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Abnormal formation pressures
196 of research and survey; automated cartography; compatibility o f data bases; retrieval and display, including interpretive maps. Authors are all actively working in and directing work in soil information management, and they write from current experience. The reader finds himself caught up in the excitement o f this new field in which many components are being tried, but are not yet welded into an integrated complete system. This book fills an important need not met by any other guide, and it comes at just the right time, when a great deal o f expertise and capability exists, but systems designs are still fluid and most options remain open. William M. Johnson, Washington, D.C.
EARTH H I S T O R Y B.F. Windley (Editor), 1976. The Early History o f the Earth. Wiley, London, 619 pp. £19.50. This book is based on the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Study Conference held at the University of Leicester in April, 1975. Its rapid appearance in print is commendable. The 48 papers, divided into 14 separate sections, cover a wide range o f topics from geochemical considerations o f the evolution of the Earth--Moon system to rather detailed regional studies of individual Archaean provinces. In practice, 'Early History of the Earth' is taken to mean 'Archaean' and the book effectively deals with the period between the formation of the Earth and about 2.5 b.y. It is difficult to think o f any topic within this field which is not covered somewhere in the book and Dr. Windley is to be congratulated on bringing together such an impressive array of experts and titles in this very wide and difficult field. Inevitably with a symposium o f this kind, there is a certain amount of overlap between authors looking at the same problem from different points of view and there is also a noticeable variation in emphasis between the different topics, but nevertheless the volume is more than just a collection of research papers, and reflects the care-
ful planning of the Conference on which the book is based. The first two sections, on the early E a r t h - M o o n system and general Archaean tectonics contain a number o f stimulating and useful articles which provide an appropriate introduction to the more detailed material which follows. The section on general Archaean tectonics reflects the current preoccupation with the application of the plate-tectonic model to the Precambrian. An interesting new idea discussed here is the application of the "marginal basin' model to greenstone belts. Several papers discuss highgrade Archaean regions with a heavy bias towards Greenland. Greenstone belts from several continents are next to receive attention, followed by three papers on the still unsolved problem o f the tectonic relations between the 'high-' and 'low'-grade regions. The remainder of the book is mainly devoted to short sections containing one to four papers each, mostly of a review nature on geochronology, thermal regimes, palaeomagnetism, metallogeny, the atmosphere, the oceans and life forms, together with a section containing regional reviews. As a compendium of current views on all aspects of Archaean geology, this book is both unique and invaluable to all those whose interests lie in the first half of earth history. It is a great pity that the cost, at £19.50 puts it out of reach of many potential buyers. R.G. Park, Keele, Staffs.
ABNORMAL SURES
FORMATION
PRES-
Fertl, W.H., 1976. Abnor mal Formation Pressures. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 382 pp., 233 figs., and 36 tables. U.S. $30.95, Dfl. 80. The literature on the petroleum engineering aspects o f abnormal formation pressures, to which Fertl has made important contributions, has been widely scattered; and there has been a need f o r a compact treatment o f this subject. Fertl has done us a service in writing this book. After the introductory two chapters, he discusses detection and evaluation of abhor-
197 mal pressures from geophysical data before drilling, from drilling data during drilling, and from well-logs after drilling. This is followed by a discussion of drilling and completion concepts, and then reservoir engineering concepts. A f t e r a chapter on the relationships between abnormal pressures and petroleum accumulations, he finishes with a review o f worldwide occurrences. The book has substantial merit, but it is marred in the first t w o chapters by serious short-comings that might deter the reader. The first chapter, on abnormal pressure environments, sets the scene for the rest o f the book, which 'will illustrate the interrelation of academic and practical, technological values of several disciplines...' (author's italics). The first few pages indicate that this goal is unlikely to be achieved because o f carelessness. The 'metric' unit o f pressure in Equation 1.1b is not given: it is kg/cm 2 -so the equation uses metres f o r length, d m f o r volume, and cm for area. Then, on p. 2, the hydrostatic pressure gradient is 'defined' p = OA33.SG in which SG should be the specific gravity o f any incompressible liquid, not just water. Eq. 1.3. is wrong: it cannot be reconciled with the first (unnumbered) equation and if units had been given for pressure, the error would have been revealed. The usual notation f o r effective stress (p. 4) is o, not ~ (which has another use). Once over these hurdles, the reader will find a useful summary o f views on abnormal pressure environments that remains useful in spite of papers published while the b o o k was in press. Chapter 2, by Chilingarian and Rieke, seems t o the reviewer to be a sad mistake: it contributes little to the book, and the reader needs t o k n o w more than he is told if he is to understand it. In the section on fluid f l o w (p. 63) Darcy's law is misrepresented and the conventional notation disregarded. Darcy did not conclude that the volumetric rate of f l o w q = (kA~o)/L (Eq. 2.30), nor can this be modified to q = ( k A ~ ) / L I J w i t h o u t changing the meaning o f k. The first k is said to be 'permeability'. The reader may wonder w h a t the second k is, h o w these d i f f e r f r o m the k in Eq. 2.33 and the K in Eq. 2.37. So once again an o p p o r t u n i t y to bring understanding to this misunderstood topic has been lost. Equa-
tions are given w i t h o u t comment or elucidation. For example, Eq. 2.33, v = -- (kp/l~) V(I), is attributed t o Hubbert (1940) w i t h o u t page reference. No guidance is offered on the meaning of Vd), nor w h y p is introduced. Hubbert's paper has 160 pages, 307 numbered equations: the reader will not find one like 2.33. The uneven mathematical treatment is further illustrated on pp. 8 3 - 8 4 where, following the false statement 'A submerged solid is subjected to equal pressure f r o m all sides', Chilingarian and Rieke use seven numbered equations to go f r o m P w = Pwg D (Eq. 2.50) to p f = SG.3,w.D (Eq. 2.56) - and then call on the matrix algebra of stress tensors. Happily, the main weaknesses of the book end w i t h Chapter 2, and the reader can settle into an instructive discussion of matters that Fertl is thoroughly familiar with. There are some mistakes (e.g., p. 106: it is not velocity that decreases with depth, but transit time) but the alert reader will easily pick them up. It is particularly valuable t o have these practical aspects brought together in one volume. Had the manuscript been critically reviewed before publication, errors o f fact, inconsistent notation, and obscure passages in the t e x t would have been removed and the reviewer would have had little but praise. Because of these criticisms, the book is not recommended t o students w i t h o u t guidance: in spite of these criticisms, the book is recommended to those who conf r o n t these problems in practice. They will find in it a useful survey of their problems. The b o o k is well produced, as we expect f r o m Elsevier, and the cost will be recovered in a few seconds of saved rig-time. Richard E. Chapman, Brisbane, QId.
INFRARED
SPECTROSCOPY
H.W. van der Marel and H. Beutelspacher, 1976. Atlas o f Infrared Spectroscopy o f Clay Minerals and Their Admixtures. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 396 pp., U.S. $63.50. In this book, the individual graphic spectra of the infrared (IR) absorptions o f clay minerals, and of other minerals c o m m o n l y admixed with the clays, are rated excellent. Not so highly rated is much o f the accom-
EARTH H I S T O R Y B.F. Windley (Editor), 1976. The Early History o f the Earth. Wiley, London, 619 pp. £19.50. This book is based on the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Study Conference held at the University of Leicester in April, 1975. Its rapid appearance in print is commendable. The 48 papers, divided into 14 separate sections, cover a wide range o f topics from geochemical considerations o f the evolution of the Earth--Moon system to rather detailed regional studies of individual Archaean provinces. In practice, 'Early History of the Earth' is taken to mean 'Archaean' and the book effectively deals with the period between the formation of the Earth and about 2.5 b.y. It is difficult to think o f any topic within this field which is not covered somewhere in the book and Dr. Windley is to be congratulated on bringing together such an impressive array of experts and titles in this very wide and difficult field. Inevitably with a symposium o f this kind, there is a certain amount of overlap between authors looking at the same problem from different points of view and there is also a noticeable variation in emphasis between the different topics, but nevertheless the volume is more than just a collection of research papers, and reflects the care-
ful planning of the Conference on which the book is based. The first two sections, on the early E a r t h - M o o n system and general Archaean tectonics contain a number o f stimulating and useful articles which provide an appropriate introduction to the more detailed material which follows. The section on general Archaean tectonics reflects the current preoccupation with the application of the plate-tectonic model to the Precambrian. An interesting new idea discussed here is the application of the "marginal basin' model to greenstone belts. Several papers discuss highgrade Archaean regions with a heavy bias towards Greenland. Greenstone belts from several continents are next to receive attention, followed by three papers on the still unsolved problem o f the tectonic relations between the 'high-' and 'low'-grade regions. The remainder of the book is mainly devoted to short sections containing one to four papers each, mostly of a review nature on geochronology, thermal regimes, palaeomagnetism, metallogeny, the atmosphere, the oceans and life forms, together with a section containing regional reviews. As a compendium of current views on all aspects of Archaean geology, this book is both unique and invaluable to all those whose interests lie in the first half of earth history. It is a great pity that the cost, at £19.50 puts it out of reach of many potential buyers. R.G. Park, Keele, Staffs.
ABNORMAL SURES
FORMATION
PRES-
Fertl, W.H., 1976. Abnor mal Formation Pressures. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 382 pp., 233 figs., and 36 tables. U.S. $30.95, Dfl. 80. The literature on the petroleum engineering aspects o f abnormal formation pressures, to which Fertl has made important contributions, has been widely scattered; and there has been a need f o r a compact treatment o f this subject. Fertl has done us a service in writing this book. After the introductory two chapters, he discusses detection and evaluation of abhor-
197 mal pressures from geophysical data before drilling, from drilling data during drilling, and from well-logs after drilling. This is followed by a discussion of drilling and completion concepts, and then reservoir engineering concepts. A f t e r a chapter on the relationships between abnormal pressures and petroleum accumulations, he finishes with a review o f worldwide occurrences. The book has substantial merit, but it is marred in the first t w o chapters by serious short-comings that might deter the reader. The first chapter, on abnormal pressure environments, sets the scene for the rest o f the book, which 'will illustrate the interrelation of academic and practical, technological values of several disciplines...' (author's italics). The first few pages indicate that this goal is unlikely to be achieved because o f carelessness. The 'metric' unit o f pressure in Equation 1.1b is not given: it is kg/cm 2 -so the equation uses metres f o r length, d m f o r volume, and cm for area. Then, on p. 2, the hydrostatic pressure gradient is 'defined' p = OA33.SG in which SG should be the specific gravity o f any incompressible liquid, not just water. Eq. 1.3. is wrong: it cannot be reconciled with the first (unnumbered) equation and if units had been given for pressure, the error would have been revealed. The usual notation f o r effective stress (p. 4) is o, not ~ (which has another use). Once over these hurdles, the reader will find a useful summary o f views on abnormal pressure environments that remains useful in spite of papers published while the b o o k was in press. Chapter 2, by Chilingarian and Rieke, seems t o the reviewer to be a sad mistake: it contributes little to the book, and the reader needs t o k n o w more than he is told if he is to understand it. In the section on fluid f l o w (p. 63) Darcy's law is misrepresented and the conventional notation disregarded. Darcy did not conclude that the volumetric rate of f l o w q = (kA~o)/L (Eq. 2.30), nor can this be modified to q = ( k A ~ ) / L I J w i t h o u t changing the meaning o f k. The first k is said to be 'permeability'. The reader may wonder w h a t the second k is, h o w these d i f f e r f r o m the k in Eq. 2.33 and the K in Eq. 2.37. So once again an o p p o r t u n i t y to bring understanding to this misunderstood topic has been lost. Equa-
tions are given w i t h o u t comment or elucidation. For example, Eq. 2.33, v = -- (kp/l~) V(I), is attributed t o Hubbert (1940) w i t h o u t page reference. No guidance is offered on the meaning of Vd), nor w h y p is introduced. Hubbert's paper has 160 pages, 307 numbered equations: the reader will not find one like 2.33. The uneven mathematical treatment is further illustrated on pp. 8 3 - 8 4 where, following the false statement 'A submerged solid is subjected to equal pressure f r o m all sides', Chilingarian and Rieke use seven numbered equations to go f r o m P w = Pwg D (Eq. 2.50) to p f = SG.3,w.D (Eq. 2.56) - and then call on the matrix algebra of stress tensors. Happily, the main weaknesses of the book end w i t h Chapter 2, and the reader can settle into an instructive discussion of matters that Fertl is thoroughly familiar with. There are some mistakes (e.g., p. 106: it is not velocity that decreases with depth, but transit time) but the alert reader will easily pick them up. It is particularly valuable t o have these practical aspects brought together in one volume. Had the manuscript been critically reviewed before publication, errors o f fact, inconsistent notation, and obscure passages in the t e x t would have been removed and the reviewer would have had little but praise. Because of these criticisms, the book is not recommended t o students w i t h o u t guidance: in spite of these criticisms, the book is recommended to those who conf r o n t these problems in practice. They will find in it a useful survey of their problems. The b o o k is well produced, as we expect f r o m Elsevier, and the cost will be recovered in a few seconds of saved rig-time. Richard E. Chapman, Brisbane, QId.
INFRARED
SPECTROSCOPY
H.W. van der Marel and H. Beutelspacher, 1976. Atlas o f Infrared Spectroscopy o f Clay Minerals and Their Admixtures. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 396 pp., U.S. $63.50. In this book, the individual graphic spectra of the infrared (IR) absorptions o f clay minerals, and of other minerals c o m m o n l y admixed with the clays, are rated excellent. Not so highly rated is much o f the accom-