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The petrology of kimberlites
BOOK REVIEWS
309
The main value of Manten's work is in the detailed description of the reefs. It is nearly an inventory of the Gotland reef garden. Its weakness is in the organization and the rather old-fashioned approach. Many reef descriptions of the earlier chapters are repeated or supplemented in the stratigraphic chapter. With some editorial assistance this could easily have been avoided, much to the reader's convenience. Moreover it would have lead to a considerable reduction of the number of pages. The work hardly goes beyond reporting field observations. One wonders how it is possible to write over 500 pages on such a subject in 1971 without paying any attention to carbonate petrology. Again the chapter on palaeoecology fails to reflect the tremendous development of modern palaeoecological techniques. However, any geologist intending to visit the Gotland reefs will find Manten's b o o k a most useful guide. In view of the author's long familiarity with these reefs and his possibilities to produce such a voluminous work it remains a pity that we still have to wait for a more balanced monograph of this classic area. A. BROUWER (Leiden)
The Petrology of Kimberlites. E. V. Frantsesson. (Translated by D. A. Brown). Australian National University Press, Canberra, A.C.T., 1970, 194 pp., 69 fig., $ 4.00. This translation by Dr. D. A. Brown is a welcome addition to the Englishlanguage literature of a work dealing with a particular aspect of Russian geology. The current world-wide interest in kimberlites and resurgence of research work on these rocks will undoubtedly cause widespread interest in this work. Kimberlites are, of course, generally regarded as fairly direct derivatives from the earth's mantle and so the data in this book will be of considerable significance to anyone with interests in the nature of the mantle and the broad evolution of the earth. The treatment is a conventional approach, leading from the field setting of regions of kimberlitic volcanism on the Siberian platform to sections dealing with classification and petrography of kimberlites in general, and on to discussions of the petrochemistry and mineralogy of the Siberian examples. Phase chemistry interpretation of kimberlites and the evolution of kimberlitic magma form the subject matter of two chapters and the final chapter returns to a discussion of the position of kimberlites in the overall classification of igneous rocks. In the first chapter, dealing with the regional geology, there is a concise account of the regional geology of the pertinent areas of the Siberian platform. Geological maps in this section are certainly useful in following the text, but this reviewer found some difficulty in interpreting some of the maps. The inclusion of more detailed information on some maps, such as a scale and an index map, would have been most helpful.
Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 11 (1972) 303-310
310
BOOK REVIEWS
Chemical analyses of individual rock types are included in the section dealing with petrography and consequently there is little material left for discussion under the heading of petrochemistry, which is only four pages long, and the majority of it is taken up with diagrams. The section on mineralogy of kimberlites is stated to highlight particular problems and is limited to a discussion of the primary minerals. Nevertheless this turns out to be the longest chapter in the book, as it reviews information on diamond, moissanite, olivine, pyroxenes, chrome spinels, pyrope, phlogopite, ilmenite and magnetite. Particular attention is given to the magnetic and thermoelectric properties of the ilmenites. The discussion of mineral phase relations in kimberlites is discussed in the context of results of a large number of phase equilibrium studies. A minor criticism of this section is the apparently rather uncritical acceptance of some early phase equilibrium literature. Dr. Brown is to be congratulated on producing a very readable translation that is relatively free from typographical errors. Some of the reproductions of photomicrographs have obviously lost some of their clarity but on the whole are quite good for this type of reproduction. J. J. F A W C E T T (Toronto, Ont.)
Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., PalaeoecoL, 11 (1972)303-310
309
The main value of Manten's work is in the detailed description of the reefs. It is nearly an inventory of the Gotland reef garden. Its weakness is in the organization and the rather old-fashioned approach. Many reef descriptions of the earlier chapters are repeated or supplemented in the stratigraphic chapter. With some editorial assistance this could easily have been avoided, much to the reader's convenience. Moreover it would have lead to a considerable reduction of the number of pages. The work hardly goes beyond reporting field observations. One wonders how it is possible to write over 500 pages on such a subject in 1971 without paying any attention to carbonate petrology. Again the chapter on palaeoecology fails to reflect the tremendous development of modern palaeoecological techniques. However, any geologist intending to visit the Gotland reefs will find Manten's b o o k a most useful guide. In view of the author's long familiarity with these reefs and his possibilities to produce such a voluminous work it remains a pity that we still have to wait for a more balanced monograph of this classic area. A. BROUWER (Leiden)
The Petrology of Kimberlites. E. V. Frantsesson. (Translated by D. A. Brown). Australian National University Press, Canberra, A.C.T., 1970, 194 pp., 69 fig., $ 4.00. This translation by Dr. D. A. Brown is a welcome addition to the Englishlanguage literature of a work dealing with a particular aspect of Russian geology. The current world-wide interest in kimberlites and resurgence of research work on these rocks will undoubtedly cause widespread interest in this work. Kimberlites are, of course, generally regarded as fairly direct derivatives from the earth's mantle and so the data in this book will be of considerable significance to anyone with interests in the nature of the mantle and the broad evolution of the earth. The treatment is a conventional approach, leading from the field setting of regions of kimberlitic volcanism on the Siberian platform to sections dealing with classification and petrography of kimberlites in general, and on to discussions of the petrochemistry and mineralogy of the Siberian examples. Phase chemistry interpretation of kimberlites and the evolution of kimberlitic magma form the subject matter of two chapters and the final chapter returns to a discussion of the position of kimberlites in the overall classification of igneous rocks. In the first chapter, dealing with the regional geology, there is a concise account of the regional geology of the pertinent areas of the Siberian platform. Geological maps in this section are certainly useful in following the text, but this reviewer found some difficulty in interpreting some of the maps. The inclusion of more detailed information on some maps, such as a scale and an index map, would have been most helpful.
Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 11 (1972) 303-310
310
BOOK REVIEWS
Chemical analyses of individual rock types are included in the section dealing with petrography and consequently there is little material left for discussion under the heading of petrochemistry, which is only four pages long, and the majority of it is taken up with diagrams. The section on mineralogy of kimberlites is stated to highlight particular problems and is limited to a discussion of the primary minerals. Nevertheless this turns out to be the longest chapter in the book, as it reviews information on diamond, moissanite, olivine, pyroxenes, chrome spinels, pyrope, phlogopite, ilmenite and magnetite. Particular attention is given to the magnetic and thermoelectric properties of the ilmenites. The discussion of mineral phase relations in kimberlites is discussed in the context of results of a large number of phase equilibrium studies. A minor criticism of this section is the apparently rather uncritical acceptance of some early phase equilibrium literature. Dr. Brown is to be congratulated on producing a very readable translation that is relatively free from typographical errors. Some of the reproductions of photomicrographs have obviously lost some of their clarity but on the whole are quite good for this type of reproduction. J. J. F A W C E T T (Toronto, Ont.)
Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., PalaeoecoL, 11 (1972)303-310