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Soil components. I, organic components; II, inorganic components
446
COMPOSITION OF SOl LS John E. Gieseking (Editor), 1975. Soil Components. I, Organic Components; II, Inorganic Components. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg/New Y o r k , 534 £ 73.20 and 78.90.
and 684 pp., U.S.
The editor claims that these volumes complement and supplement existing texts on soil science. This is true in that the topics are discussed by appropriate workers in the various fields in far more detail and depth than are to be found elsewhere, saving articles in specialised review journals. The works tend to be uncritical and more descriptive of the 'state of the art'. It is unfortunate that these books t o o k so long to appear. Articles are well referenced but they cease in 1970 and f o u r of the authors in Vol. 2 are now deceased. In the case of the chapter on infrared spectroscopy in Vol. 2, a book of the same topic by one of the authors has since appeared. The cost of the books is very high, although on a page for page basis it is not much higher than other current scientific texts. They are thus unlikely to find their way onto many private owner's shelves. They will be of greater use to research workers as an introduction to the literature on various topics but will be limited by the early date at which the references stop. The books are well produced and there are few typographical errors. The most serious error was to be found in the reviewer's copy of Vol. 2 where pp. 245--252 and pp. 269--276 were out o f place.
Volume I: Organic Components There are eight chapters in the first vol'ume. A l m o s t half of this volume is take up by the first chapter which is devoted to the 'Chemical Composition and Physical Properties of Humic Substances'. It describes the large amount of w o r k that has been carried out on humic acid and various model substances produced by both chemical and microbiological processes. There is an amusing typographical error on one page where the running title is 'The Chemistry of Human S u b s t a n c e s ' . . . ! The second chapter on "Saccharides' gives
a brief account of polysaccharides added to the soil, the isolation and characterisation of soil polysaccharides and their effect on soil properties. There is a chapter on 'Nitrogenous Substances' which deals with the nitrogen compounds that can be obtained f r o m soils by simple extraction or by hydrolysis reactions. There are t w o chapters, one dealing with organic phosphorus compounds and the other w i t h organic sulphur compounds. Both of these chapters illustrate the absence of satisfactory methods for the determination of both of these important elements when in an organic f o r m . There is a rather long and tedious account of the 'Micromorphology of Soil Organic Matter as seen through thin sections in the light microscope'. There are about f i f t y plates, a few of which are in colour. Whilst there are extensive legends to the plates, it would have been helpful for those with an unpractised eye for the salient features to be marked on the plates themselves. The final chapter is by M.M. Kononova on the "Humus of Virgin and Cultivated Soils'. It is a catalogue of the C and N contents of different soil types w i t h an attempt to relate these parameters to the origin of the soil organic matter.
Volume I1: Inorganic Components There are seventeen chapters in this volume, each of which deals w i t h an inorganic component in some depth. Most of the chapters are about 20--40 pages in length and give a good account of their subjects. The three longest chapters deal w i t h 'Chlorites' (74 pp.), 'lnterstratified Clay and Minerals" (70 pp.) and 'The Characterization of Soil Minerals by Infrared Spectroscopy' (97 pp.) although about half of the latter chapter consists of a bibliography of spectra and references. It is recognised that chlorites generally f o r m only a small component of soils although a large component of parent rocks. The chapter on "lnterstratified Clay Minerals" outlines ways of interpreting X-ray oiffractograms of these complex systems which occur widely in the temperate and cold regions of the w o r l d . A good account is
447 given of their occurrences, f o r m a t i o n and transformations. Space does not permit a mention of all the chapters but that on 'Micas in Macroscopic Form' by Radoslovich gives a readable account of the w o r k leading up to and including his own w o r k on the fine structure of these materials. A description of the finegrained micas is given by Reichenbach and Rich. There are chapters dealing with smectites, kaolinites, vermiculites, feldspars, to name but a few more. The chapter on allophane is of consider* able interest because it gives points for the future studies on materials in soils which cannot be characterised by X-ray techniques. To this end the chapters on the infrared and thermal ( D T A and T G A ) techniques are useful and give adequate 'caveats' regarding their use. It is clear that in characterising soil components no one technique of examination is definitive although in the opinion of the reviewer X-ray diffraction is still the most generally useful. There are serious omissions f r o m Vol. 2, namely chapters on iron, aluminium and manganese oxides. A chapter on inorganic/ organic complexes could usefully have been included at the end to link both volumes. It is sad t o reflect that such a lot of e f f o r t has gone into the study o f soil components with such little return in both understanding and practical use of the results as applied to the soil itself. I feel that this c o m m e n t is particularly apposite to the w o r k described in Vol. 1. A.M. Posner, Nedlands, W.A.
THEORETICAL SEDIMENTOLOGY Schwarzacher, 1975. Sedimentation Models and Quantitative Stratigraphy. DeW.
velopments in Sedimentology, 19. Elsevier, Amsterdam, X 1 + 3 8 2 pp., U.S. $ 4 7 . 9 5 . According to the author, the use of mathematics is inevitable if one take a theoretical approach to problems of sedimentation and stratigraphy. Probability generating functions and Laplace transforms abound in some sections and these fall outside the
sphere of knowledge of a geologist with a mathematical background confined to calculus and elementary statistics. Nevertheless, the serious w o r k e r should be able to master the more mathematical parts with the assistance of one or more books on time series analysis and stochastic processes theory to which there are references in the text. Students of sedimentary rocks have had a long history of exposure to mathematical concepts as is apparent f r o m Krumbein and Pettijohn's manual published in 1938. As a group they have been more favourably inclined t o w a r d statistics than most other geologists. Perhaps the nature of sedimentary processes is such that it is easier to model them and stratigraphical facts may be more clear-cut. Surely Schwarzacher's book shows that geomathematics has made much progress in this particular field. The first chapters deal with sedimentary environments and time. Deterministic models are discussed in Chapter 3 but the stochastic approach is adopted in the remainder of the book. Many readers will appreciate the clear exposition of Kolmogorov's model of bed f o r m a t i o n in Chapter 4. Markov chains are the subject of Chapter 5. I agree that useful information can be contained in the eigenvectors of transition matrices. The next chapter is on renewal processes and semiMarkov processes of which Schwarzacher has pioneered the sedimentological applications. The gamma distribution emerges as a serious candidate for bed-thickness distributions. Autoregressive processes and correlograms are introduced in Chapter 7 complemented by the spectral approach in Chapter 8. Stratigraphic trends and data smoothing are discussed in Chapter 9. The cycloid is one of several tools used. This is the curve described by a point on a rolling wheel. Sedimentary cyclicity has always been a controversial subject. The author adopts a nicely balanced p o i n t of view in his t w o chapters on cycles. Chapter 12 is on stratigraphical correlation and Chapter 13 on some problems of three-dimensional stratigraphic analysis. One cannot fail to be impressed by the author's broad grasp of both mathematics and geology. The book is solidly founded in mathematical statistics and uses standard notation. There are a number of trifling
COMPOSITION OF SOl LS John E. Gieseking (Editor), 1975. Soil Components. I, Organic Components; II, Inorganic Components. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg/New Y o r k , 534 £ 73.20 and 78.90.
and 684 pp., U.S.
The editor claims that these volumes complement and supplement existing texts on soil science. This is true in that the topics are discussed by appropriate workers in the various fields in far more detail and depth than are to be found elsewhere, saving articles in specialised review journals. The works tend to be uncritical and more descriptive of the 'state of the art'. It is unfortunate that these books t o o k so long to appear. Articles are well referenced but they cease in 1970 and f o u r of the authors in Vol. 2 are now deceased. In the case of the chapter on infrared spectroscopy in Vol. 2, a book of the same topic by one of the authors has since appeared. The cost of the books is very high, although on a page for page basis it is not much higher than other current scientific texts. They are thus unlikely to find their way onto many private owner's shelves. They will be of greater use to research workers as an introduction to the literature on various topics but will be limited by the early date at which the references stop. The books are well produced and there are few typographical errors. The most serious error was to be found in the reviewer's copy of Vol. 2 where pp. 245--252 and pp. 269--276 were out o f place.
Volume I: Organic Components There are eight chapters in the first vol'ume. A l m o s t half of this volume is take up by the first chapter which is devoted to the 'Chemical Composition and Physical Properties of Humic Substances'. It describes the large amount of w o r k that has been carried out on humic acid and various model substances produced by both chemical and microbiological processes. There is an amusing typographical error on one page where the running title is 'The Chemistry of Human S u b s t a n c e s ' . . . ! The second chapter on "Saccharides' gives
a brief account of polysaccharides added to the soil, the isolation and characterisation of soil polysaccharides and their effect on soil properties. There is a chapter on 'Nitrogenous Substances' which deals with the nitrogen compounds that can be obtained f r o m soils by simple extraction or by hydrolysis reactions. There are t w o chapters, one dealing with organic phosphorus compounds and the other w i t h organic sulphur compounds. Both of these chapters illustrate the absence of satisfactory methods for the determination of both of these important elements when in an organic f o r m . There is a rather long and tedious account of the 'Micromorphology of Soil Organic Matter as seen through thin sections in the light microscope'. There are about f i f t y plates, a few of which are in colour. Whilst there are extensive legends to the plates, it would have been helpful for those with an unpractised eye for the salient features to be marked on the plates themselves. The final chapter is by M.M. Kononova on the "Humus of Virgin and Cultivated Soils'. It is a catalogue of the C and N contents of different soil types w i t h an attempt to relate these parameters to the origin of the soil organic matter.
Volume I1: Inorganic Components There are seventeen chapters in this volume, each of which deals w i t h an inorganic component in some depth. Most of the chapters are about 20--40 pages in length and give a good account of their subjects. The three longest chapters deal w i t h 'Chlorites' (74 pp.), 'lnterstratified Clay and Minerals" (70 pp.) and 'The Characterization of Soil Minerals by Infrared Spectroscopy' (97 pp.) although about half of the latter chapter consists of a bibliography of spectra and references. It is recognised that chlorites generally f o r m only a small component of soils although a large component of parent rocks. The chapter on "lnterstratified Clay Minerals" outlines ways of interpreting X-ray oiffractograms of these complex systems which occur widely in the temperate and cold regions of the w o r l d . A good account is
447 given of their occurrences, f o r m a t i o n and transformations. Space does not permit a mention of all the chapters but that on 'Micas in Macroscopic Form' by Radoslovich gives a readable account of the w o r k leading up to and including his own w o r k on the fine structure of these materials. A description of the finegrained micas is given by Reichenbach and Rich. There are chapters dealing with smectites, kaolinites, vermiculites, feldspars, to name but a few more. The chapter on allophane is of consider* able interest because it gives points for the future studies on materials in soils which cannot be characterised by X-ray techniques. To this end the chapters on the infrared and thermal ( D T A and T G A ) techniques are useful and give adequate 'caveats' regarding their use. It is clear that in characterising soil components no one technique of examination is definitive although in the opinion of the reviewer X-ray diffraction is still the most generally useful. There are serious omissions f r o m Vol. 2, namely chapters on iron, aluminium and manganese oxides. A chapter on inorganic/ organic complexes could usefully have been included at the end to link both volumes. It is sad t o reflect that such a lot of e f f o r t has gone into the study o f soil components with such little return in both understanding and practical use of the results as applied to the soil itself. I feel that this c o m m e n t is particularly apposite to the w o r k described in Vol. 1. A.M. Posner, Nedlands, W.A.
THEORETICAL SEDIMENTOLOGY Schwarzacher, 1975. Sedimentation Models and Quantitative Stratigraphy. DeW.
velopments in Sedimentology, 19. Elsevier, Amsterdam, X 1 + 3 8 2 pp., U.S. $ 4 7 . 9 5 . According to the author, the use of mathematics is inevitable if one take a theoretical approach to problems of sedimentation and stratigraphy. Probability generating functions and Laplace transforms abound in some sections and these fall outside the
sphere of knowledge of a geologist with a mathematical background confined to calculus and elementary statistics. Nevertheless, the serious w o r k e r should be able to master the more mathematical parts with the assistance of one or more books on time series analysis and stochastic processes theory to which there are references in the text. Students of sedimentary rocks have had a long history of exposure to mathematical concepts as is apparent f r o m Krumbein and Pettijohn's manual published in 1938. As a group they have been more favourably inclined t o w a r d statistics than most other geologists. Perhaps the nature of sedimentary processes is such that it is easier to model them and stratigraphical facts may be more clear-cut. Surely Schwarzacher's book shows that geomathematics has made much progress in this particular field. The first chapters deal with sedimentary environments and time. Deterministic models are discussed in Chapter 3 but the stochastic approach is adopted in the remainder of the book. Many readers will appreciate the clear exposition of Kolmogorov's model of bed f o r m a t i o n in Chapter 4. Markov chains are the subject of Chapter 5. I agree that useful information can be contained in the eigenvectors of transition matrices. The next chapter is on renewal processes and semiMarkov processes of which Schwarzacher has pioneered the sedimentological applications. The gamma distribution emerges as a serious candidate for bed-thickness distributions. Autoregressive processes and correlograms are introduced in Chapter 7 complemented by the spectral approach in Chapter 8. Stratigraphic trends and data smoothing are discussed in Chapter 9. The cycloid is one of several tools used. This is the curve described by a point on a rolling wheel. Sedimentary cyclicity has always been a controversial subject. The author adopts a nicely balanced p o i n t of view in his t w o chapters on cycles. Chapter 12 is on stratigraphical correlation and Chapter 13 on some problems of three-dimensional stratigraphic analysis. One cannot fail to be impressed by the author's broad grasp of both mathematics and geology. The book is solidly founded in mathematical statistics and uses standard notation. There are a number of trifling