This textbook describes the physics of the plastic deformation of solids at high temperatures and is directed at geologists or geophysicists interested in the high-temperature behaviour of crystals.

Preface; 1. Mechanical background; 2. The agents of deformation: lattice defects; 3. Phenomenological and thermodynamical analysis of quasi-steady-state creep; 4. Dislocation creep models; 5. The effect of hydrostatic pressure on deformation; 6. Creep polygonization and dynamic recrystallization; 7. Diffusion creep, grain-boundary sliding and superplasticity; 8. Transformation plasticity; 9. Scaling and classification; References; Indexes.