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Continental red beds. Developments in sedimentology, 29
186 interest in kimberlites and who have a beckground in petrology and geochemistry. I suspect that its 'fact density' is too high for a reader who wants a first introduction into the field. There are a fair number of printing errors but I have not seen any really disturbing ones. The index is poor for a book which contains such an amazing amount of information. This is a pity even if the book is well organized. In summary all who have an interest in kimberlites or the mantle and can afford it should buy the book. Like the author I will end with a note: the first west European diamond was identified in real kimberlite from the AIn6 Island, Sweden, on June 13, 1981. Frans E. Wickman, Stockholm
D.R. Hunter (Editor), 1981. Precambrian of the Southern Hemisphere. Developments in Precambrian Geology, Vol. 2. Elsevier, Amsterdam, xxiii + 882 pp., Dfl.350.00, US $170.75 (hardcover).
the regularity with which authors in the Australian section specified that all Rb-Sr dates were given in respect of the 8"/Rb decay constant of 1.42. 10 -11 y - l . The constant used in the African section is generally not evident except in some tables where the earlier constant of 1.39 is specified. The treatment of sedimentological detail and the reconstruction of sedimentary environments, throughout the book, is a major credit and highlights the advances that have been made in this field over recent years. Palaeontology has not been neglected and there are good reviews of the often controversial Precambrian faunal record of Australia and southern Africa. Prospective readers should, however,.not expect any integration of the data presented in terms of Precambrian earth-history models or development of the Gondwanaland continent. The book is dedicated to a review of 'local' successions and geological histories and in this sense it will serve as an excellent reference text particularly for research workers but in parts also for advanced undergraduate students. D. Robinson, Bristol
A better title for this book would have been 'The Precambrian of Australia and Southern Africa.' These two areas, in which there has been extensive work in recent years, dominate the book occupying in the order of 400 pages each. Antarctica is omitted completely while the South American treatment is limited to less than 40 pages out of a total approaching 900 pages. The various authors detailing the geology of Australia and Africa have achieved a remarkable feat in collating all the data presented in the book. Geological maps and tables are well presented and I found most valuable and informative. At times the text made heavy-going ~)ecause of the wealth of local detail and terminology and the need to continually locate figures and diagrams simply to establish a particular locality. A distinct difference was noticeable in the treatment of petrogenetic details for the igneous and metamorphic rocks in the two main sections. A much greater depth of treatment was evident in the African section than for Australian crystalline rocks. Another, but minor, difference noted was
SEDIMENTOLOGY P. Turner, 1980. Continental Red Beds. Developments in Sedimento/ogv, 29. Elsevier, Amsterdam, New York, US $70.75, Dfl. 145.00.
562 pp.,
At a first glance, the title of the book under review and the name of the author would make any geologist inclined to read it post haste. Unfortunately, the extreme negligence in editing, presumably on the part of the publishers, put this reviewer in a quagmire he regrets having ventured into. The book has been printed from a cameraready manuscript. There are innumerable typographical errors which range from amusing ('clastic' for 'classic' on p. 99; 'basis' for 'basin' on p. 171; 'chlorine' for 'chlorite' on p. 266, etc.) and ludicrous ('m' for '/zm' in many instances; or 'resolution' for 'dissolution' on p. 212, etc.) to perfectly unpardonable (ommission of lines on pp, 281, 485). A complete list of all
187 typographical errors would take pages to print but in a few particularly vexing instances one finds two equations identically numbered (eq. 7.9 on p. 387), relationship of Et and E r missing (is E t > or < Er? on p. 387), use of both K and k as abbreviation for 'kilo' even in a single sentence (pp. 395, 417), substitution of figure captions in part (Figs. 5.15 and 5.17), etc,, etc. In addition, there are many instances where the rudimentary rules of scientific writing have been violated. For example, 'CU' and 'FU' appear in Table 1.2 (on p. 67) as abbreviations for 'coarsening upward' and 'fining upward' without any previous warning to the reader. Not only are these abbreviations not used any more in the book, the complete expressions (coarsening/ fining upward) are used subsequently. The author takes pains to describe what an 'arkose° is but then uses such terms as 'paralic', 'pluvial climate', 'isopachyte', 'upper flow regime', 'letosols', 'meromictic', etc. assuming that the average reader would be familiar with them. The typographical errors, at least, should have been corrected at the publisher's level. Let us now examine the scientific content of the book. The central thesis of this book is that the pigment of all continental red beds is diagenetic in origin. The relative age of diagenesis producing the pigment may vary widely. The pigment itself is usually fine grained hematite, the iron of which is derived from iron-bearing detrital minerals in the sediments through dissolution. The amount o f pigment necessary to color a bed is very small. There appears to be a correlation between the amount and physical properties of the pigment and the mineralogical maturity of the original sediment. Pigmentation via diagenesis need not have been a single event but may have been repeated in time; for some red beds records of earlier pigmentation may have been destroyed or extensively modified. Continental red beds can thus be found in all major continental sedimentary environments and at all diagenetic times. Ferromagnetic minerals in red beds could be both detrital and diagenetic and the remanent magnetism of a red bed need not be controlled only by the pigment. The author does a superb job of enumerating the above
and also provides a very broad discussion of all the topics which are even remotely relevant to red beds. He also very successfully dispels any notion of climatic control on red bed sedimentation (precipitated by Krynine) or of in situ pedogenic origin (proposed by Van Houten). It is extremely useful to find a logical, up to date synthesis of all arguments regarding the origin of continental red beds in this single volume, albeit much too elaborate. The author discusses many continental red beds at length. In order to provide general background for his discussion he describes the geological framework of all possible locales of red beds (Chapter 1, 68 pp.). The next three chapters (195 pp.) are devoted to a fairly detailed discourse on desert, delta plain, and alluvial environments where continental red beds are usually found. The detail in these four chapters is sometimes distracting and unnecessary. For example, Stille's or Kay's classification of geosynclines seem to be out of place. Also, some of the discussions on depositional environments are weak. For example, no mention of Hunter is made in discussing aeolian environments despite a long list of references. Although the discussion is adequate for the author's purpose, I would not direct a student to this book for an up to date survey of the three continental sedimentary environments mentioned above. The next two chapters (115 pp.) are devoted to the diagenesis, mineralogy, and iron oxides in red beds. The treatment is very good although a somewhat lengthy discussion of authigenic iron-free minerals could have been avoided. Lack of any reference to Siever's w o r k is a glaring shortcoming in these chapters. The discussion of iron oxide as they pertain to red beds is definitely the most informative that can be found anywhere. The last two chapters, devoted to magnetization and paleomagnetism of continental red beds (113 pp.) are clearly the best in this book, probably reflecting the author's special expertise. The discussion of the magnetization processes in sediments should be read by all sedimentologists. Paleomagnetism of individual continental red beds is well summarized along with the author's own opinions about each of them, which are very welcome and
188 valuable. However, there is hardly any discussion of Gondwana red beds and the works of Wensink and Klootwijk have been totally ignored. The book ends with a short but excellent discussion of the paleomagnetic evolution of red beds. The last chapter would have been better organized had the sections been arranged according to the paleomagnetic evolutionary aspects of red beds instead of arranging the sections according to the original depositional age of the subsequently reddened beds. In summary, the author has established his thesis in this book but has fallen victim to the temptation to document the details of all remotely relevant material. Abhijit Basu, Bloomington, Ind.
Noel P. James and Robert N. Ginsburg, 1979. The Seaward Margin of Belize Barrier and Atoll Reefs. Morphology, sedimentology, organism distribution and Late Quaternary history. Special Publication No. 3 of the International Association of Sedirnentologists. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, London, Edinburgh, Boston, Melbourne, 191 pp., £10.00. Reefs have fascinated geologists for over a hundred years, partly because of their intrinsic beauty and their relative ease of recognition in the geological column, but in later decades because of their great economic importance. The early chapter presents a brief review of the setting of the Belize reefs with a reminder that they are the largest reef-complex i n t h e Atlantic-Carribean area. This is followed by a short discussion of the three dimensional aspects of these structures by P. Enos, W.J. Kock and N.P. James (in the only chapter not solely written by N.P, James and R.N. Ginsburg) as revealed by continuous reflection seismic profiling. The morphology, sediments and organisms of the deep barrier reef and fore-reef are described in a well illustrated chapter. As well as providing considerable new information, it gives a good review of reef terminology and of the present state of knowledge of modern reefs. It includes a useful diagram of the most important biota
which is most helpful to any reader not familiar with Holocene reef-building organisms. The chapters on perireefal sediments, on the composition and age of the limestones from the reef front wall and particularly the chapters on the petrography of the limestones from the wall and fore-reef and on the sedimentation and diagenesis on the deep seaward margin of modern reefs are the ones that will be seized with avid interest by the student of ancient rocks. This is the information so much required: what is preserved for the prying eye of the geologist? The persistent destruction of the original skeletal material by boring sponges and other organisms followed by filling of the cavities by fine grained sediment and the subsequent cementation and repeating of the process clearly show why reef-forming organisms are so often difficult to find in ancient biohermal mounds, A further chapter gives an excellent review of the comparative anatomy, distribution of organisms and the Late Quaternary evolution of modern reef margins. This includes a splendidly succinct account of the present-day knowledge of the depth of distribution of modern reef building organisms. The final chapter, discusses the development of the margins of the Belize reefs and proposes that discontinuous lateral accretion is an important process. Perhaps the excellence of this study will encourage drilling to establish the truth of such claims. The authors have produced a volume from which sedimentologists and stratigraphers will learn a great amount. It is full of interesting data and has plenty of generalizations. The latter are most welcome in these days of an ever-burgeoning literature. The figures are well drawn and the plates are of reasonable quality, although some of the underwater photographs are rather disappointing. Graham Evans, London
Claude Monty (Editor), 1981. Phanerozoic stromatolites, Case Histories. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, x-F 249 pp. (121 figs., 10 plates), DM89.00, approx. US $46.80 (hardcover).
D.R. Hunter (Editor), 1981. Precambrian of the Southern Hemisphere. Developments in Precambrian Geology, Vol. 2. Elsevier, Amsterdam, xxiii + 882 pp., Dfl.350.00, US $170.75 (hardcover).
the regularity with which authors in the Australian section specified that all Rb-Sr dates were given in respect of the 8"/Rb decay constant of 1.42. 10 -11 y - l . The constant used in the African section is generally not evident except in some tables where the earlier constant of 1.39 is specified. The treatment of sedimentological detail and the reconstruction of sedimentary environments, throughout the book, is a major credit and highlights the advances that have been made in this field over recent years. Palaeontology has not been neglected and there are good reviews of the often controversial Precambrian faunal record of Australia and southern Africa. Prospective readers should, however,.not expect any integration of the data presented in terms of Precambrian earth-history models or development of the Gondwanaland continent. The book is dedicated to a review of 'local' successions and geological histories and in this sense it will serve as an excellent reference text particularly for research workers but in parts also for advanced undergraduate students. D. Robinson, Bristol
A better title for this book would have been 'The Precambrian of Australia and Southern Africa.' These two areas, in which there has been extensive work in recent years, dominate the book occupying in the order of 400 pages each. Antarctica is omitted completely while the South American treatment is limited to less than 40 pages out of a total approaching 900 pages. The various authors detailing the geology of Australia and Africa have achieved a remarkable feat in collating all the data presented in the book. Geological maps and tables are well presented and I found most valuable and informative. At times the text made heavy-going ~)ecause of the wealth of local detail and terminology and the need to continually locate figures and diagrams simply to establish a particular locality. A distinct difference was noticeable in the treatment of petrogenetic details for the igneous and metamorphic rocks in the two main sections. A much greater depth of treatment was evident in the African section than for Australian crystalline rocks. Another, but minor, difference noted was
SEDIMENTOLOGY P. Turner, 1980. Continental Red Beds. Developments in Sedimento/ogv, 29. Elsevier, Amsterdam, New York, US $70.75, Dfl. 145.00.
562 pp.,
At a first glance, the title of the book under review and the name of the author would make any geologist inclined to read it post haste. Unfortunately, the extreme negligence in editing, presumably on the part of the publishers, put this reviewer in a quagmire he regrets having ventured into. The book has been printed from a cameraready manuscript. There are innumerable typographical errors which range from amusing ('clastic' for 'classic' on p. 99; 'basis' for 'basin' on p. 171; 'chlorine' for 'chlorite' on p. 266, etc.) and ludicrous ('m' for '/zm' in many instances; or 'resolution' for 'dissolution' on p. 212, etc.) to perfectly unpardonable (ommission of lines on pp, 281, 485). A complete list of all
187 typographical errors would take pages to print but in a few particularly vexing instances one finds two equations identically numbered (eq. 7.9 on p. 387), relationship of Et and E r missing (is E t > or < Er? on p. 387), use of both K and k as abbreviation for 'kilo' even in a single sentence (pp. 395, 417), substitution of figure captions in part (Figs. 5.15 and 5.17), etc,, etc. In addition, there are many instances where the rudimentary rules of scientific writing have been violated. For example, 'CU' and 'FU' appear in Table 1.2 (on p. 67) as abbreviations for 'coarsening upward' and 'fining upward' without any previous warning to the reader. Not only are these abbreviations not used any more in the book, the complete expressions (coarsening/ fining upward) are used subsequently. The author takes pains to describe what an 'arkose° is but then uses such terms as 'paralic', 'pluvial climate', 'isopachyte', 'upper flow regime', 'letosols', 'meromictic', etc. assuming that the average reader would be familiar with them. The typographical errors, at least, should have been corrected at the publisher's level. Let us now examine the scientific content of the book. The central thesis of this book is that the pigment of all continental red beds is diagenetic in origin. The relative age of diagenesis producing the pigment may vary widely. The pigment itself is usually fine grained hematite, the iron of which is derived from iron-bearing detrital minerals in the sediments through dissolution. The amount o f pigment necessary to color a bed is very small. There appears to be a correlation between the amount and physical properties of the pigment and the mineralogical maturity of the original sediment. Pigmentation via diagenesis need not have been a single event but may have been repeated in time; for some red beds records of earlier pigmentation may have been destroyed or extensively modified. Continental red beds can thus be found in all major continental sedimentary environments and at all diagenetic times. Ferromagnetic minerals in red beds could be both detrital and diagenetic and the remanent magnetism of a red bed need not be controlled only by the pigment. The author does a superb job of enumerating the above
and also provides a very broad discussion of all the topics which are even remotely relevant to red beds. He also very successfully dispels any notion of climatic control on red bed sedimentation (precipitated by Krynine) or of in situ pedogenic origin (proposed by Van Houten). It is extremely useful to find a logical, up to date synthesis of all arguments regarding the origin of continental red beds in this single volume, albeit much too elaborate. The author discusses many continental red beds at length. In order to provide general background for his discussion he describes the geological framework of all possible locales of red beds (Chapter 1, 68 pp.). The next three chapters (195 pp.) are devoted to a fairly detailed discourse on desert, delta plain, and alluvial environments where continental red beds are usually found. The detail in these four chapters is sometimes distracting and unnecessary. For example, Stille's or Kay's classification of geosynclines seem to be out of place. Also, some of the discussions on depositional environments are weak. For example, no mention of Hunter is made in discussing aeolian environments despite a long list of references. Although the discussion is adequate for the author's purpose, I would not direct a student to this book for an up to date survey of the three continental sedimentary environments mentioned above. The next two chapters (115 pp.) are devoted to the diagenesis, mineralogy, and iron oxides in red beds. The treatment is very good although a somewhat lengthy discussion of authigenic iron-free minerals could have been avoided. Lack of any reference to Siever's w o r k is a glaring shortcoming in these chapters. The discussion of iron oxide as they pertain to red beds is definitely the most informative that can be found anywhere. The last two chapters, devoted to magnetization and paleomagnetism of continental red beds (113 pp.) are clearly the best in this book, probably reflecting the author's special expertise. The discussion of the magnetization processes in sediments should be read by all sedimentologists. Paleomagnetism of individual continental red beds is well summarized along with the author's own opinions about each of them, which are very welcome and
188 valuable. However, there is hardly any discussion of Gondwana red beds and the works of Wensink and Klootwijk have been totally ignored. The book ends with a short but excellent discussion of the paleomagnetic evolution of red beds. The last chapter would have been better organized had the sections been arranged according to the paleomagnetic evolutionary aspects of red beds instead of arranging the sections according to the original depositional age of the subsequently reddened beds. In summary, the author has established his thesis in this book but has fallen victim to the temptation to document the details of all remotely relevant material. Abhijit Basu, Bloomington, Ind.
Noel P. James and Robert N. Ginsburg, 1979. The Seaward Margin of Belize Barrier and Atoll Reefs. Morphology, sedimentology, organism distribution and Late Quaternary history. Special Publication No. 3 of the International Association of Sedirnentologists. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, London, Edinburgh, Boston, Melbourne, 191 pp., £10.00. Reefs have fascinated geologists for over a hundred years, partly because of their intrinsic beauty and their relative ease of recognition in the geological column, but in later decades because of their great economic importance. The early chapter presents a brief review of the setting of the Belize reefs with a reminder that they are the largest reef-complex i n t h e Atlantic-Carribean area. This is followed by a short discussion of the three dimensional aspects of these structures by P. Enos, W.J. Kock and N.P. James (in the only chapter not solely written by N.P, James and R.N. Ginsburg) as revealed by continuous reflection seismic profiling. The morphology, sediments and organisms of the deep barrier reef and fore-reef are described in a well illustrated chapter. As well as providing considerable new information, it gives a good review of reef terminology and of the present state of knowledge of modern reefs. It includes a useful diagram of the most important biota
which is most helpful to any reader not familiar with Holocene reef-building organisms. The chapters on perireefal sediments, on the composition and age of the limestones from the reef front wall and particularly the chapters on the petrography of the limestones from the wall and fore-reef and on the sedimentation and diagenesis on the deep seaward margin of modern reefs are the ones that will be seized with avid interest by the student of ancient rocks. This is the information so much required: what is preserved for the prying eye of the geologist? The persistent destruction of the original skeletal material by boring sponges and other organisms followed by filling of the cavities by fine grained sediment and the subsequent cementation and repeating of the process clearly show why reef-forming organisms are so often difficult to find in ancient biohermal mounds, A further chapter gives an excellent review of the comparative anatomy, distribution of organisms and the Late Quaternary evolution of modern reef margins. This includes a splendidly succinct account of the present-day knowledge of the depth of distribution of modern reef building organisms. The final chapter, discusses the development of the margins of the Belize reefs and proposes that discontinuous lateral accretion is an important process. Perhaps the excellence of this study will encourage drilling to establish the truth of such claims. The authors have produced a volume from which sedimentologists and stratigraphers will learn a great amount. It is full of interesting data and has plenty of generalizations. The latter are most welcome in these days of an ever-burgeoning literature. The figures are well drawn and the plates are of reasonable quality, although some of the underwater photographs are rather disappointing. Graham Evans, London
Claude Monty (Editor), 1981. Phanerozoic stromatolites, Case Histories. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, x-F 249 pp. (121 figs., 10 plates), DM89.00, approx. US $46.80 (hardcover).