A model for the tectonic evolution of the Eastern Mediterranean region from Mesozoic to Present is developed from geological, geophysical, and seismological data on and surrounding the island of Cyprus. This model emphasizes the role of major transform structures in accommodating horizontal plate motions, driven from the west by spreading along the Atlantic-Arctic mid-ocean-ridge system and fro...

Prior studies have proposed tectonic and climatic mechanisms to explain surface uplift throughout the Bhutan Himalaya. While the resulting enigmatic, low-relief landscapes, elevated above deeply incised canyons, are a popular setting to test ideas of interacting tectonic and climatic forces, when and why these landscapes formed is still debated. We test the idea that these landscapes were creat...

We have investigated the migration behaviors of uranium (U) and thorium (Th) in Earth and other terrestrial planets. Theoretical models of U and Th migration have been proposed. These models suggest that the unique features of Earth are closely connected with its unique U and Th migration models and distribution patterns. In the Earth, U and Th can combine with oxidative volatile components and...

This virtual special issue represents a collection of papers concerning Crustal Melting selected by the Editor from those published on various aspects of this theme in the JMG since 1982. The papers are grouped into sequences that address topics that have been prominent in the JMG during the last 30 years concerning the origin, evolution and tectonic role of migmatites and migmatitic granulites...

A study using multiple techniques provided insight into tectonic influences on ground water systems; the results can help to understand ground water systems in the tectonically active western United States and other parts of the world. Ground water in the San Bernardino Valley (Arizona, United States and Sonora, Mexico) is the main source of water for domestic use, cattle ranching (the primary ...

We present simulations of large-scale landscape evolution on tectonic time scales obtained from a new numerical model which allows for arbitrary spatial discretization. The new method makes use of e cient algorithms from the field of computational geometry to compute the set of natural neighbours of any irregular distribution of points in a plane. The natural neighbours are used to solve geomor...

Age–elevation relationships have been used widely to constrain the rate of rock exhumation in a range of tectonic environments (Wagner et al., 1977; Morley et al., 1980; Benjamin et al., 1987; Gleadow and Fitzgerald, 1987; House et al., 1997; Batt et al., 2000). In order to avoid complications arising from the thermal perturbation caused by finite-amplitude surface topography (Stüwe et al., 199...

Induced earthquakes currently pose a significant hazard in the central United States, but there is considerable uncertainty about the severity of their ground motions. We measure stress drops of 39 moderate-magnitude induced and tectonic earthquakes in the central United States and eastern North America. Induced earthquakes, more than half of which are shallower than 5 km, show a comparable med...

9 10 This paper makes a review of the interpretations of the tectonic evolution of SW Japan 11 during the last three decades. In the late 1970s, the dominant model was the so-called 12 ―Pacific-type orogeny‖, emphasizing the purported absence of nappes and the contrast with 13 the alpine chains, and interpreting the evolution as due to a steady oceanic subduction since 14 the Paleozoic time. In...