Plate Motions

Abstract

The globally growing demand for energy and mineral resources, the need for reliable projections of future climate processes, and the necessity for coast protection to mitigate threats and hazards of disasters require a comprehensive understanding of the genesis and structure of the marine geosphere and processes involving it. The “classical” research fields in marine geology are being currently supplemented by the development of more general concepts which strive to integrate marine geophysics, hydrography, climatology, marine biology, and ecology. The term “marine geosciences” has been broadly accepted to serve as an “umbrella” for this new complex field of research and practical solutions in the marine realm. We have reflected this development by putting together the Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences which appears as a volume of the Encyclopedia in Earth Sciences Series. When collecting entries for the Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences, we intended to provide the current state of knowledge in marine geosciences and to cover their theoretical, applied, and technical aspects. However, as we were working on the Encyclopedia, it became clear to us that one printed volume cannot accommodate all the disciplinary basics of marine geosciences. Therefore, the reader seeking explanation of a specific scientific term is advised to consult not only the list of entries, but also to take a look on the back-of-the-book index. The index can be used as a search engine for text paragraphs in this volume dealing with the words of interest. Because of the complex nature of marine geosciences, we do realize that some overlap with the “classical” research geosciences fields, already covered by other volumes of the Encyclopedia in Earth Sciences Series, must have occurred in the present volume. We did our best to avoid repetitions in this volume and we advise the reader to consult, whenever necessary, other Encyclopedias in the Earth Science Series volumes such as Encyclopedia of Coastal Science, Encyclopedia of Geochemistry, Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments, or Encyclopedia of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks. With this volume, we hope to reach out to a broad audience of users concerned with marine sciences and technology, from students and scholars in academia to engineers in the industry to decision makers in administration and politics. The editorial team of the Encyclopedia of Marine Geosciences reflects the diversity of disciplines covered: MartinMeschede took over responsibility for manuscripts related to plate tectonics, Sven Petersen dealt with those focusing on magmatism, Jörn Thiede was responsible for entries on deep ocean processes, and Jan Harff edited the entries related to ocean margins and associated processes.