Abstract The Western Carpathians are a part of the extensive Alpine-Carpathian mountain system composed of the Western and Eastern Alps passing eastward into the Carpathians and Dina-rides. The Western Carpathians represent the northernmost part of the Alpine orogen adjacent at its foredeep to the North European and Russian platforms. They are divided into two belts: the Outer Western Carpathians, consisting mostly of Neoalpine nappes, and the Inner Western Carpathians, with essentially a Paleoalpine structure overlain by Tertiary postnappe deposits. The Hercynian basement of the Inner Western Carpathians is covered by late Paleozoic and Mesozoic rock sequences that either are autochthonous or form allochthonous nappes. The tectogenesis of the Tertiary postnappe basins is mainly related to the convergence of the Carpathian-Pannonian block and North European lithospheric plate, the tectonic escape of lithosphere fragments from the Alpine realm, as well as the rise of the Pannonian asthenolite. The Paleozoic units of the Inner Western Carpathians have their hydrocarbon potential practically exhausted. The oldest Paleozoic units of the Tatricum, Veporicum, and Gemericum are altered by different grades of metamorphism. The Mesozoic units are the most prospective in the western part of the region, where total possible resources of natural gas are estimated to be about 50 x 10 9 m 3 (1.76 x 10 12 ft 3 ). The highest potential for hydrocarbon exploration has Tertiary basins represented by Inner Carpathian Paleogene basins and Neogene basins, particularly Vienna, Danube, and the East Slovakian basins. Although knowledge on the Neogene basins is relatively good (existence of three-dimensional seismic data and many boreholes), the area of the Inner Paleogene basin is still at the early stage of prospection.

Abstract This chapter shows how infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies contribute to better understanding of industrial minerals. These non-destructive techniques provide information on the chemical composition, structure, bonding and reactivity of molecules and/or minerals. The basis of vibrational spectroscopy theory including the modelling of the vibrational properties and spectra of minerals from ‘ab initio’ or ‘first-principles’ calculations appear in the first part of the chapter. A brief review of the IR and Raman instrumentations and sampling techniques is introduced as well. In the following sections, the spectra of selected minerals are presented and their interpretation is discussed. Raman spectroscopy is less often used for industrial minerals characterization, therefore the emphasis is on the interpretation of the IR spectra of most common industrial minerals in the middle IR (MIR, 4000–400 cm –1 ) and near-infrared IR (NIR, 8000–4000 cm –1 ) regions. The MIR spectra of layered silicates (phyllosilicates), zeolites, carbonates, sulphates and phosphates show well defined absorption bands corresponding to fundamental stretching ( v ) and bending ( δ ) vibrations of the structural units, e.g . OH, SiO 4 , CO 3 , SO 4 or PO 4 groups. Most of the bands present in the NIR spectra are related to the first stretching overtones (2 v ) and combination ( v + δ ) modes of the fundamental OH vibrations. The NIR region has been found to be useful at providing information on the crystal chemistry of clay minerals and their modifications upon various treatments as the OH-stretching overtones and combination vibrations are sensitively affected by the variations in the mineral structure. The last part of the chapter is devoted to the utilization of Raman spectroscopy in selected mineralogical applications, such as determination of polymorphs not discriminated by their chemical composition, e.g . TiO 2 polymorphs.

Abstract The mining of metallic and non-metallic commodities in Central Europe has a history of more than 2000 years. Today mainly non-metallic commodities, fossil fuels and construction raw materials play a vital role for the people living in Central Europe. Construction raw materials, albeit the most significant raw material, are not considered further here; for details refer to thematic maps issued by local geological surveys and comprehensive studies such as the textbook by Prentice (1990) . Even if many deposits in Central Europe, especially metallic deposits, are no longer extensive by world standards, the huge number and variety of deposits in Central Europe is unique and allows the student of metallogenesis to reconstruct the geological history of Central Europe from the Late Precambrian to the Recent in a way best described as ‘minerostratigraphy’. The term ‘deposit’ is used in this review for sites which were either mined in the twentieth century or are still being operated. A few sites that underwent exploration or trial mining have also been included in order to clarify certain concentration processes. They are mentioned explicitly in the text to avoid confusion with real deposits. Tonnage and grade are reported in the text only for the most important deposits. Production data for the year 2005 are listed in Table 21.1 for the countries under consideration. Reserves and production data of hydrocarbons in Central European basins are given in Table 21.2 . In the present study, Central Europe covers the Variscan core zones in the extra-Alpine part of Central Europe stretching from eastern France (Massif Central) into Poland where the contact between the Variscan Orogen and the Baltic Shield is concealed by a thick pile of platform sediments. In a north-south direction, Central Europe stretches from central Denmark to the southern boundary of the Po Plain in Italy, making the entire Variscan Foreland Basin, the Alpine Mountain Range, the Western Carpathians and the North Dinarides part of the study area. An outline of the geological and geographical settings is shown in Figure 21.1 . The precise geographical position of mineral sites, wells of special interest, hydrocarbon provinces, oil shale deposits and coal fields may be deduced from Tables 21.3 to 21.11 and the map ‘Mineral and energy resources of Central Europe’, at a scale 1:2 500 000 (see CD inside back cover).