The research on mineral deposits and the exploration of new vast resources made exceptional progress worldwide during the last decades. At the same time, mining activity has shifted from the historical European centres to other continents. Even though the mineral pro duction of the Alpine province has lost its significance as compared with other areas of the world in this century, striking ideas and theo ries on the formation of mineral deposits originating from this domain have stimulated lively international discussion. This may be explained by the proximity of different peoples with varying geographical and intellectual backgrounds meeting in the Alpine region. Realizing this development some Italian colleagues, above all Remo Albertini and Guiliano Perna, initiated the (first) International Sym posium on Mineral Deposits of the Alps in 1966. When I. ISMIDA won favorable attention, it was resolved to call further meetings at regular intervals. A different Alpine country was host and organizer each time. As a first summary of the historical development, we give a short record of previous meetings: I. ISMIDA Sept. 11-18,1966, held at Passo della Mendola/Italy II. ISM IDA Oct. 4-6, 1971,heldatBled/Yugoslavia III. ISMIDA Oct. 3-7, 1977, held at Leoben/ Austria IV. ISMIDA Oct. 5-10,1981, held at Berchtesgaden/Bavaria, FRG The present volume contains the greater number of papers pre sented at the Fourth International Symposium on Mineral Deposits of the Alps, held at Berchtesgaden (Bavaria), Federal Republic of Ger many, in 1981.

Inhalt
Generalia.- Salt Mining and Trading in the Berchtesgaden and Salzburg Area. An Introduction to the Historical Background of the Congress Site.- Controls on Alpidic Mineralization Styles.- Recent Results and Critical Considerations of the Eastern Alpine Metallogenesis.- Mineral Deposits of the Alpine Realm.- Petrographic and Metallogenic Outlines of the La Balma-M. Capio Ultramafic-Mafic Body (Ivrea-Verbano Basic Complex, NW Italian Alps).- Scheelite-Bearing Occurrences in the Italian Alps: Geotectonic and Lithostratigraphic Setting.- The Succession of Ore Mineralization of the Lower Austroalpine Innsbruck Quartzphyllite.- New Aspects on Metal Deposits of the Groeden Sandstone (South Tyrol, Italy).- Zn-Pb-F Mineralization in Middle Permian of Tregiovo (Province of Bozen/Trient, Italy).- The Stratiform Lead-Zinc Mineralisation of the Paleozoic of Graz (Styria, Austria).- Mineral Deposits in Permian and Triassic Beds of Slovenia (Yugoslavia).- Magnesite in Permian and Scythian Series of the Eastern Alps, Austria, and Its Petrogenetic Significance.- On the Formation of Magnesite.- Mineralogical Investigations of Strata-Bound Pb-Zn-Ba Occurrences in the Triassic of the Central Alps (Switzerland).- Ore Veins Linked to Old Emersion Surfaces in the Crystalline Basement of Provence and of the External Belt of the French-Italian Alps.- Eocene Iron Ore Deposits at the Northern Welt of the Bavarian Alps.- The Berchtesgaden Salt Mine.- Hydraulic Lime from Marienstein (Bavaria).- Geochemistry of Alpine Mineral Deposits.- Summary of Lead Isotope Data from Ore Deposits of the Eastern and Southern Alps: Some Metallogenetic and Geotectonic Implications.- Sulfur Isotope Investigations of Ore Mineralizations of the Eastern Alps.- The Isotopic Composition of Oxygen and Carbon inLead and Zinc Deposits from Northern Karavanke.- Geochemical Characterization of the Bleiberg Type and Other Carbonate Hosted Lead-Zinc Mineralizations.- Fluorine Anomalies Accompanying the Alpine Pb-Zn Deposits Compared to the Geochemistry of Their Fluorites.- Interpretation of Ga and Ge Content in Sphalerite from the Triassic Pb-Zn Deposits of the Alps.- Saline Relics of Formation Water in the Wettersteinkalk and Their Genetical Connection with the Pb-Zn Mineralization.- Factor Analyses of Stream Sediment Data from the Vicinity of the Zinc-Lead Occurrences at S-Carl (Unterengadin, Switzerland).- The Tungsten Distribution in Rocks of the Western Hohe Tauern.- Mineral Deposits of the Alpine Epoch in Europe.- Observations on the Setting of the Strata-Bound F-(Pb-Zn) Deposits in the Triassic of the Alpujarrides (Betic Cordillera, Southern Spain).- Permian Mineralizations in the Cantabrian Mountains (North-West Spain).- Permo-Carboniferous Volcanism in the Massif Central (France) and its Relations to Ore Deposits.- Copper Mineralization in the Aïn Sefra Area (West of Algeria).- The Polymetallic Ore Veins of Aïn-Barbar (Algeria) as a Consequence of Alpine Geothermal Activity.- The Alpidic Metallogenetic Epoch in Central Europe North of the Alps.- Late Mesozoic to Tertiary Mineralization in the North-Eastern Sauerland (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, Western Germany).- Mineral Paragenetic Revelations in the Barite Deposit of Dreislar (Sauerland, Rheinisches Schiefergebirge, West Germany).- Facies and Sequence Analysis of Diagenetic Crystallization Rhythmites in Strata-Bound Pb-Zn-(Ba-F-) Deposits in the Triassic of Central and Southern Europe.- New Genetic Investigations on the Pb-Zn Deposits of Thasos (Greece).- The Marlou Pb-Zn Mineralization of Thasos Island (Greece).-Auriferous Mineralization in Northern Greece: History, Exploration, and Evaluation.- Investigations on the Gold Occurrences in the Kinyra and Thasos (City) Area on Thasos Island (Greece).- Subject and Locality Index.- List of Oral Presentations.