Most of the North American continent is underlain by long-cratonized crust. However, the geologists’, geochemists’ and geophysicists’ attention is mainly focused on the surrounding mobile megabelts. Only few publications consider the North American craton as a whole and attempt to review its entire history from the Late Archean to the present. Even in the last, as yet unfinished synopsis, created under the label Decade of North American Geology (DNAG), the geology of the craton is divided between volumes separately considering the Canadian Shield and cratonic platforms, platformal cover and basement, in the U.S. and Canada. <...>

The purpose of this study guide is to assist the college student in the introductory level geology class with the sometimes daunting task of assimilating the material presented in the textbook. It is designed both to act as a guide while reading each chapter and to test you on the material after the chapter has been read and studied. To maximize its use read this preface before starting the first chapter. <...>

Geology has undergone a revolution during the last decade with the advent of the concept of global tectonics. It is becoming increasingly clearthat lateral movements of enormous plates, genesis of new crust at mid-ocean ridges, and subduction of that new crust to the mantle beneath the leading edge of an overriding plate are mechanismsthat cannot be extrapolated back into the earliest Precambrian (or Archean); quite different geotectonic mechanisms appear to have been operative then and immense oceans probably did not exist. Nevertheless, much of the modern geologist's preoccupation is with the search for fossil plate boundaries in Phanerozoic systems. Ophiolites have been equated with such boundaries, though it is apparent that ophiolites can be developed in a wide variety of geotectonic zones at or near convergent plate margins. It is also possible that they can develop quite apart from such margins. The ophiolite problem is certainly more complex than was at first supposed. <...>

Popularity of this book amongst the undergraduate students and practising engineers has made the author to revive the book with updated materials.

The second edition of the book comprises 24 chapters dealing with four components, viz. Basic Principles of Soil Mechanics, Laboratory Determination of Soil Parameters Under Different Field Conditions, Earth Pressure Problems Including Foundations and Advanced Topics on Soil Mechanics Applications.

Q-slope is an empirical rock slope engineering method for assessing the stability of excavated rock slopesin the field. Intended for use in reinforcement-free road or railway cuttings or in opencast mines, Q-slope allows geotechnical engineers to make potential adjustments to slope angles as rock mass conditions become apparent during construction. Through case studies across Asia, Australia, Central America, and Europe, a simple correlation between Q-slope and long-term stable slopes was established. Q-slope is designed such that it suggests stable, maintenance-free bench-face slope angles of, for instance,