Developments in Geotectonics, 17: Mechanism of Graben Formation covers the papers of an ICG Symposium held during the 17th IUGG General Assembly in Canberra, Australia on December 5, 1979. The book focuses on the formation, behavior, and mechanisms of grabens. The selection first offers information on crustal doming and the mechanism of continental rifting, mechanisms of continental riftogenesis, and thermal regimes, mantle diapirs, and crustal stresses of continental rifts. The text then ponders on crustal uplift and the propagation of failure zones and parameterized rift development and upper mantle anomalies. The publication surveys the continental rift system of the Rhinegraben-structure, physical properties, and dynamical processes and an example of the intrusion of asthenospheric material into the lithosphere as the cause of disruption of lithospheric plates. Regional stress field and rifting in Western Europe and the nature of greenstone belts in the Precambrian are also discussed. The selection is a dependable source of information for geologists and readers interested in the formation of grabens.