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เนื้อหาย่อ : about this book . Less than ten years ago, the plate tectonics hypothesis made a revolu- tionary impact on earth sciences and since then a profuse literature expounding new ideas and facts about the subject has built up. Yet this is the first book to expose the underlying concepts and related applications of the hypothesis in a systematic manner; an evaluation which will prove of significant value to scientists invoived in this rapidly changing field. The authors emphasize the tight constraints that the hypothesis imposes on any interpretation made within its framework and review the main concepts of plate tectonics, the rheological stratification of the Earth, the kinematics of relative motions between plates, instan- taneous and finite, on a plane and on a sphere. The global pattern of present relative motion is discussed, together with "absolute"' piate motions (paleomagnetism and plate tectonics). The last two sections are concerned with the processes occurring at accreting plate bound- aries (mid-ocean ridges and rifts) and consuming plate boundaries (oceanic trenches and Tertiary mountain belts). This new paperback edition now has the added facility of a subject index and the representative bibliography of about 600 references will provide an essential tool for researchers.