. Most of this energy is received in the major ocean basins, and from there transmitted into shallow waters. It is in these shallow waters that tidal energy is dissipated, in part by eroding and transporting sediments, resulting in very active sedimentary processes in the shelf and coastal areas.

Research in clastic tidal deposits has accumulated large-amount of data on tidal processes and their products. In present-day tide-swept shelves large-scale tidal sandbodies with various bedforms has been a subject of extensive research, which mainly focussed on the southern bight of the North Sea (van Veen, 1935; Jones, Kain & Stride, 1965; Houbolt, 1968; Stride, 1970; Caston & Stride, 1970,1973; McCave, 197.1; Terwindt, 1971,1973; Cas-ton, 1972; Johnson et al., 1981; Kenyon et al., 1981; Langhorne, 1982; McCave & Lan-ghorne, 1982; Nio & Nelson, 1982; Stride, 1982; de Boer, van Gelder & Nio, 1988), the English Channel and the French Atlantic shelf (Berne et al., 1986; Berne et al., 1988; Turcq et al, 1986) and the North American Atlantic shelf (Swift et al., 1972,1979,1981; Milliman etal., 1972; Sheridan etal, 1974;Knebel&Folger, 1976,Knebel, 1981; Swift & Field, 1981).

In estuaries and other inshore tidal basins, genesis, geometry, distribution pattern, dynamic behaviour and internal sedimentary structures of tidal bedforms have been studied intensively in the Netherlands (Boersma, 1969; Terwindt, 1970,1981; de Raaf & Boersma, 1971; Boersma & Terwindt, 1981; Kohsiek & Terwindt, 1981; van den Berg, 1982, 1984, 1987; Terwindt & Brouwer, 1986; de Boer, van Gelder & Nio, 1988), U.K. (Langhorne, 1973; Allen & Friend, 1976; Elliott & Gardiner, 1981), France (Tastet et al, 1986), United States (Boothroyd & Hubbard, 1975; Bokuniewicz, et al, 1977), Canada (Swift et al, 1966; d'Anglejan, 1971; Dalrymple et al, 1975,1978; Dalrymple, 1984) and other countries. Most of the studies were concentrated in intertidal areas. The subtidal deposits received less attention due to the difficulties in field observations. Preservation potential of subtidal deposits, however, is much higher. As a consequence subtidal deposits will occur more often in the geological record. It is from the detailed study of the subtidal deposits in the construction pits of the Oosterschelde, SW Netherlands that distinct diagnostic criteria for recognizing tide-dominated deposits were developed (Visser, 1980; Siegenthaler, 1982; van den Berg, 1982; Nio et al., 1983; de Mowbray & Visser, 1984; Yang & Nio, 1985). <...>

Plate tectonics is the unifying theory of the solid Earth that describes the surface of our planet as being fragmented into rigid plates that move in relation to each other. Many fundamental geological processes, such as earthquakes, volcanism, and the formation of mountains, occur at the plates’ boundaries. In its initial formulation, plate tectonics was a kinematic theory that described and quantified these movements and associated deformation. Plate tectonics evolved into a dynamic theory, describing the forces driving the surface deformation and the internal dynamics of our planet. We also came to realize that plate tectonics is only one of the possible tectono-magmatic styles in which a planet can operate and that these can change over time. In the past years, the geosciences community has started to develop a theory that integrates plate tectonics and mantle convection as part of a single system. This was possible because of the ever-increasing high-quality imaging of Earth’s interior and our computational capabilities. But while the progress has been enormous, there are still many uncertainties and challenges ahead. <...>

Submitled work summarizes the results of lithological, lithostratigraphic, sedimentological, bioslratigraphic, palaeobiological and palaeobiogeographic studies of the uppermost Jurassi~Lower Cretaceous sequences of the Outer and Cenlral Western Carpatluans, forming a part of the Slovakian, (and also of the Polish) territory.

This volume is the final outcome of a conference designed to wrap up IOCP Project 157 (" Early Organic Evolution and Mineral and Energy Resources ") after a decade of prolific activity. The picturesque solitude of Maria Laach Abbey in the Eifel Mountains (FRO) provided the appropriate setting for a conclave of some 80 specialists from the various walks of the field who, during the week of Sept. 19 - 23, 1988, strived hard to define the state of the art in the principal segments of this Earth Science frontier. <...>