This study examines the use of the geographic information systems (GIS) in structural geomorphology to build the model of the crust based on fractal analysis of relief. Fractal theory, developed by B. Mandelbrot, used to determination morpho-bloc divisibility of the Earth’s surface. There is the traceable statistically recurring relief structure indicate the appropriate tiered hierarchy of crus...

New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages for the Portalegre and Alcáçovas orthogneisses document a complex pre- Variscan history for the Iberian basement in Portugal. The available geochemical and geochronological data for the Alcáçovas orthogneiss (ca. 540 Ma) tend to favor its involvement in a Cadomian orogenic event. This is consistent with the development of an active continental margin setting at the e...

From (3. F. Becker's and L. V. Pirsson's early enunciations linking the dynamics of magma chambers to the rock records of sills and plutons to this day, two features stand at the centre of nearly every magmatic process: solidification fronts and phenocrysts. The structure and behaviour of the envisioned solidification front, however, has been mostly that akin to non-silicate, non-multiply-satur...

We have compiled data on textures, trace element contents, Hf isotope compositions and U-Pb ages of zircons from lower crustal xenoliths the central part Columbia supercontinent in Precambrian areas North America, Siberia Northern Europe to address question when host rocks became continental crust. The time crust reached its current state, a layer high-pressure granulite-facies rocks, is dated ...

Experimental data on the structure and properties of melts and fluids relevant to water-melt interaction in hydrous magmatic systems in the Earth's interior have been reviewed. Complex relationships between water solubility in melts and their bulk composition [Al/Si-ratio, metal oxide/(Al + Si) and electron properties of metal cations] explain why water solubility in felsic magmas such as those...

OVERVIEW On Earth, natural glasses are typically produced by rapid cooling of melts, and as in the case minerals rocks, can provide key information on evolution Earth. However, products not solely terrestrial, different formation mechanisms give rise to a variety amorphous materials. In this chapter, we an overview non-magmatic origin their mechanisms. We focus formed other than magmatic activi...