This is a very well-edited compilation of papers covering a wide range of topics in the realm of extensional basins. Some of the classic chestnuts are here (the Indonesian basins, the Gulf of Suez, the North Sea, East Africa) with some new insight, as well as some excellent papers synthesising, and simplifying, the latest ideas in structural geology and stratigraphy of rifts. The wide diversity of examples throughout succeeds in demonstrating the structural and strati-graphical themes common to most rifts, and ensures that the book is not dominated by reference to a single basin. It is, I think, the best available volume on the subject; one that is immediately useful to the petroleum explorationist as well as the academic. The reader will find examples of high-and low-strain rifts through a diversity of geological ages and geographical settings. Structural papers include coverage of models of crustal extension, large-scale crustal and plate margin features caused by extension, a useful discussion of forward and reverse modeling of rift basin formation at a basin level of detail, and an excellent paper on a high-strain rift model (in contrast to all the low-strain examples from which the strides in understanding of rift basin architecture have been derived). There is also a thought-provoking examination of variation in fracture styles and diagenetic features as these relate to spatial distribution along rift segments. The later should appeal to development geologists and engineers looking for a better understanding of hydrocarbon production and drainage from fields in rift settings.
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