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Evaporites and hydrocarbons
BOOK REVIEWS
331
this volume in research, practical work in petroleum companies and in teaching. The ratio information density to price is very good; the technical quality is also excellent. Therefore, I strongly recommend this Sandstone Petroleum Reservoir book to explorationists and scientists who have to do with siliciclastic reservoirs worldwide. HOLGER KULKE
(Clausthal)
Evaporites and Hydrocarbons. B.C. Schreiber (Editor). Columbia University Press, New York, N.Y., 1988, vi + 475 pp., US$ 66.-, ISBN 0-231-06530-2 (hardcover). Modem potash and rock salt mining began in 1861 in Stassfurt, central Germany. Germany had the world monopoly on potash until 1918. In the following decades, other large potash and salt deposits were discovered mainly in the U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Canada, Africa, Brazil, Thailand, and Western and Eastern Europe. Many-sided geoscientific research on the composition of marine evaporites and their origin and metamorphism was conducted primarily in Germany in connection with the development of the potash industry at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Evaporite research was decisively influenced by, among others, C. Ochsenius, J.H. van't Hoff, J. D'Ans, later H. Borchert, and most of all O. Braltsch. Marine evaporites are deposited from seawater. They were fixed in large salt deposits in the geological past. Due to the evaporation of H20, specific minerals and mineral associations (rocks) crystallize from the physico-chemical system "seawater" in dependence on the chemical composition of salt solutions and temperature. Today, the physico-chemical conditions of rock formation from seawater still form the basis of all geoscientific research on evaporites. Different marine and nonmarine evaporitic sediments have been the object of increasing sedimentological research over recent decades. This was set off, for example, by studies on recent evaporites, primarily in the
coastal areas of the Persian Gulf. In this context, the physical, chemical, and biological conditions and the evaporitic sediments forming especially in recent shallow bodies of water have been elucidated. Current studies on evaporites consist of an interdisciplinary mixture of aspects of sedimentology, biology, and geochemistry (B.C. Schreiber). This represents a very important expansion of the evaporite research. At the same time, research on the physico-chemistry of evaporites has fallen into the background, in contrast to the petrology of silicate rocks. This is disadvantageous to evaporite research. The physico-chemical and geochemical aspects must be of equal importance to sedimentological research in view of multiple-discipline research on the origin and metamorphism of evaporites. B.C. Schreiber's publication on evaporites and hydrocarbons can be assessed by the above-mentioned scientific background knowledge. Her book contains eight articles by ten different authors. The topics are as follows: 1. A.C. Kendall: Aspects of evaporite basin stratigraphy. 2. Ch. G. St.C. Kendall and J.K. Warren: Peritidal evaporites and their sedimentary assemblages. 3. C.R. Handford: Depositional interaction of siliciclastics and marginal marine evaporites. 4. B.C. Schreiber: Subaqueous evaporite deposition. 5. R. Evans and D.W. Kirkland: Evaporitic environments as a source of petroleum. 6. C. Pierre: Applications of stable isotope geochemistry to the study of evaporites. 7. R.O. Kehle: The origin of salt structures. 8. R.D. Nurmi: Geologic interpretation of well log and seismic measurements in reservoirs associated with evaporites. The length of this review does not allow a separate discussion of every topic. However, every article gives a current and informative survey of the respective topic. Studies on clay, carbonate, and CaSO4 rocks are emphasized. Only rock salt is taken into consideration in the discussion on chloride evaporites. Unfortunately, K-Mg-rocks are not discussed at all, despite their importance for understanding the genesis of evaporite cycles. This is something I observe time and time again in publications on the sedimentology of evaporites. Yet, sedimentological research on potash salt rocks is of great scientific
332
value. Maybe, this fact might serve as an impulse for future research. Concerning the references, I miss the mention of important publications in some articles. For example, the article "Applications of stable isotope geochemistry to the study of evaporites" lacks the many and very fundamental examinations by
BOOK REVIEWS
H. Nielsen o n ~34S values in evaporites. This is a pity! However, Evaporites and Hydrocarbons is scientifically enlightening. The book is an importance source of information for geoscientists of various fields, especially evaporite research. A.G. HERRMANN
(Clausthal-Zellerfeld)
331
this volume in research, practical work in petroleum companies and in teaching. The ratio information density to price is very good; the technical quality is also excellent. Therefore, I strongly recommend this Sandstone Petroleum Reservoir book to explorationists and scientists who have to do with siliciclastic reservoirs worldwide. HOLGER KULKE
(Clausthal)
Evaporites and Hydrocarbons. B.C. Schreiber (Editor). Columbia University Press, New York, N.Y., 1988, vi + 475 pp., US$ 66.-, ISBN 0-231-06530-2 (hardcover). Modem potash and rock salt mining began in 1861 in Stassfurt, central Germany. Germany had the world monopoly on potash until 1918. In the following decades, other large potash and salt deposits were discovered mainly in the U.S.A., U.S.S.R., Canada, Africa, Brazil, Thailand, and Western and Eastern Europe. Many-sided geoscientific research on the composition of marine evaporites and their origin and metamorphism was conducted primarily in Germany in connection with the development of the potash industry at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Evaporite research was decisively influenced by, among others, C. Ochsenius, J.H. van't Hoff, J. D'Ans, later H. Borchert, and most of all O. Braltsch. Marine evaporites are deposited from seawater. They were fixed in large salt deposits in the geological past. Due to the evaporation of H20, specific minerals and mineral associations (rocks) crystallize from the physico-chemical system "seawater" in dependence on the chemical composition of salt solutions and temperature. Today, the physico-chemical conditions of rock formation from seawater still form the basis of all geoscientific research on evaporites. Different marine and nonmarine evaporitic sediments have been the object of increasing sedimentological research over recent decades. This was set off, for example, by studies on recent evaporites, primarily in the
coastal areas of the Persian Gulf. In this context, the physical, chemical, and biological conditions and the evaporitic sediments forming especially in recent shallow bodies of water have been elucidated. Current studies on evaporites consist of an interdisciplinary mixture of aspects of sedimentology, biology, and geochemistry (B.C. Schreiber). This represents a very important expansion of the evaporite research. At the same time, research on the physico-chemistry of evaporites has fallen into the background, in contrast to the petrology of silicate rocks. This is disadvantageous to evaporite research. The physico-chemical and geochemical aspects must be of equal importance to sedimentological research in view of multiple-discipline research on the origin and metamorphism of evaporites. B.C. Schreiber's publication on evaporites and hydrocarbons can be assessed by the above-mentioned scientific background knowledge. Her book contains eight articles by ten different authors. The topics are as follows: 1. A.C. Kendall: Aspects of evaporite basin stratigraphy. 2. Ch. G. St.C. Kendall and J.K. Warren: Peritidal evaporites and their sedimentary assemblages. 3. C.R. Handford: Depositional interaction of siliciclastics and marginal marine evaporites. 4. B.C. Schreiber: Subaqueous evaporite deposition. 5. R. Evans and D.W. Kirkland: Evaporitic environments as a source of petroleum. 6. C. Pierre: Applications of stable isotope geochemistry to the study of evaporites. 7. R.O. Kehle: The origin of salt structures. 8. R.D. Nurmi: Geologic interpretation of well log and seismic measurements in reservoirs associated with evaporites. The length of this review does not allow a separate discussion of every topic. However, every article gives a current and informative survey of the respective topic. Studies on clay, carbonate, and CaSO4 rocks are emphasized. Only rock salt is taken into consideration in the discussion on chloride evaporites. Unfortunately, K-Mg-rocks are not discussed at all, despite their importance for understanding the genesis of evaporite cycles. This is something I observe time and time again in publications on the sedimentology of evaporites. Yet, sedimentological research on potash salt rocks is of great scientific
332
value. Maybe, this fact might serve as an impulse for future research. Concerning the references, I miss the mention of important publications in some articles. For example, the article "Applications of stable isotope geochemistry to the study of evaporites" lacks the many and very fundamental examinations by
BOOK REVIEWS
H. Nielsen o n ~34S values in evaporites. This is a pity! However, Evaporites and Hydrocarbons is scientifically enlightening. The book is an importance source of information for geoscientists of various fields, especially evaporite research. A.G. HERRMANN
(Clausthal-Zellerfeld)