Ob die vom praktizierenden Stratigraphen angewendeten Methoden richtig sind, entscheidet sich nicht etwa anhand der oft theoretischen Überlegungen von Kommissionen, sondern mit dem Erfolg seiner Arbeit, nämlich der Richtigkeit seiner stratigraphischen Ergebnisse. Richtlinien zu stratigraphischen Verfahrensweisen können deshalb auch nicht mehr sein als Hilfe und Empfehlung für den stratigraphisch arbeitenden Geologen. Sie sollen durch ihre Anwendung zur Vermeidung formaler Fehler sowie zur Stabilität stratigraphischer Kategorien beitragen. <...>

New geochronological data [zircon U ⁄Pb, titanite fission-track (TFT) and apatite fission-track (AFT) dating and apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology] and thermal history modelling yield constraints on the development of the granitoid basement of the Kuznetsk-Alatau Mountains, southern Siberia. The final stages of magmatism in the Kuznetsk-Alatau palaeo-island-arc are Late Cambrian, and collision of the arc with Siberia occurred in the Early Ordovician. The basement was exhumed by the Early Devonian. Continuous Devonian–Early Triassic sedimenta-

tion filled the adjoining Kuznetsk and Minusa basins and buried (and re-heated) the Kuznetsk-Alatau basement. After initial Pangaea break-up and Siberian flood-basalt magmatism, the basement reached TFT and AFT retention-temperatures in the Middle Triassic and Early Cretaceous, respectively, during denudation-induced cooling.

Craters on the Earth are traces on the path our planet has followed to come to existence from the early nebula which was filling this corner of the galaxy.
Millions of cataclysmic events were necessary about five billions of years ago to form the Earth. We do not have evidences of this part of the Earth history on the surface. However, impacts continued through the Ages and traces of the most recent craters are present over the surface of the Earth. Documenting them through satellite observations provides important information on the genesis of our planet through a very valuable, systematic observational approach.

Map measurements of the world’s coastline length have yielded a figure of 500,000 km. However, when all of the very real and intricate coastal crenulations are considered, the actual length is probably closer to 1,000,000 km. Added to this is the fact that 40% of the 6,000,000,000 people presently inhabiting the earth live within 100 km of a coastline. From these observations, it can be seen that coasts are a very major geo-morphic and social feature on the face of the planet. And for this reason, scholars in a multitude of disciplines have long been studying the many facets of the zone where the land meets the sea.