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Geomorphological hazards of Europe
BookReviews ously in the same region. The section is completed by a discussion of mudslides by Brunsden and Ibsen. Again, a variety of European examples are utilized and much more detail is provided in this section than in the section about block and slab slides. Chapter six concerns lateral spreading and is separated into a section by Pasuto and Soldati that describes rock spreading, and a section by Buma and van Asch that discusses soil or debris spreading. Sufficient details are provided for both types of landslide, which are not as common or as dangerous as some of those given less attention in previous chapters. Chapter seven covers the complex mechanisms involved in flow. The chapter is subdivided into sections concerning rock flow, debris flow, and soil, or mudflow, the first of which is a paper by Bisci, Dramis, and Sorriso-Valvo on rock flow, that provides sufficient detail and insight into these events. The section detailing debris flows by Corominas, Remondo, Farias, Estevao, Z6zere, Teffm, Dikau, Schrott, Moya, and Gonz~ez is by far the most detailed and descriptive section, and, these complicated, often dangerous events are well presented. The authors excellently define and describe the processes that lead to the initiation, transport, and deposition of debris flows. The final chapter covers two types of complex landslides: rock avalanches and flow slides. Angeli, Gasparetto, Menotti, Pasuto, Silvano, and Soldati describe several rock avalanches occurring in Europe, but not with the detail provided for other complex landslides such as debris flows. The final section, by Ibsen, Brunsden, Bromhead, and Collison, discusses flow slides that occur primarily in human made spoil heaps and tailing piles, or tips. Although this type of landslide rarely occurs naturally, the mechanisms of failure, transport, and deposition are similar to those found in other types of landslide. In view of the large number of lives lost in these events, inclusion of flow slides appears entirely appropriate. The book also includes three appendices that significantly complement the text: previous landslide classification schemes, a multilingual landslide glossary, and an overview of slope stability modeling. The authors and editors have successfully developed an easy-to-read text that will be useful for any
173
person engaged in land-use planning, engineering, mountain geoecology, or environmental education. If not for the prohibitive cost, the book also would be a useful addition for college courses or seminars about mountain processes, mountain geoecology, or natural hazards. FORREST WILKERSON (Chapel Hill, NC)
Pll s0169-555x(97)00047-0 Geomorphic Hazards. O. Slaymaker (Editor). Wiley, Chichester, 1996, ix + 204 pp., US$ 45.00, ISBN 0-471-96213-9. Geomorphological Hazards of Europe. C. Embleton and C. Embleton-Hamann (Editors). Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1997 (in USA and Canada available from Elsevier Science, Inc., P.O. Box 945, Madison Square Station, New York, NY 10160-0757), X + 524 pp., US$ 240.75, ISBN 0-444-88824-1. These two recently published books, examining similar topics, should be of great interest to geomorphologists involved in the study of natural hazards. Both books are compilations of papers resulting from international meetings. Geomorphic Hazards, Publication No. 4 of the International Association of Geomorphologists and published in 1996, is a collection of 13 papers that were presented at the Third International Geomorphological Conference, held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1993. Geomorphological Hazards of Europe, Volume 5 in Elsevier's Development in Earth Surface Processes series, is an outgrowth of the 26th meeting of the International Geographical Union in Sydney, Australia, held in 1988. At that meeting, a Study Group on Rapid Geomorphological Hazards was established under the chairmanship of Clifford Embleton, who invited representatives of all the countries of Europe to contribute papers due in 1993. Upon Professor Embleton's death in 1994, his widow Christine Embleton-Hamann took over the task of bringing the book to fruition. The result is a volume published in 1997, but one that contains papers representing geomorphological hazards research in the countries of Europe circa 1991-93.
174
BookReviews
Geomorphic Hazards begins with an introductory chapter by editor Slaymaker. The chapter defines the categories of geomorphic hazards, and examines the components of risk studies in relation to geomorphic risk zonation. Not surprisingly, Slaymaker concludes that an urgent need exists for more studies and dialogue between geomorphologists and risk managers. The chapter concludes with a perfunctory attempt at integrating the subsequent twelve chapters into a more coherent whole than actually exists. Several chapters (2, 4, 5, 6, and 7) examine aspects of mass movements as geomorphic hazards. The paper by Spooner et al. (Chapter 2) is particularly interesting in the way that it employs informal oral histories and legends as methods for reconstructing the history of landslides in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. Unfortunately, this excellent paper is marred by dark, muddy graphics and photographs, conditions prevalent throughout most chapters of the book. Chapters 6 and 7 will be of special interest to those geomorphologists and planners examining debris flows associated with volcanic landscapes. Other hazards examined in Geomorphic Hazards include seismic hazards in the Mexican Volcanic Belt (Chapter 3), water and soil erosion in landscapes as varied as the Cape Verde Islands and northern Russia (Chapters 8-11), soil salinity and waterlogging in Egypt (Chapter 12), and desertification in Algeria (Chapter 13). Several of these papers, especially chapters 9 and 10, would have been better placed in a volume examining fluvial erosion and runoff modeling. Those chapters provide only a cursory nod to the topic of geomorphic hazards, concentrating instead on developing hydrologic models. The overall impression of Geomorphic Hazards is, then, one of unevenness. Individual papers are of good quality throughout, but no linkages occur among papers. An introduction and conclusion providing a more thorough integration of the papers would have made the volume more useful for risk planners and managers. As it stands, the volume will be of interest to geomorphologists, but offers only limited insights for those involved in hazard management and reduction. Geomorphological Hazards of Europe begins with a preface by the late Professor Embleton, followed by a brief explanation by Christine Embleton-Ha-
mann about how the volume was ultimately completed. The volume then begins, without an introductory chapter, an alphabetic survey of the countries of Europe and the geomorphological hazards occurring in each. The definition of geomorphological hazard, as explained by Professor Embleton in the preface, was left largely to be decided upon by author(s) of individual national chapters. About 95% of Europe, west of the former Soviet Union, is geographically covered in the book. Although now subdivided, a single chapter covers each of the former countries of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. No contributions were provided, a situation commented on in Professor Embleton's unique style in the preface, from Albania, Bulgaria, Iceland, or Switzerland. The result is 20 chapters of uneven length, style, and level of referencing, followed by a general index and an index of place names. Although the 20 chapters vary in length and style, each is fascinating and informative, providing insight both into the geographic distributions of geomorphological hazards, but also into what each country considers to be a hazard. Thus, the chapter on former Czechoslovakia considers Ftihn winds a geomorphic hazard, because they are created in part by the unique topographic setting of the mountain passes of the region. The chapters on Belgium and Poland provide excellent photographs of ice-jamming, and Ireland's chapter contains an informative section on peat bog outburst flows. Snow avalanches receive widespread attention from countries in the Alps and Scandinavia, and seismic and volcanic hazards characterize much of the contributions from Mediterranean countries. Landslides and flooding are described in nearly every chapter. The chapter on Spain even contains a brief but fascinating account of geomorphic hazards in the principality of Andorra! Each chapter contains crisp, well-drawn maps and diagrams, but the number of photographs varies among the chapters. Perhaps most disappointing in that regard was the total absence of photographs in the contribution from Germany. Two weaknesses prevent Geomorphological Hazards of Europe from being a definitive book for use by both geomorphologists and natural-hazard planners. The first is the absence of any integration among the chapters, most notable in the absence of introductory and concluding chapters. Each country's
175
Book Reviews
entry is a stand-alone document that has no relation to neighboring countries with similar hazards and experiences. Secondly, the majority of the chapters are essentially descriptive checklists of the types of hazards experienced in a given country. Only the contributions from Belgium, Finland, Great Britain, Greece, the Netherlands, and Norway provide extended coverage of hazard planning and management responses to geomorphological hazards, so the book's utility for hazard planners is constrained. Both Geomorphic Hazards and Geomorphological Hazards of Europe would provide excellent material for graduate-level seminars on geomorphic hazards, and belong on the bookshelves of geomor-
phologists engaged in the study of hazardous processes. However, the uneven topical coverage of the former book, and the high price of the latter, will probably limit their distribution to major research libraries and a few geomorphologists. Hazard planners desiring a major text integrating geomorphic hazard processes with hazard response analysis, planning, and management will have to look elsewhere. DAVID R. BUTLER
(San Marcos, Texas) PII
S0169-555X(97)00048-2
173
person engaged in land-use planning, engineering, mountain geoecology, or environmental education. If not for the prohibitive cost, the book also would be a useful addition for college courses or seminars about mountain processes, mountain geoecology, or natural hazards. FORREST WILKERSON (Chapel Hill, NC)
Pll s0169-555x(97)00047-0 Geomorphic Hazards. O. Slaymaker (Editor). Wiley, Chichester, 1996, ix + 204 pp., US$ 45.00, ISBN 0-471-96213-9. Geomorphological Hazards of Europe. C. Embleton and C. Embleton-Hamann (Editors). Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1997 (in USA and Canada available from Elsevier Science, Inc., P.O. Box 945, Madison Square Station, New York, NY 10160-0757), X + 524 pp., US$ 240.75, ISBN 0-444-88824-1. These two recently published books, examining similar topics, should be of great interest to geomorphologists involved in the study of natural hazards. Both books are compilations of papers resulting from international meetings. Geomorphic Hazards, Publication No. 4 of the International Association of Geomorphologists and published in 1996, is a collection of 13 papers that were presented at the Third International Geomorphological Conference, held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1993. Geomorphological Hazards of Europe, Volume 5 in Elsevier's Development in Earth Surface Processes series, is an outgrowth of the 26th meeting of the International Geographical Union in Sydney, Australia, held in 1988. At that meeting, a Study Group on Rapid Geomorphological Hazards was established under the chairmanship of Clifford Embleton, who invited representatives of all the countries of Europe to contribute papers due in 1993. Upon Professor Embleton's death in 1994, his widow Christine Embleton-Hamann took over the task of bringing the book to fruition. The result is a volume published in 1997, but one that contains papers representing geomorphological hazards research in the countries of Europe circa 1991-93.
174
BookReviews
Geomorphic Hazards begins with an introductory chapter by editor Slaymaker. The chapter defines the categories of geomorphic hazards, and examines the components of risk studies in relation to geomorphic risk zonation. Not surprisingly, Slaymaker concludes that an urgent need exists for more studies and dialogue between geomorphologists and risk managers. The chapter concludes with a perfunctory attempt at integrating the subsequent twelve chapters into a more coherent whole than actually exists. Several chapters (2, 4, 5, 6, and 7) examine aspects of mass movements as geomorphic hazards. The paper by Spooner et al. (Chapter 2) is particularly interesting in the way that it employs informal oral histories and legends as methods for reconstructing the history of landslides in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. Unfortunately, this excellent paper is marred by dark, muddy graphics and photographs, conditions prevalent throughout most chapters of the book. Chapters 6 and 7 will be of special interest to those geomorphologists and planners examining debris flows associated with volcanic landscapes. Other hazards examined in Geomorphic Hazards include seismic hazards in the Mexican Volcanic Belt (Chapter 3), water and soil erosion in landscapes as varied as the Cape Verde Islands and northern Russia (Chapters 8-11), soil salinity and waterlogging in Egypt (Chapter 12), and desertification in Algeria (Chapter 13). Several of these papers, especially chapters 9 and 10, would have been better placed in a volume examining fluvial erosion and runoff modeling. Those chapters provide only a cursory nod to the topic of geomorphic hazards, concentrating instead on developing hydrologic models. The overall impression of Geomorphic Hazards is, then, one of unevenness. Individual papers are of good quality throughout, but no linkages occur among papers. An introduction and conclusion providing a more thorough integration of the papers would have made the volume more useful for risk planners and managers. As it stands, the volume will be of interest to geomorphologists, but offers only limited insights for those involved in hazard management and reduction. Geomorphological Hazards of Europe begins with a preface by the late Professor Embleton, followed by a brief explanation by Christine Embleton-Ha-
mann about how the volume was ultimately completed. The volume then begins, without an introductory chapter, an alphabetic survey of the countries of Europe and the geomorphological hazards occurring in each. The definition of geomorphological hazard, as explained by Professor Embleton in the preface, was left largely to be decided upon by author(s) of individual national chapters. About 95% of Europe, west of the former Soviet Union, is geographically covered in the book. Although now subdivided, a single chapter covers each of the former countries of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. No contributions were provided, a situation commented on in Professor Embleton's unique style in the preface, from Albania, Bulgaria, Iceland, or Switzerland. The result is 20 chapters of uneven length, style, and level of referencing, followed by a general index and an index of place names. Although the 20 chapters vary in length and style, each is fascinating and informative, providing insight both into the geographic distributions of geomorphological hazards, but also into what each country considers to be a hazard. Thus, the chapter on former Czechoslovakia considers Ftihn winds a geomorphic hazard, because they are created in part by the unique topographic setting of the mountain passes of the region. The chapters on Belgium and Poland provide excellent photographs of ice-jamming, and Ireland's chapter contains an informative section on peat bog outburst flows. Snow avalanches receive widespread attention from countries in the Alps and Scandinavia, and seismic and volcanic hazards characterize much of the contributions from Mediterranean countries. Landslides and flooding are described in nearly every chapter. The chapter on Spain even contains a brief but fascinating account of geomorphic hazards in the principality of Andorra! Each chapter contains crisp, well-drawn maps and diagrams, but the number of photographs varies among the chapters. Perhaps most disappointing in that regard was the total absence of photographs in the contribution from Germany. Two weaknesses prevent Geomorphological Hazards of Europe from being a definitive book for use by both geomorphologists and natural-hazard planners. The first is the absence of any integration among the chapters, most notable in the absence of introductory and concluding chapters. Each country's
175
Book Reviews
entry is a stand-alone document that has no relation to neighboring countries with similar hazards and experiences. Secondly, the majority of the chapters are essentially descriptive checklists of the types of hazards experienced in a given country. Only the contributions from Belgium, Finland, Great Britain, Greece, the Netherlands, and Norway provide extended coverage of hazard planning and management responses to geomorphological hazards, so the book's utility for hazard planners is constrained. Both Geomorphic Hazards and Geomorphological Hazards of Europe would provide excellent material for graduate-level seminars on geomorphic hazards, and belong on the bookshelves of geomor-
phologists engaged in the study of hazardous processes. However, the uneven topical coverage of the former book, and the high price of the latter, will probably limit their distribution to major research libraries and a few geomorphologists. Hazard planners desiring a major text integrating geomorphic hazard processes with hazard response analysis, planning, and management will have to look elsewhere. DAVID R. BUTLER
(San Marcos, Texas) PII
S0169-555X(97)00048-2