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Absorption spectroscopy in mineralogy
Lithos, 29 (1992) 157-161
157
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
Book Reviews
Absorption Spectroscopy in Mineralogy. Edited by A. Mottana and F. Burragato. Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, 1990. Hardcover: x x + 2 9 4 pp. Price: US$ 89.75/Dfl. 175.--ISBN 0-444-88795-7. Based upon lectures that were originally given at a meeting held in Rome in 1988, this book contains eight review articles of selected areas of spectroscopy. In many respects the ground covered comprises a subset of the more comprehensive MSA short course text "Spectroscopic Methods in Mineralogy and Geology". What makes this volume distinctive is its deliberately European flavour, nowhere more so than in the editors' preface, and reflected more generally by the exclusively European nature of the contributions. The text stands as a record of the Rome meeting, and attempts to demonstrate the importance of spectroscopy in the advancement of mineralogical understanding. The title is, perhaps, somewhat misleading. Upon inspection it is clear that the spectroscopic techniques discussed include not only simple light and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, but also NMR and M6ssbauer methods, and extend to Raman scattering. There is quite a large variation in both style and quality of the reviews incorporated, which have been collated by Elsevier in camera-ready form. Although all are of a generally high standard, the volume could not claim to be comprehensive, and lacks the co-ordinated overview which would have been provided by a general introduction to the basic concepts shared by the techniques discussed in the review chapters. On the other hand there is some repetition of basic background information, with parts of two chapters duplicating the background to NMR, for example. That said, the chapters themselves are for the most part first-class, kicking off with a most comprehensible review of visible light spectroscopy in which David Vaughan takes the reader on a pedagogic tour
of the technique. Applications ranging from the chemistry of the surface of Mars to the chemistry of the tarnished metal surface are demonstrated. Other highlights include two chapters on NMR spectroscopy. The first, by Andrew Putnis has an emphasis on the use of 29Si and 27A1 MASNMR in the study of order-disorder behaviour in aluminosilicates. The second (by Juan Sanz) properly draws out the importance of element-specific short-range spectroscopic information (as obtained by N M R ) in the investigation of X-ray amorphous materials such as metakaloinite. Mrssbauer spectroscopy is expertly dealt with by Friedrich Seifert, and this reader enjoyed the discussion of phase transition studies undertaken by the technique. Klaus Langer also lingers on the subject of phase transitions, in particular their investigation by high-pressure spectroscopic techniques. His chapter serves as a useful introduction to high-pressure mineralogy, and he clearly describes high-pressure methods without confining himself to any one technique. This forms the final chapter of the book, and leaves the reader with a better appreciation of the value of applying a variety of spectroscopic techniques to crack a single problem. X-ray spectroscopy is dealt with by Georges Calas and co-workers, the style is clear and lucid, the content is similar in many respects to that covered in the MSA volume. The principal weakness of the book lies in its coverage of vibrational spectroscopy. The most coherent approach to the subject is found in Klaus Langer's chapter when he touches briefly on applications of infrared and Raman spectroscopy in the highpressure realm. This is very brief however. The chapter devoted to Raman spectroscopy is wanting in many respects, and doesn't provide a cogent explanation of the technique. The relationship between structure and spectra is blurred, to say the least, and the use of "diffusion" in place of "scattering" rather irritating and no doubt confusing to the uninformed reader. The fact that Raman scattering is not an absorption spectroscopic technique sensu stricto is not apparent from this book, and it is rather
0024-4937/92/$05.00 © 1992 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved.
158
BOOKREVIEWS
surprising that the true (and perhaps commonest) vibrational absorption technique of infrared spectroscopy is not given the place it deserves within such a volume. As a final comment, it should be said that the complementary character of the spectroscopies described within this volume could be emphasized much more strongly, perhaps this should have fallen to the editors. Instead the Editors arrive at the somewhat exasperating conclusion (within their preface) that X-ray diffraction is "still the best research tool available". Such value judgements cannot really be helpful (or even properly justified to my mind). While the Editors seem set in their ways, it is to be hoped that this volume will succeed in persuading at least some of its readers that a full appreciation of the structure and behaviour of minerals depends not simply on diffraction methods, but also the spectrum of spectroscopic techniques which reveal the fundamental characteristics of structure on a broader set of length and time scales. SIMON A.T. REDFERN (Manchester)
Enclaves and Granite Petrology. Developments in Petrology, 13. Edited by J. Didier and B. Barbarin, Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1991. Hardcover. xxiv+ 600 pp. Price US$ 143.50/Dfl. 280.-- ISBN 9-44489145=5. Any xenolith, xenocryst, screen, schlieren or other bundle clot, knot or globule of cumulate or noticeably clark segregation can be an enclave. A term first coined by Alfred Lacroi ( 1863-1948 ) to designate a patch or dollop of rock isolated within a larger, continuum mass of rock, the use of enclave is now commonplace. More often than not, enclaves are mafic-looking, fine grained bodies within intermediate and granitic plutonic rocks. They are always points of conversation in the field and the inevitable arguments cover all the petrogenetic bases. Simply put, are enclaves merely the gristle left from the incomplete chewing of magmatic mixing? Are they intimate vestiges of the very origin of the granitoid itself?. Or are they merely accidental incidents in a long history of ascension and solidification? Until about twenty years ago the answers to these ques-
tions, although hotly debated, were not considered first rank petrological worries. They still may not be, but they are now recognizably important issues. Enclaves clearly provide crucial telltale information on the origin and evolution of granitoids. Unlike volcanic rocks, which through eruption and quenching represent explicit snapshots of magmatic time, the slow cooling and sliding reequilibration ofplutonic solidification, in essence, bakesout any explicitly restricted record of time and temperature. Plutons asymptotically achieve a final crystalline state carrying a fully integrated solidification history. Different magma compositions have different time-temperature-composition histories, and in this sense enclaves function essentially as magmatic spikes enabling the physical and chemical evolution of granitoids to be internally gauged. It is a big job to study and read the varied and complex nature of enclaves. These thirty nine chapters represent a comprehensive treatment of all aspects of the physical, chemical and historical petrology of enclaves. It is a characteristic Elsevier petrology book of normal size, with a shiney blue and black igneous photomicrograph as a cover; the paper is of good quality, white, and acid free; the page numbers are useful and where they should be. There are excellent subject and author indexes and a comprehensive bibliography. The type is clear, well set and virtually error-free. The science itself is heavily descriptive and oriented towards case studies of mafic microgranular enclaves (MME's). There are fifteen chapters of case studies, three of introductory material, seven on the main features of MME's, nine on MME genesis and evolution, four on other types of enclaves, and a single concluding chapter. Although the editors clearly have made no effort to blend, homogenize, or arbitrate the various contributions, it all fits together rather well. (In this sense, this collection resembles the subject itself.) Each chapter is concise, much to the point, and opened and closed with succinct introductory and concluding sections. Many chapters are so explicit and clear in presentation that they will be especially useful to students and nonenclavists. Completeness has been achieved apparently by encouraging contributors to provide concise summary chapters of more extensive work published elsewhere. This is a pleasing alternative
157
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
Book Reviews
Absorption Spectroscopy in Mineralogy. Edited by A. Mottana and F. Burragato. Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, 1990. Hardcover: x x + 2 9 4 pp. Price: US$ 89.75/Dfl. 175.--ISBN 0-444-88795-7. Based upon lectures that were originally given at a meeting held in Rome in 1988, this book contains eight review articles of selected areas of spectroscopy. In many respects the ground covered comprises a subset of the more comprehensive MSA short course text "Spectroscopic Methods in Mineralogy and Geology". What makes this volume distinctive is its deliberately European flavour, nowhere more so than in the editors' preface, and reflected more generally by the exclusively European nature of the contributions. The text stands as a record of the Rome meeting, and attempts to demonstrate the importance of spectroscopy in the advancement of mineralogical understanding. The title is, perhaps, somewhat misleading. Upon inspection it is clear that the spectroscopic techniques discussed include not only simple light and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, but also NMR and M6ssbauer methods, and extend to Raman scattering. There is quite a large variation in both style and quality of the reviews incorporated, which have been collated by Elsevier in camera-ready form. Although all are of a generally high standard, the volume could not claim to be comprehensive, and lacks the co-ordinated overview which would have been provided by a general introduction to the basic concepts shared by the techniques discussed in the review chapters. On the other hand there is some repetition of basic background information, with parts of two chapters duplicating the background to NMR, for example. That said, the chapters themselves are for the most part first-class, kicking off with a most comprehensible review of visible light spectroscopy in which David Vaughan takes the reader on a pedagogic tour
of the technique. Applications ranging from the chemistry of the surface of Mars to the chemistry of the tarnished metal surface are demonstrated. Other highlights include two chapters on NMR spectroscopy. The first, by Andrew Putnis has an emphasis on the use of 29Si and 27A1 MASNMR in the study of order-disorder behaviour in aluminosilicates. The second (by Juan Sanz) properly draws out the importance of element-specific short-range spectroscopic information (as obtained by N M R ) in the investigation of X-ray amorphous materials such as metakaloinite. Mrssbauer spectroscopy is expertly dealt with by Friedrich Seifert, and this reader enjoyed the discussion of phase transition studies undertaken by the technique. Klaus Langer also lingers on the subject of phase transitions, in particular their investigation by high-pressure spectroscopic techniques. His chapter serves as a useful introduction to high-pressure mineralogy, and he clearly describes high-pressure methods without confining himself to any one technique. This forms the final chapter of the book, and leaves the reader with a better appreciation of the value of applying a variety of spectroscopic techniques to crack a single problem. X-ray spectroscopy is dealt with by Georges Calas and co-workers, the style is clear and lucid, the content is similar in many respects to that covered in the MSA volume. The principal weakness of the book lies in its coverage of vibrational spectroscopy. The most coherent approach to the subject is found in Klaus Langer's chapter when he touches briefly on applications of infrared and Raman spectroscopy in the highpressure realm. This is very brief however. The chapter devoted to Raman spectroscopy is wanting in many respects, and doesn't provide a cogent explanation of the technique. The relationship between structure and spectra is blurred, to say the least, and the use of "diffusion" in place of "scattering" rather irritating and no doubt confusing to the uninformed reader. The fact that Raman scattering is not an absorption spectroscopic technique sensu stricto is not apparent from this book, and it is rather
0024-4937/92/$05.00 © 1992 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved.
158
BOOKREVIEWS
surprising that the true (and perhaps commonest) vibrational absorption technique of infrared spectroscopy is not given the place it deserves within such a volume. As a final comment, it should be said that the complementary character of the spectroscopies described within this volume could be emphasized much more strongly, perhaps this should have fallen to the editors. Instead the Editors arrive at the somewhat exasperating conclusion (within their preface) that X-ray diffraction is "still the best research tool available". Such value judgements cannot really be helpful (or even properly justified to my mind). While the Editors seem set in their ways, it is to be hoped that this volume will succeed in persuading at least some of its readers that a full appreciation of the structure and behaviour of minerals depends not simply on diffraction methods, but also the spectrum of spectroscopic techniques which reveal the fundamental characteristics of structure on a broader set of length and time scales. SIMON A.T. REDFERN (Manchester)
Enclaves and Granite Petrology. Developments in Petrology, 13. Edited by J. Didier and B. Barbarin, Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1991. Hardcover. xxiv+ 600 pp. Price US$ 143.50/Dfl. 280.-- ISBN 9-44489145=5. Any xenolith, xenocryst, screen, schlieren or other bundle clot, knot or globule of cumulate or noticeably clark segregation can be an enclave. A term first coined by Alfred Lacroi ( 1863-1948 ) to designate a patch or dollop of rock isolated within a larger, continuum mass of rock, the use of enclave is now commonplace. More often than not, enclaves are mafic-looking, fine grained bodies within intermediate and granitic plutonic rocks. They are always points of conversation in the field and the inevitable arguments cover all the petrogenetic bases. Simply put, are enclaves merely the gristle left from the incomplete chewing of magmatic mixing? Are they intimate vestiges of the very origin of the granitoid itself?. Or are they merely accidental incidents in a long history of ascension and solidification? Until about twenty years ago the answers to these ques-
tions, although hotly debated, were not considered first rank petrological worries. They still may not be, but they are now recognizably important issues. Enclaves clearly provide crucial telltale information on the origin and evolution of granitoids. Unlike volcanic rocks, which through eruption and quenching represent explicit snapshots of magmatic time, the slow cooling and sliding reequilibration ofplutonic solidification, in essence, bakesout any explicitly restricted record of time and temperature. Plutons asymptotically achieve a final crystalline state carrying a fully integrated solidification history. Different magma compositions have different time-temperature-composition histories, and in this sense enclaves function essentially as magmatic spikes enabling the physical and chemical evolution of granitoids to be internally gauged. It is a big job to study and read the varied and complex nature of enclaves. These thirty nine chapters represent a comprehensive treatment of all aspects of the physical, chemical and historical petrology of enclaves. It is a characteristic Elsevier petrology book of normal size, with a shiney blue and black igneous photomicrograph as a cover; the paper is of good quality, white, and acid free; the page numbers are useful and where they should be. There are excellent subject and author indexes and a comprehensive bibliography. The type is clear, well set and virtually error-free. The science itself is heavily descriptive and oriented towards case studies of mafic microgranular enclaves (MME's). There are fifteen chapters of case studies, three of introductory material, seven on the main features of MME's, nine on MME genesis and evolution, four on other types of enclaves, and a single concluding chapter. Although the editors clearly have made no effort to blend, homogenize, or arbitrate the various contributions, it all fits together rather well. (In this sense, this collection resembles the subject itself.) Each chapter is concise, much to the point, and opened and closed with succinct introductory and concluding sections. Many chapters are so explicit and clear in presentation that they will be especially useful to students and nonenclavists. Completeness has been achieved apparently by encouraging contributors to provide concise summary chapters of more extensive work published elsewhere. This is a pleasing alternative