Marine geology and oceanography of the pacific manganese nodule province

322 T e n authors were responsible for the subject matter which is presented in fifteen chapters devoted to separate sedimentary environments. Each chapter stands on its own as a separate treatise. The chapters include an introductory outline of facies (by H. G. Reading), followed by chapters on alluvial sediments, lakes, and deserts (J. D. Collinson), deltas and clastic shorelines (T. Elliott), arid shorelines and evaporites (R. Till), shallow siliclastic seas (H. D. Johnson), shallow-water carbonate environments (B. W. Sellwood), pelagic environments (H. C. Jenkyns), deep clastic seas (N. A. Rupke), glacial environments (M. B. Edwards), sedimentation and tectonics (A. H. G. Mitchell and H. G. Reading), and the concluding chapter on problems and perspectives (H. G. Reading). Each chapter includes a succinct introduction, discussion of basic principles, d o c u m e n t e d modern and ancient examples, and an outline of criteria which characterize the facies f6und within each environment. Readers will be delighted with the presentation, high quality of paper, typeset, and clearly defined line drawings, all of which enhance the value of this scientific contribution. The book may be considered as a complementary t e x t to Friedman and Sanders' (1978) Principles of Sedimentology. Together these two books provide both qualitative and quantitative accounts of the principles of sedimentology, sedimentary environments, and facies. The publication is timely especially in view of the "energy crisis"; it will be a valuable asset to geologists involved in the exploration and development of economic sedimentary deposits such as oil, coal, oil shale, and sedimentary uranium. The book is highly r e c o m m e n d e d for advanced university students, research workers and professional geologists. REFERENCES

Friedman, G. M. and Sanders, J. E., 1978. Principles of Sedimentology. Wiley and Sons, New York, N.Y., 792 pp. Reineck, H. E. and Singh, I. B., 1973. Depositional Sedimentary Environments -- With Reference to Terrigenous Clastics. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 439 pp. PETER G. FLOOD (Brisbane, Qld.)

Marine Geology and Oceanography of the Pacific Manganese Nodule Province. J. L. Bischoff and D. Z. Piper (Editors). Marine Science, 9. Plenum Press, London, New York, N.Y., 1979, 842 pp., U.S. $49.50. This excellent volume presents the results of phase I of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sponsored project called the Deep Ocean Mining Environmental Study (DOMES). DOMES was primarily designed to provide baseline data from which to monitor possible deep-sea manganese nodule mining operations. Three sites in the north central Pacific Ocean, in

323 what is considered the prime area for potential mining operations were selected for intensive study, and during 1975 and 1976 a wide variety of geological, oceanographic, zoological, geophysical, and geochemical data were acquired via the NOAA ship Oceanographer. The results of these investigations have been brought together under one cover. In addition, the editors wisely invited several other groups who were active in the area and on similar problems to contribute chapters to the b o o k so that whilst most of the contributors are U.S. based, there are articles from scientists in Germany, France, U.S.S.R., New Zealand, and Japan. What has emerged is truly a good "state of the art" on manganese nodule research, and with 842 pages and 27 presentations any one who purchases this b o o k gets good scientific and volumetric value for money. The b o o k is divided into two parts: DOMES contributions; and "others", with each of the main sections subdivided into various disciplines that contain 3 or 4 presentations. The " D O M E S " section is the longest (528 pages) and contains articles grouped under the following headings: Water Column Studies; Biological Studies; Sea-Floor Studies; and Nodules, whilst the " o t h e r s " (305 pages) has articles grouped into: Sea-Floor Studies; Nodule Chemistry; and Nodule Growth Rates. It is not possible in the limited space available to do justice to the wealth of data presented and discussed, but it is in this c o n t e x t that I level the only major criticism that I have of Bischoff and Piper's collection of papers. In the Preface they outline the raison d'etre for the DOMES programme, and the current volume, from both a scientist's and an environmentalist's point of view, in the process of which they pose several pertinent questions on the manganese nodule problem. Questions such as "what, if any, are the unique oceanographic or geochemical properties of the tropical North Pacific Province?". " H o w do the nodules remain unburied if their rate of growth is so much slower than sediment accumulation rates around t h e m ? " and so on. The reader is led to believe that this b o o k provides the answers to such questions, and indeed it does, but the reader has to burrow for them and then comes up with sometimes conflicting theories. The b o o k cries out for a well-balanced summary chapter. The scope of the individual contributions varies, with, in general, the DOME S~linked chapters being more specific and clearly part of a coordinated effort. Because of this, some of the contributions by the non-U.S, scientists approach closest to summaries where they draw several lines of investigation together. As examples one m a y cite the chapters by Von Stackelberg, Pautot and Melguen, Rankin and Glasby, and Skornyakova as coming closest to providing overviews of various aspects of the whole manganese nodule question. However, any summary written before having access to all the information in this b o o k is bound to be deficient. The quality of all presentations seems c o m m e n d a b l y high and for this the authors and the editors must be congratulated, and whilst in no way wishing to single o u t some of the 27 chapters as " b e t t e r " than others, I feel obliged to mention those which, for various reasons I found particularly interesting. These were: Baker, Feely and Takahashi

324 on the topic of suspended particulate matter; Hein, Ross, Alexander and Yeh on mineralogy and diagenesis of surface sediments; Piper, Leong and Cannon on nodule and surface sediment composition; Sorem, Reinhart, Fewkes and McFarland on the occurrence and character of nodules; Von Stackelberg on the development of manganese nodules; and Marchig and Gundlad on changes in chemical composition of nodules. The printing in the b o o k is well set out, although the "camera r e a d y " technique invariably leaves some chapters looking neater than others. Text figures are usually good, though many tend to be rather small in size, and in a few instances their reproduction is poor. One of the worst offenders is Piper et al., who should have known better since he was one of the editors. One feature that other workers may praise the editors for is the microfiche appendix. This mine of information should be on every geological oceanographer's and geochemist's b o o k shelf, although I hope, unlike in my copy, the binding doesn't collapse before it reaches its owner. R. V. DINGLE (Rondebosch)

Moraines and Varves: Origin~Genesis~Classification. Ch. Schliichter (Editor). A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, 1979, 441 pp., Dfl. 85.00, U.S. $45.00. The first meeting of an INQUA Commission to be held in Switzerland was convened at Ziirich in September 1978. This meeting of the Commission on Genesis and Lithology of Quaternary Deposits has eventually led to this volume of 42 assorted papers. The scope of the study is quite wide and represents the deliberations of two working groups within the Commission: working group (1) on the genetic classification of tills and criteria for their differentiation, and (2) on glacio-lacustrine deposits, their genetic classification and methods of investigation. The papers are arranged in three main groups: geology and genesis of moraines (26 papers), varves and glaciolacustrine sedimentation (11 papers) and contributions related to the field excursions (5 items). The first group is subdivided into three sections: (a) valley glacier environment, (b) general aspects and lowland environments, and (c) progress reports. The geographical spread is wide, there are papers on glacial sediments in the Venezuelan Andes b y C. Schubert, morainic deposits in the Kashmir Himalayas by N. Ahmed, moraine forms in New Zealand b y T. H. C. Chinn, rock glacier morainic deposits in the Pyrenees b y D. Serrat and moraines at Macgillycuddy's Reeks by W. P. Warren;and many more. In his introduction the editor, Ch. Schli~chter, makes a valid point about the definition of the term " m o r a i n e " which should be noted. It is used as a translation of the German term "Moraine" (or French "moraine") and this m a y cause confusion as Mor~ne has three distinct meanings (in a genetic,