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Rates of chemical weathering of rocks and minerals
Sedimentary Geology, 52 (1987) 309-317
309
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands B o o k Reviews
Rates of Chemical Weathering of Rocks and Minerals. Steven M. Colman and David P. Dethier (Editors). Academic Press, Orlando, Fla., 1986, xviii + 603 pp., US $95.00/£stg.79.00, ISBN 0-12-181480-4 (Hardback).
Rates of Chemical Weathering contains 23 chapters covering a wide range of field and laboratory experiments designed to investigate m a n y aspects of the process. A total of 23 chapters are divided into 5 sections following a brief introductory review of the range and scope of the book provided by the editors in Chapter 1. These sections include 4 chapters on the theme of kinetics and mechanisms of weathering reactions; 5 chapters on rates of mineral alteration in soil environments; 4 chapters on the weathering of volcanic ashes and deposits; 3 chapters on the rates of formation of rock weathering features and 6 chapters on hydrochemical studies of rates of weathering. With the exception of the introductory chapter the book contains original material rather than reviews of particular subject areas. The wide-ranging brief selected by the editors is to be commended in that it provides a balanced view of m a n y different processes, their mechanisms and rates of operation in addition to considering their relation to environmental conditions. These chapters also describe the application of both conventional and more modern field and laboratory techniques to the weathering problem such as SEM, XRD, T E M and the use of microseismicity detectors. Laboratory investigations under carefully controlled conditions remain an important area for weathering research and are exemplified by Grandstaff in Chapter 3 and Holdren and Speyer in Chapter 4. Field studies have examined sediments, soils and tephra layers, in association with various dating methods, in order to provide information on long term weathering rates. Nevertheless, the timescales covered in the volume are short from a geological point of view, covering periods of only 10 -3 (Laronne, Ch. 5) to 107 years (Nahon, Ch. 9). The book concludes with a series of chapters examining the contribution made to weathering studies by catchment research. The sources of water-bourne solutes and the general relationships they may have with the weathering environment and soil mineralogy are investigated. Velbel in Chapter 18 also derives a set of equations which may be used to calculate mineral weathering rates per unit area of catchment. Of necessity, certain aspects of chemical weathering are omitted, most notably carbonate and evaporite dissolution. As pointed out by the editors, however, the contributions were selected on the basis of personal communication in a restricted field. Absence of certain aspects of weathering should not be allowed to detract from the obvious worth of this book. It is perhaps most difficult to establish the market for which this book was initially conceived. Although most of the papers are at research or advanced 0037-0738/87/$03.50
© 1987 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.
310 undergraduate level its prohibitive cost would preclude all but the most affluent students of geochemistry to purchase individual copies. It also fails to adequately fulfill its role as a reference volume due to the lack of a well-organised index. Although the index spans 13 pages my attempts to find reference to pedogenic process, for example, met with reference to "glassy volcanic rock" and "mass loss" yet failed to highlight the chapter by Nahon on the evolution of iron crusts which is almost entirely devoted to the subject. Space does not permit further exemplification of this problem, but it is an issue which detracts from an otherwise excellent compendium of original weathering studies. IAN FOSTER (Coventv-y~
Microscopic to Macroscopic: Atomic Environments to Mineral Thermodynamics. S.W. Kieffer and A. Navrotsky (Editors). (Reviews in Mineralogy, 14) Mineralogical Society of America, 1985, x + 428 pp., US $13.00 (Paperback). This is the 14th in a series of volumes that are the result of short courses held by MSA prior to a major meeting; this one was just before the Spring 1985 meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Microscopic to Macroscopic represents a team effort to bring together the pertinent disciplines and methods to evaluate the relationship between minerals as crystalline structures of vibrating atoms and their microscopic properties as expressed in thermodynamic quantities such as heat capacity and Gibbs free energy. We are still a long way from being able to use the fundamental concepts of quantum mechanics and Schroedinger's equation to calculate, as the foreword suggests "what minerals exist under given conditions of pressure, temperature, and composition". However, steady progress is being made at relating theoretical and empirical aspects of atomic properties to the bigger picture and this volume is an important compendium of pertinent concepts. Consequently, this is a noble and valuable effort, though it really is not, as the series title would suggest, a review for most readers. Much of what is discussed is very new, many papers cited either just having been published or being in press at the time of writing. Moreover, much is and has to be left out including many aspects of the authors' own work, that are thus given as citations, and some explanations are too cryptic to be useful except to the acolyte. In general, the volume is condensed and very heavy reading, not the stuff for bedtime perusal unless you aim to fall asleep. However, good references are made to appropriate texts so that the volume should serve as a guide to the serious student or a review of fundamentals and progress for the already initiated. A valuable addition to each section is a series of "worked out" problems, which enable the reader to carry out analyses and calculations discussed in the text. The fundamental problem that is addressed in the volume is the evaluation of the potential energy of bonding in real, potentially disordered crystals and the kinetic
309
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - Printed in The Netherlands B o o k Reviews
Rates of Chemical Weathering of Rocks and Minerals. Steven M. Colman and David P. Dethier (Editors). Academic Press, Orlando, Fla., 1986, xviii + 603 pp., US $95.00/£stg.79.00, ISBN 0-12-181480-4 (Hardback).
Rates of Chemical Weathering contains 23 chapters covering a wide range of field and laboratory experiments designed to investigate m a n y aspects of the process. A total of 23 chapters are divided into 5 sections following a brief introductory review of the range and scope of the book provided by the editors in Chapter 1. These sections include 4 chapters on the theme of kinetics and mechanisms of weathering reactions; 5 chapters on rates of mineral alteration in soil environments; 4 chapters on the weathering of volcanic ashes and deposits; 3 chapters on the rates of formation of rock weathering features and 6 chapters on hydrochemical studies of rates of weathering. With the exception of the introductory chapter the book contains original material rather than reviews of particular subject areas. The wide-ranging brief selected by the editors is to be commended in that it provides a balanced view of m a n y different processes, their mechanisms and rates of operation in addition to considering their relation to environmental conditions. These chapters also describe the application of both conventional and more modern field and laboratory techniques to the weathering problem such as SEM, XRD, T E M and the use of microseismicity detectors. Laboratory investigations under carefully controlled conditions remain an important area for weathering research and are exemplified by Grandstaff in Chapter 3 and Holdren and Speyer in Chapter 4. Field studies have examined sediments, soils and tephra layers, in association with various dating methods, in order to provide information on long term weathering rates. Nevertheless, the timescales covered in the volume are short from a geological point of view, covering periods of only 10 -3 (Laronne, Ch. 5) to 107 years (Nahon, Ch. 9). The book concludes with a series of chapters examining the contribution made to weathering studies by catchment research. The sources of water-bourne solutes and the general relationships they may have with the weathering environment and soil mineralogy are investigated. Velbel in Chapter 18 also derives a set of equations which may be used to calculate mineral weathering rates per unit area of catchment. Of necessity, certain aspects of chemical weathering are omitted, most notably carbonate and evaporite dissolution. As pointed out by the editors, however, the contributions were selected on the basis of personal communication in a restricted field. Absence of certain aspects of weathering should not be allowed to detract from the obvious worth of this book. It is perhaps most difficult to establish the market for which this book was initially conceived. Although most of the papers are at research or advanced 0037-0738/87/$03.50
© 1987 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.
310 undergraduate level its prohibitive cost would preclude all but the most affluent students of geochemistry to purchase individual copies. It also fails to adequately fulfill its role as a reference volume due to the lack of a well-organised index. Although the index spans 13 pages my attempts to find reference to pedogenic process, for example, met with reference to "glassy volcanic rock" and "mass loss" yet failed to highlight the chapter by Nahon on the evolution of iron crusts which is almost entirely devoted to the subject. Space does not permit further exemplification of this problem, but it is an issue which detracts from an otherwise excellent compendium of original weathering studies. IAN FOSTER (Coventv-y~
Microscopic to Macroscopic: Atomic Environments to Mineral Thermodynamics. S.W. Kieffer and A. Navrotsky (Editors). (Reviews in Mineralogy, 14) Mineralogical Society of America, 1985, x + 428 pp., US $13.00 (Paperback). This is the 14th in a series of volumes that are the result of short courses held by MSA prior to a major meeting; this one was just before the Spring 1985 meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Microscopic to Macroscopic represents a team effort to bring together the pertinent disciplines and methods to evaluate the relationship between minerals as crystalline structures of vibrating atoms and their microscopic properties as expressed in thermodynamic quantities such as heat capacity and Gibbs free energy. We are still a long way from being able to use the fundamental concepts of quantum mechanics and Schroedinger's equation to calculate, as the foreword suggests "what minerals exist under given conditions of pressure, temperature, and composition". However, steady progress is being made at relating theoretical and empirical aspects of atomic properties to the bigger picture and this volume is an important compendium of pertinent concepts. Consequently, this is a noble and valuable effort, though it really is not, as the series title would suggest, a review for most readers. Much of what is discussed is very new, many papers cited either just having been published or being in press at the time of writing. Moreover, much is and has to be left out including many aspects of the authors' own work, that are thus given as citations, and some explanations are too cryptic to be useful except to the acolyte. In general, the volume is condensed and very heavy reading, not the stuff for bedtime perusal unless you aim to fall asleep. However, good references are made to appropriate texts so that the volume should serve as a guide to the serious student or a review of fundamentals and progress for the already initiated. A valuable addition to each section is a series of "worked out" problems, which enable the reader to carry out analyses and calculations discussed in the text. The fundamental problem that is addressed in the volume is the evaluation of the potential energy of bonding in real, potentially disordered crystals and the kinetic