Continental mantle /

This most recent in a long and excellent series synthesizes current information and thinking about the continental lithosphere-mantle--its physical, chemical, and temporal evolution from the earth's earliest times through to the present. Nine highly qualified earth scientists (geologists, geophysicists, and geochemists) present eight chapters that begin with a historical perspective of the geophysics of the continental mantle and then deal with petrology and geochemistry of the continental mantle, age and early evolution, Archaean to modern lithospheres, the redox state of the continental lithosphere, fluids in the continental mantle, stable isotopes in the continental lithospheric mantle, and a crust-mantle probe into continental volcanism. After each chapter is a lengthy select list of references. Illustrations are squarely to the point, some quite dynamic. This book is loaded with state-of-the-art information and interpretations; it is an exceptionally valuable resource for all graduate-level geoscientists concerned with formation and evolution fo the earth's mantle and crust, and it should remain useful for many years to come. -T. L. T. Grose, Colorado School of Mines