Introduction
Geology is the Component of Encyclopedia of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias.
The theme on geology in the Encyclopedia of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, presents many aspects of geology under the following nine different topics: The Organized Earth.; Tectonics and Geodynamics; Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology; Sedimentary Geology and Paleontology; Overview of the Mineralogical Sciences; Geology of Metallic and Non-Metallic Mineral Resources; Regional Geology; Geology of Petroleum, Gas, and Coal; Environmental and Engineering Geology.
Editor(s) Biography
Benedetto De Vivo studied at the University of Napoli “Federico II” and graduated from there in geological sciences in 1971. From 1971 to 1976 he worked as a consulting geologist for private companies operating in Italy, Africa (Sudan, Mozambique, and Ghana), and Central America (Santo Domingo) in the field of ore deposits, geochemical prospecting, environmental geology, and hydrogeology. From 1976 to 1987 he worked as research fellow at the Centro di Studio per la Geocronologia e la Geochimica delle Formazioni Recenti, CNR, Roma. From 1987 to 2000 he held the position of associate professor in applied geochemistry at Dipartimento di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, University of Napoli “Federico II” and in 2000 was appointed to the position of full professor in geochemistry at the same university. He has held different research fellowships in the United States (Colorado School of Mines in 1978; US Geological Survey, Reston, Va. in 1982 and 1992) and was invited to the Japan Geological Survey in 1990, to be the visiting scientist by the EC–Japan Center for Industrial Co-operation. He has been chairman of the Working Group “Inclusions in Minerals” of the International Mineralogical Association and is a member of the Board of Associate Editors (since 1996) of Mineralogy and Petrology. His current research interest span a wide range of topics including geochemical prospecting, fluid and melt inclusions studies applied mostly to the study of volcanic and sub-volcanic systems, and environmental geochemistry. He has published 140 papers (more than half of which in top internationally referred journals) and has edited different special volumes of J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., Eur. J. Miner., Inst. Mining and Metallurgy, and Mineralogy and Petrology. He is also the author of two text books (in Italian) in geochemical prospecting and environmental geochemistry. In 2001 has was nominated a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America for “his outstanding contributions to the fields of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, and petrology.”
Bernhard Grasemann studied at the Institute of Geology of the University of Vienna, Austria, and finished a Ph.D. in 1993 with a thesis on numerical thermal modeling of inverted metamorphism at the Main Central Thrust in the north-west Himalayas (India). During a six years assistant position he was mainly involved in numerical thermal modeling of tectonic processes for interpretations of
geochronologically-derived cooling curves and their translation into exhumation rates, with examples from the Himalayas and the western Alps. For this work he received in 1998 the Otto Ampferer Award of the Austrian Geological Society. Since 2000 he has held the position of professor for structural geology and tectonics at the Institute of Geology of the University of Vienna. His current research interests are the kinematic of deformation in orogenic wedges (north-west Himalayas), emplacement of high-pressure rocks (eastern Alps), exhumation of metamorphic core complexes (western Aegean, Greece), and numerical modeling of quantitative kinematic indicators. In 2002 he became a member of the editorial board of journal Geology (Geological Society of America) and Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geologischen Gesellschaft (Geological Society of Austria).
Kurt Stüwe studied at the universities of Graz, Innsbruck, and Leoben in Austria, and graduated from there in 1984 with a M.Sc. on gold deposits in Alaska. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Melbourne, Australia in 1988 with a thesis on the metamorphic evolution of eastern Antarctica. From 1990 to 2000 he held various positions as research fellow at the universities of Monash and Adelaide in Australia, and as a visiting professor at the universities of Graz and Vienna in Austria, where he was involved with research projects in Antarctica, central Australia, the Himalayas, and the European Alps. Since 2001 he has held a professorial position at the University of Graz, Austria, where he teaches geodynamics. His current research interests span a wide range of topics, including geophysical, petrological, structural, and geomorphological aspects. In his research, he has always attempted to combine different geological sub-disciplines to solve integrated geodynamical problems. He is editor and editorial board member of a range of national and international journals, and has published roughly 150 publications, about half of which are in top internationally refereed journals. He has also had several years away from the academic world, working as a climbing guide in Alaska in 1984 and 1985, and as a consultant geologist in Zimbabwe in 1989. Aside from geological field trips, he has organized more than ten climbing expeditions to the highest peaks of all continents. He is married, has two children, and lives in Graz.
