Volume 66 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry is based on a two-day short course entitled Paleoaltimetry: Geochemical and Thermodynamic Approaches held prior to the Geological Society of America annual meeting in Denver, Colorado (October 26-27, 2007). This meeting and volume were sponsored by the Geochemical Society, Mineralogical Society of America, and the United States Department of Energy.

Contents:

• The significance of paleotopography
• Stable isotope-based paleoaltimetry: Theory and validation
• Paleoelevation reconstruction using pedogenic carbonates
• Stable isotope paleoaltimetry in orogenic belts - The silicate record in surface and crustal geological archives
• Paleoaltimetry from stable isotope compositions of fossils
• A review of paleotemperature-lapse rate methods for estimating paleoelevation from fossil floras
• Paleoaltimetry: A review of thermodynamic methods
• Paleoelevation.