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MARGINS Theoretical and Experimental Earth Science Series

Series Editors:

Garry D. Karner, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University

Julie D. Morris, Washington University

Neal W. Driscoll, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Eli A. Silver, University of California, Santa Cruz

Continental margins are the Earth’s principle loci for producing hydrocarbon and metal resources, for earthquake, landslide, volcanic, and climatic hazards, and for the greatest population density. Despite the societal and economic importance of margins, many of the mechanical, fluid, chemical, and biological processes that shape them are poorly understood. Progress is hindered by the sheer scope of the problems and by the spatial-temporal scale and complexities of the processes.

The MARGINS Program (a research initiative supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation) seeks to understand the complex interplay of processes that govern continental margin evolution. The objective is to develop a self-consistent understanding of the processes that are fundamental to margin formation and evolution. The books in the MARGINS series investigate aspects of these active systems as a whole, viewing a margin not so much as a geological entity of divergent, translational, or convergent type but more in terms of a complex physical, chemical, and biological system subject to a variety of influences.