EARTH'S CRUST

Any true understanding of landscapes, surface geology and natural hazards requires an understanding of the tectonic processes that have resulted in the present-day terrains. This understanding can be accomplished only through an appreciation of deep crustal architecture that is revealed by seismic profiling, wide angle or tomography techniques. Projects involving deep seismic profiling across the continents, their margins and the deep ocean basins are very expensive and usually require national and international budgets of many millions of dollars. Many countries cannot usually fund such projects alone and thus international cooperation is required for the results of such projects to flow to the wider scientific community and the public.