Book Reviews: Geological Journal

GEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, VOL.
18, 101-103 (1983)
Book reviews
PETROLOGY, Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic by Ernest G. E. Ehlers and Harvey Blatt. W.
H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco, 1982. No. of pages: 732. Price: f21.95.
In their preface the authors state that the aim of this book is to present 'a summary of the more
significant portions of both the older and the more recent literature at a level appropriate to the college
sophomore or junior who is exposed to a first course in petrology. This they have done within a modem
framework of plate tectonic theory.
Igneous and sedimentary rocks are each allotted about 250 pages and metamorphic rocks arc treated in
about 180 pages. The section on igneous rocks begins with a chapter on field occurrences, types of
intrusion and extrusion; it is a brief and well illustrated chapter. Chapter 2 deals with experimental
studies in simple silicate systems and includes interpretations of textures in some igneous rocks. More
complex silicate systems and additional data on textures are covered in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 deals with
classification and description of different types of igneous rocks: this chapter contains 33 photographs of
hand specimens and 19'photomicrographs of thin sections of igneous rocks. It is difficult even with the
aid of colour to produce photographs of hand specimens of rocks which can be identified by the reader,
even when he or she i s an experienced petrographer. Some of the photographs are unfortunately not
convincing-after one has read the legend, one can believe that the photograph is of a specimen of a
hornblende andesite for example, but there is insufficient visual information to make this photograph
useful for the beginner. The most successful of the photographs of hand specimens are those showing
characteristic textures e.g. orbicular texture or porphyritic texture. The photographs of thin sections of
rocks are of course much more useful for the student to appreciate. Chapters on the evolution of
magma, the interior of the earth, formation of magmas, rocks of continental margins and within the
continents complete the coverage of igneous petrology. Each of these topics is treated fairly briefly but
in our opinion there is just enough on each topic to retain the reader's interest and not too much so that
the student is swamped with detail.
The section on sedimentary rocks begins with introductory chapters on their occurrence and on the
formation of sediment. Chapters on each of the major groups of sedimentary rocks then
follov.-mudrocks, sandstones and conglomerates, limestones and dolomites and finally a chapter
grouping together other types of sedimentary rock. A separate chapter on the diagenesis of sandstones is
included.
The coverage is comprehensive and well balance-here are no major omissions, but each section is
necessarily brief. The text is well illustrated by diagrams although the photographs are of variable
quality. The photomicrographs are generally r a t b r poor, it not always being easy for the reader to see
the features described in the captions. The field and hand specimen photographs are adequately
reproduced although it is a pity that many of the former have appeared elsewhere.
Overall the section is an excellent introduction to the study of sedimentary rocks.
The section on metamorphism treats the occurrence of metamorphic rocks in one chapter and
thereafter proceeds to the facies concept and graphical methods of representing mineral assemblages.
Conditions during metamorphism, texture of metamorphic rocks and discussion of some possible
metamorphic reactions occupies one chapter. The next chapter deals with each of the main facies but
this chapter appears to us to be very condensed and to rely too heavily on block diagrams showing
mineralogy against facies to be as useful as it might be for a beginning course. It is however well
illustrated with photomicrographs and some of thesc give examples of textural evidence for
metamorphic reactions. This is a welcome feature since few text books on metamorphic petrology have
illustrations of mineral associations and textures.
The last chapter deals with metamorphic rocks on a global scale. There is an appendix on
geothermometry, geobarometry and age determination but this is of necessity very brief.
We consider that this book should appear on the readidg list of a first year university course in geology.
It lacks much of the petrography required at higher level but is ideal for an introduction to all branches
ofpetrology. One additional useful feature is the provision of references for further reading at the end of
each chapter.
W. S. MACKENZIEANDA.E. ADAM
0 1983 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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GEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, VOL.

18, 101-103 (1983)

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