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Volcanoes
Book reviews that the human impact of an eruption depends on how it affects the agricultural production rather than upon how much damage it inflicts on Rabaul town; that large-scale eruptions are not planned for, nor the rehabilitation period following an eruption. Chapters 6-8 construct three different eruption scenarios according to scale and wind direction (fundamental in damage distribution from falling ash) and realistically asssess the likely response to hypothetical eruptions. The final chapter considers implications of the study, focusing on issues such as: should Rabaul town be re-sited? To people living in areas remote from volcanism this seems an obvious solution, but is not easy to achieve. This book is a fascinating compilation of details pertinent to one particular volcanic-human problem. It does not make easy fluent reading throughout, but is to be recommended as an example of the type of project that perhaps should be repeated in many other volcanically endangered areas. The material is generally well presented and only odd niggles, such as missing pages of references, crop up here and there.
137
The book is very well expressed and makes easy and interesting reading. The author states in his Preface that it was written for secondary school and university students, but in my opinion, the level is more geared to primary school pupils who will find it easy to understand. Far too much of the book is a series of simplistic statements that are not followed by satisfactory explanation in such a way as to be attractive to a higher level of audience. The understanding of explosive volcanism has come a long way since the Mt St Helens eruption in 1980, and although the author has improved on his original text of 1969, he still has a long way to go before catching up on modern understanding of landform creation by this type of activity (which is extremely widespread all around the Pacific rim). The book is neat, tidy and well illustrated and well worth having on the bookshelf; but its value for understanding the origin of volcanic landforms is extremely limited. C. M. Clapperton
Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen
C. M. Clapperton
Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen
G. W. (ed.) Planning for groundwater proUSA Academic Press, 1987. 387 pp. f28.50 hardback. Page,
lection. Orlando:
Ollier, C. D. Volcanoes. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988. 228 pp. f35 hardback; f9.95 paperback. This book is a revised version of the text first published by Ollier in 1969 and apart from a little bit of reorganization maintains roughly the same structure and approach, with 13 chapters describing volcanic features and a degree of emphasis on Australasia. This is quite reasonable in view of the author’s personal knowledge of the region. The book begins with a chapter briefly describing some gory details of the well-known volcanic disasters of historical times, beginning with Vesuvius in AD 79. I would have expected some reference to the Mt St Helens event in 1980, since this was a milestone in understanding a great deal about volcanic eruptive activity and hazard assessment, and also of the 1985 Nevado de1 Ruiz (Colombia) disaster, but these are not mentioned. The following chapters provide what can only be described as ‘snippets’ of descriptive information in highly abbreviated sections, on volcanic features ranging from types of eruption to volcanic rocks. The information is presented more as a gazetteer of volcanic phenomena rather than an explanatory account of how anything actually happened. This is the main weakness of the book for anyone seeking explanation rather than description. It is a fine inventory for people compiling quiz programmes, but of little use for anyone wishing to understand exactly how and why various volcanic phenomena are formed.
The book addresses a very important topic of growing worldwide importance. It is easy to read and is intended for planners or those not directly involved in the scientific or technological aspects of groundwater in that it is non-quantitative. The book deals clearly with the principles of aquifer protection in 14 chapters arranged in a coordinated sequence. In the first chapter the hydrogeological features relating to pollution are briefly reviewed and some of the potential pollutants listed. In Chapter 2 legislation governing groundwater protection in the US is discussed. While the US strategy is instructive, it is unfortunate that differing strategies in other countries are not considered. Chapters 3 and 4 deal superficially with drinking water and health and the removal of contaminants from water. Aquifer clean-up or in-ground denitrification are not discussed. Chapter -5 provides an interesting insight into the US approach to local aquifer protection. Emphasis is upon the methodology using the national data base but this does not detract from the principles postulated, which provide a good planning basis for any country. The application of the principles is illustrated in Chapters 6 to 13 through a series of interesting case studies. The most comprehensive of these is from Long Island, where a very detailed hydrogeological knowledge provides a sound basis for protection and the monitoring of any potential urban pollution. Urban-industrial pollution of drinking water is also addressed in the case study for Dade County,
137
The book is very well expressed and makes easy and interesting reading. The author states in his Preface that it was written for secondary school and university students, but in my opinion, the level is more geared to primary school pupils who will find it easy to understand. Far too much of the book is a series of simplistic statements that are not followed by satisfactory explanation in such a way as to be attractive to a higher level of audience. The understanding of explosive volcanism has come a long way since the Mt St Helens eruption in 1980, and although the author has improved on his original text of 1969, he still has a long way to go before catching up on modern understanding of landform creation by this type of activity (which is extremely widespread all around the Pacific rim). The book is neat, tidy and well illustrated and well worth having on the bookshelf; but its value for understanding the origin of volcanic landforms is extremely limited. C. M. Clapperton
Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen
C. M. Clapperton
Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen
G. W. (ed.) Planning for groundwater proUSA Academic Press, 1987. 387 pp. f28.50 hardback. Page,
lection. Orlando:
Ollier, C. D. Volcanoes. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988. 228 pp. f35 hardback; f9.95 paperback. This book is a revised version of the text first published by Ollier in 1969 and apart from a little bit of reorganization maintains roughly the same structure and approach, with 13 chapters describing volcanic features and a degree of emphasis on Australasia. This is quite reasonable in view of the author’s personal knowledge of the region. The book begins with a chapter briefly describing some gory details of the well-known volcanic disasters of historical times, beginning with Vesuvius in AD 79. I would have expected some reference to the Mt St Helens event in 1980, since this was a milestone in understanding a great deal about volcanic eruptive activity and hazard assessment, and also of the 1985 Nevado de1 Ruiz (Colombia) disaster, but these are not mentioned. The following chapters provide what can only be described as ‘snippets’ of descriptive information in highly abbreviated sections, on volcanic features ranging from types of eruption to volcanic rocks. The information is presented more as a gazetteer of volcanic phenomena rather than an explanatory account of how anything actually happened. This is the main weakness of the book for anyone seeking explanation rather than description. It is a fine inventory for people compiling quiz programmes, but of little use for anyone wishing to understand exactly how and why various volcanic phenomena are formed.
The book addresses a very important topic of growing worldwide importance. It is easy to read and is intended for planners or those not directly involved in the scientific or technological aspects of groundwater in that it is non-quantitative. The book deals clearly with the principles of aquifer protection in 14 chapters arranged in a coordinated sequence. In the first chapter the hydrogeological features relating to pollution are briefly reviewed and some of the potential pollutants listed. In Chapter 2 legislation governing groundwater protection in the US is discussed. While the US strategy is instructive, it is unfortunate that differing strategies in other countries are not considered. Chapters 3 and 4 deal superficially with drinking water and health and the removal of contaminants from water. Aquifer clean-up or in-ground denitrification are not discussed. Chapter -5 provides an interesting insight into the US approach to local aquifer protection. Emphasis is upon the methodology using the national data base but this does not detract from the principles postulated, which provide a good planning basis for any country. The application of the principles is illustrated in Chapters 6 to 13 through a series of interesting case studies. The most comprehensive of these is from Long Island, where a very detailed hydrogeological knowledge provides a sound basis for protection and the monitoring of any potential urban pollution. Urban-industrial pollution of drinking water is also addressed in the case study for Dade County,