Cementing is arguably the single most critical step in the construction of a well. When drilling a well, formations that originally provided seals between permeable zones are penetrated, opening the possibility for formation fluids with different pore pressures to migrate from one permeable zone to another or even back to surface. A combination of casing and cement are used to form hydraulic barriers that restore these seals, isolate permeable zones, and prevent the occurrence of fluid migration.

Within the esteemed halls of the University of Oklahoma, our journey into the depths of seismic interpretation began an endeavor that has since blossomed into a comprehensive exploration of fault damage zones through the lens of seismic attributes. Under the guidance of Prof. Kurt J. Marfurt and with the invaluable insights of Prof. Ze’ev Reches, we embarked on a project that not only sought to characterize the strike-slip fault in the Anadarko Basin but also to lay the groundwork for a methodical, quantitative analysis of subsurface structures—a task that was both ambitious and pioneering in 2010. 

Scientists, in general, tend to be reticent in calling attention to their contributions to science. Satisfaction comes from the solution of a problem rather than from any public acclaim they may receive. Once a paper is presented, there is generally reluctance to present it again. The true scientist is never satisfied with past results, and is constantly attacking new problems. He is an entrepreneur in the finest sense of the word, and at the same time a religious zealot in his dedication to his work, and a visionary in his concentration on the unknown. It is, therefore, not surprising that scientists and churchmen have many characteristics in common; that churchmen through the ages have made significant contributions to the advance of science; and that scientists and churchmen, individually, are 'warm' human beings more concerned with their work and others than with themselves.

Seismic technology has been an integral part of hydrocarbon exploration since the first seismic exploration patent in 1917 and the first field test in Oklahoma in 1921. Borehole acoustics was first patented in 1935 and successfully developed later as a continuous velocity logging tool, providing a much finer vertical subsurface perspective than seismic acoustics. Rock physics is the crucial discipline that interfaces acoustic wave amplitude and velocities, from seismic or borehole sonic measurements, with petrophysical characterization. The foundation for theoretical rock physics can be traced back to seminal works between the 1940s and the 1960s by Maurice A. Biot and Fritz Gassmann.

The initiative for this Memoir arose from a series of field-based geological studies in Sumatra by the Institute of Geological Sciences (later the British Geological Survey) and the University of London Group for Geological Research in Southeast Asia in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Mines, through the Geological Research and Development Centre and the Directorate of Mineral Resources in Bandung, and the Research and Development Centre for Oil and Gas Technology (LEMIGAS) in Jakarta between 1975 and 1995. The Indonesian side selected Sumatra as a suitable area for this programme of scientific and technical assistance in geological, geochemical and geophysical surveys, inventories of mineral potential and the training of geoscientists in pursuance of successive five-year development plans (Pelita). The work culminated in the publication by the Geological Research and Development Centre of a series of 42 1:250 000 Geological Map Sheets with Explanatory Notes covering the whole of Sumatra. In compiling these geological maps the work of the Dutch geologists of the Netherlands Indies Geological Survey, who commenced a systematic programme of mapping in Sumatra before the Second World War, and the work of geologists working for oil companies with concessions in Sumatra, supported by the Indonesian National Oil Company (Pertamina), and published since 1971 in the Proceedings of the Indonesian Petroleum Association, were also incorporated. 

Perhaps no sector in the Himalaya is endowed with so exciting a geological setup as Nepal. Forming a bridge between the Western and Eastern Himalaya, Nepal occupies a pivotal and significant place in the geology of the Himalaya. Stretching from the low lying foothill in south to the highest peak of Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) in the north and covering a vast time span from the Proterozoic to Holocene, the Nepal Himalaya preserves unique geological events. Varied kinds of igneous rocks, metamorphosed sequences and sedimentary rocks of disparate environments make a captivating geological mosaic.

The great conservationist E. O. Wilson called the love of nature, and especially the love of biodiversity, biophilia. He had in mind not only our love of the outdoors, of nature, of getting away from our hurried, technological world, but also a fundamental justification for wildlife conservation. Why should we prevent species from going extinct? We could make economic arguments and say that we get useful products such as food and drugs from many plants, or that natural habitats keep the Earth’s energy flows, oxygen and carbon in balance. But Wilson was keen to remind us that purely economic arguments are not enough, or they can be used misleadingly. His point was that we should love biodiversity, the richness and colour of all living things, and humans (or any other species) have no right to kill off all members of another species.

This book provides an introduction into the mechanics of faulting in the brittle crust of the Earth. It developed from my annual two-semester course on tectonomechanics for graduate students of engineering geology and of rock engineering at the Technical University of Graz (Austria). 

“Structural geology is the study of the structural (as opposed to compositional) features of rocks, of the geographic distribution of the features and their causes. A structural feature is one produced in rock by movements after deposition and commonly after consolidation of the rock.”# These definitions are drawn independently of the size of the structural features considered, and the range of sizes involved is great.

A fracture model for quartz ribbons in straight gneisses
Origin and incremental evolution of brittle/ductile shear zones in granitic rocks: natural examples from the Southern Abitibi Belt, Canada
Stretching lineations in transpressional shear zones: an example from the Sierra Nevada Batholith, California
Shear zones as a result of intraplate tectonics in oceanic crust: the example of the Basal Complex of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands)
Significance of crustal-scale shear zones and synkinematic mafic dykes in the Nagssugtoqidian orogen, SW Greenland: a re-examination
Evidence for synchronous thin-skinned and basement deformation in the Cordilleran fold-thrust belt: the Tendoy Mountains, southwestern Montana
The effect of cover composition on extensional faulting above re-activated basement faults: results from analogue modelling
A note comparing parameters controlling low-angle normal and thrust movement