Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geodynamics Series, Volume 8.

During the past decade of the International Geodynamics Program many publications dealing with specific rift areas of the Earth's surface have appeared. Most of them followed symposia that were held in the respective rift zones. Among the rifts thus treated are the Rhinegraben, Afar, Iceland, the Baikal rift, the Oslo paleorift, the Rio Grande rift and the Dead Sea rift. Furthermore, publications dealing with studies of the ocean floor have discussed many oceanic rift areas.