The 7th International Conference on Basement Tectonics was held at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, from August 17th to 21st, 1987. Much ofthe conference was devoted to presentations and discussions on "Major Fracture Zones in the Earth's Crust" and "The Tectonic Evolution of North America" . Subsidiary themes at the conference were "Tectonic Controls of Cratonic Basins" and "Basement Structures and Metallogeny" . The conference was characterized by lively discussion amongst a diverse group of participants with a broad spectrum of interests, encouraged by the single-session format of the conference and a generous allotment of time for discussion following each presentation. The following presided over individual sessions and their assistance is greatly acknowledged: D.L. Baars, P.J. Barosh, M.J. Bartholomew, R.e. Bostrom, D.M. Carmichael, E.M. Chown, J.J. Gallagher, M.C. Gilbert, H. Helmstaedt, R.A. Hodgson, Y.O. Isachsen, J. Kutina, P.D. Lowman, S.P. Gay, Jr. and M.J. Rickard.