Исследования Геологического Комитета в Крымском горном кряже доставили немало новых материалов, как для понимания морфологии, так и для тектоники и стратиграфии этих гор. В частности это касается и той песчаноглинистой толщи, которая слагает нижнюю часть склона Южного берега, а также значительныя площади на северном склоне кряжа. Эта толща является то более глинистой, и тогда почти черного цвета, с отдельными известковыми и сферосидеритовыми стяжениями и с пропластами плотных, более или менее железистых песчаников и вулканических туфов, то более песчаной и тогда более светлых цветов, обычно сильно слюдистой и с массой плохо сохраненныхъ растительных остатков; <...>

A whole host of people have helped steer this book to completion, and I’m too close to my word count to thank them in the manner they deserve. Each of the following contributed to the process of assembling this book, and I’m extremely grateful to all of them. In no particular order, tremendous thanks to Brian Andres, Chris Bennett, Richard Butler, Luis Chiappe, Laura Codorniú, Stephen Czerkas, Fabio Dalla Vecchia, Ross Elgin, Erno Endenberg, Mike Habib, Dave Hone, Elaine Hyder, Martin Lockley, Bob Loveridge, Lü Junchang, Carl Mehling, Markus Moser, Darren Naish, Attila Ősi, Kevin Padian, Ryan Ridgely, Rico Stecher, Jose Sanz, Lorna Steel, David Unwin, Andre Veldmeijer, Larry Witmer, Ewan Wolff, and the nice people at the London Natural History Museum Picture Library, for supplying advice, thoughts, or imagery for use here.

Vein arrays are often composed of pull-aparts which are linked by shear fractures, good examples of which occur in the Lower Jurassic limestones of Somerset, southwestern England. Such pull-apart arrays have displacement-distance characteristics which are similar to fault zones, with maximum displacement (indicated by the largest pull-apart widths) near the centre of the array, and with displacement decreasing towards the tips. Pull-apart arrays usually die out into en echelon or pinnate veins. Evidence for pressure solution along the shear fractures which connect pull-aparts include their dark and braided nature, their obliquity to the displacement direction, the high dihedral angles (often > 90°) between conjugate shear fractures, and the dissolution of earlier structures. A range of geometries occurs, with varying relative amounts of veins and pressure solution being related to varying amounts of transtension or transpression. There is a general trend for an increase in the angle between vein segments and the shear fractures as contraction increases. There is therefore a trend for increased pressure solution on the shear fractures in more contractional arrays. The concentration of insoluble material along shear fractures has important implications for the mechanics and sealing of faults.

Volcanic eruptions are spectacular natural events that have piqued man's curiosity since prehistoric times. On the one hand they can be of great benefit to man, but on the other can cause great harm and thereby provide a major impetus to their study. Broader aspects make use of volcanoes as windows into the interior of the earth. Magma, molten rock, provides one of the major clues to the earth's origin and to the evolution of its mantle and crust. Our planet's hydrosphere and atmosphere - and thus the origin and evolution of life - owe their origin to degassing of the earth, a process largely accomplished by volcanic eruption. Periods of especially intense volcanic activity can affect climate and thus the world's flora and fauna. Volcanic rocks are the source material from which many sedimentary and metamorphic rocks are derived.