Dyke Swarms:Keys for Geodynamic Interpretation Keys for Geodynamic I
Dykes occur in a wide variety of geological and tectonic settings and their detailed study through space and time is imperative for understanding several geological events. Dykes are believed to be an integral part of continental rifting and when they occ
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Rajesh K. Srivastava Editor
Dyke Swarms: Keys for Geodynamic Interpretation
Foreword by Richard E. Ernst
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Editor Prof. Rajesh K. Srivastava Banaras Hindu University Department of Geology Varanasi India [email protected]
ISBN 978-3-642-12495-2 e-ISBN 978-3-642-12496-9 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-12496-9 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: deblik, Berlin Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Foreword
Only 25 years have passed since the initial conference that launched modern mafic dyke swarms studies. In 1985, Henry Halls gathered researchers from around the world to the Erindale Campus of the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada for the first International Dyke Conference (IDC-1) that has led to subsequent gatherings in Australia (1990), Israel (1995), South Africa (2001), Finland (2005) and to the very successful 6th International dyke conference (IDC-6) recently held in Varanasi, India (February 4–7, 2010), organized by Rajesh K. Srivastava, and being celebrated in this volume. Book volumes from the prior dyke conferences were published in 1987 (Halls and Fahrig, Geol. Assoc. Canada Spec. Pap. 34), in 1990 (Parker et al., Balkema publisher), in 1995 (Baer and Heimann, Balkema publisher) and 2006 (Hanski et al., Taylor-Francis publisher).
Pioneers in Dyke Swarm Studies In earlier days (prior to 1985) mafic dyke swarms were generally poorly understood and little appreciated by the broader geological community; they were typically conceived of as distractions to more important basement or supracrustal geology. However, some early interest in dykes came from paleomagnetism, and to some degree from geochronology and geophysical modeling (because of the simple tabular geometry of dykes). The work and inspiration of pioneering scientists opened new frontiers for dyke swarm studies. For instance, Walter Fahrig of the Geological Survey of Canada systematically (year-after-year starting in the early 1960s) distinguished the main swarms of the Canadian Shield, leading to the identification of the first radiating swarms. Another pioneer was Henry Halls
