IN THIS ISSUE: Probing Earth's Processes /2 (Cornell geologists travel far and wide, interpreting subtle clues to learn how the earth works.) ... Mountains, Climate, and Global Change /3 (Mountain ranges affect weather and weather affects mountain ranges in a cycle that produces the soil that sustains life.) ... The Cornell Andes Project: An Interdisciplinary Study of Mountain Building /9 (A major initiative studies the world's best example of a mountain chain pushed up by subducted oceanic crust.) ... Deep Seismic Exploration in Tibet /12 (A collaboration with Chinese geologists is making the first deep seismic transect of the Himalayas.) ... Earthquakes and Oil: Collaborative Research in the Arab World /17 (Studies involving geologists in North Africa and the Middle East lead to better assessments of earthquake hazards.) ... Geological Fieldwork in the Space Age /20 (In the wilds of Alaska, graduate students learn about geology and about themselves.) ... New Meeting Grounds: Collaborative Research in the Urals and Kamchatka /25 (In the wake of the Cold War, international teams study Asia's eastern and western extremes.) ... New Frontiers Close to Home: North America's Central Corridor /27 (Under the flat expanse between the Appalachians and the Rockies lie the remains of former mountains and rifts.) ...Deep-Focus Earthquakes /32 (Laboratory experiments give clues to processes deep in the earth's mantle.) ... Mantle Plumes and Oceanic Volcanism /34 (Independent of plate tectonics, mantle plumes create chains of islands.) ... Fractals in Geology /40 (Drainage systems and other geological phenomena can be modeled with fractals.) ... Register /42 ... Faculty Publications /44