FLUID INCLUSIONS 253 movements, folded mountain ranges, rift systems, earthquakes, volcanism, ocean transgressions, palaeoclimatological changes, etc – on a global scale In this sense, Wegener’s theory was a true forerunner of plate tectonics See Also Africa: Rift Valley Famous Geologists: Du Toit; Suess Gondwanaland and Gondwana History of Geology From 1900 To 1962 History of Geology Since 1962 Palaeoclimates Pangaea Plate Tectonics Tectonics: Mid-Ocean Ridges; Mountain Building and Orogeny Further Reading Carozzi AV (1985) The reaction of continental Europe to Wegener’s theory of continental drift Earth Sciences History 4: 122 137 Fritscher B (2002) Alfred Wegener’s ‘The origin of contin ents, 1912’ Episodes 25: 100 106 Jacoby WR (2001) Translation of ‘Die Entstehung der Kon tinente, Dr Alfred Wegener, Petermann’s Geographische Mitteilungen, 58 (1912)’ Journal of Geodynamics 32: 29 63 Koă ppen V and Wegener A (1924) Die Klimate der geolo gischen Vorzeit Berlin: Borntraă ger Luă decke C (1994) Stratigraphische Methode der Rekon struktion von Expeditionsergebnissen am Beispiel des Todes von Alfred Wegener waă hrend der Groă nlandexpedi tion (1930 31) In: Fritscher B and Brey G (eds.) Cosmo graphica et Geographica: Festschrift fuă r Heribert M Nobis zum 70 Geburtstag, Algorismus, vol 13, pp 347 367 Munich: Institut fuă r Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften Oreskes N (1999) The Rejection of Continental Drift: Theory and Method in American Earth Science New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press Runcorn SK (ed.) (1966) Continental Drift New York and London: Academic Press Schwarzbach M (1986) Alfred Wegener: The Father of Continental Drift Madison WI: Science Tech Publications Sengoă r AMC (1991) Timing of orogenic events: a persistent geological controversy In: Muă ller DW, McKenzie JA, and Weissert H (eds.) Controversies in Modern Geology: Evolution of Geological Theories in Sedimentology, Earth History and Tectonics, pp 403 473 London: Academic Press Wegener A (1912) Die Entstehung der Kontinente Petermann’s Mitteilungen aus Justus Perthes’ Geogra phischer Anstalt 58: 185 195, 253 256, 305 309 Wegener A (1926) Palaă ogeographische Darstellung der Theorie der Kontinentalverschiebungen In: Dacque E (ed.) Palaă ogeographie, pp 171 189 Leipzig and Wien: F Deuticke Wegener A (1971) The Origin of Continents and Oceans (Translation from the 4th revised German edition by J Biram, with an introduction by BC King.) London: Methuen Wegener A (1980) Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane (Reprint of the 1st and 4th editions, edited by A Vogel.) Braunschweig: Vieweg Wegener E (1960) Alfred Wegener: Tagebuă cher, Briefe, Erinnerungen Wiesbaden: Brockhaus Wutzke U (1998) Kommentiertes Verzeichnis der schriftli chen Dokumente seines Lebens und Wirkens, Berichte zur Polarforschung 288 Bremerhaven: Alfred Wegener Institut fuă r Polar und Meeresforschung FLUID INCLUSIONS A H Rankin, Kingston University, Kingston-upon-Thames, UK ß 2005, Elsevier Ltd All Rights Reserved Introduction Fluid inclusions are small droplets of fluid that have been trapped within crystals either during primary growth from solution or at some later stage, usually as a result of recrystallization along healed microfractures They are ubiquitous in both naturally occurring minerals and in laboratory-grown crystals To the chemist or materials scientist, these gross defects cause endless obstacles in their quest to grow near-perfect crystals However, to the geologist, they provide a unique fossil record of the various fluids responsible for the formation and evolution of rocks and minerals throughout the history of the Earth Despite their small size (usually less than 20 mm), their chemical composition and physical properties can be readily determined, and the data may be used to estimate the temperatures, pressures, and physicochemical nature of the fluid at the time of trapping This information has made an immense contribution to the development of modern theories of ore genesis, petrogenesis, diagenesis, and petroleum migration and accumulation, and to our understanding of the importance of the fluid phase in a wide range of geological processes