Journal of Petrology | Volume 41 | Number 3 | Pages 475-476 | 2000
© Oxford University Press 2000
Atlas of Micromorphology of Mineral Alteration and Weathering
Universitetet i Oslo
Atlas of Micromorphology of Mineral Alteration and Weathering by Jean E. Delvigne. Canadian Mineralogist Special Publication 3. Mineralogical Association of Canada (in collaboration with ORSTOM, Paris), Ottawa, Ontario, 1999. 509 pp. ISBN 0921294433 (MAC), 2709914204 (ORSTOM). US$125 (US$100 to MAC members)
Those of us who do the sort of work with igneous rocks that demands we actively seek samples that are as close to the ‘when-it-came-out-of-the-volcano’ state as possible (except, perhaps, in the thermodynamic sense), need to be reminded, on occasion, that our work represents merely an end-member in the great spectrum of petrological and geochemical research into igneous rocks. For example, an igneous petrologist or geochemist might consider research into the weathering and alteration of igneous rocks as a kind of ‘posthumous’ study, whereas a soil scientist might describe the eruption and crystallization of magma as the birth of his or her starting material. The work of Jean Delvigne on the topic of mineral alteration and weathering forms a strong and essential bridge between the research of the petrologist and that of the soil scientist. He describes it simply as ‘the point at which rocks meet the environment’.
Delvigne’s lifetime of dedicated and meticulous work has been brilliantly encapsulated in this 494-page book, meticulously edited by Robert Martin. The overall typesetting and layout is colourful, imaginative and neat, and includes 600 colour photomicrographs, carefully selected from Delvigne’s collection of more than 10 000, which are clearly labelled and fully described. Like any good cook, Delvigne starts with the ‘ingredients’, in this case, virtually unaltered (mostly igneous) rocks, and methodically leads the reader through the various stages and degrees of alteration of their principal rock-forming minerals, using photographs, as well as colour and black-and-white illustrations combined with descriptive and explanatory text, until one arrives at the principal constituents of soil, no longer recognizable as ‘rock’. This is an easy (and colourful) transition for a petrologist to follow and understand, although necessarily backwards for a soil scientist. The rock-types (and hence rock-forming minerals) covered are extensive and diverse, including picrite, komatiite, basalt, gabbro, pyroxenite, amphibolite, granite, syenite, phonolite, charnockite and carbonatite, as well as additional minerals such as garnet, staurolite, titanite and perovskite. The most common rock types (basalt, pyroxenite, gabbro, granite) appear repeatedly throughout the book in progressively altered guises.
The book is divided into four main sections. The first, an introductory section, begins by outlining the general concepts involved in weathering processes, including a number of basic definitions, and the influence of kinetics, porosity and chemical dissolution on both petrography and geochemistry, as well as providing detailed instructions on how to sample a weathered profile (i.e. pristine bed-rock through to the resultant soil). The second section deals with the ‘patterns of weathering’, including clear descriptions of the degrees and patterns of weathering, as well as primary residues and secondary products. The third section covers ‘alteromorphs’ and includes a classification scheme that is summarized in colourful, diagrammatic form on the inside book covers for easy reference. The final section, where petrology turns into soil science, covers lithorelics, alterelics, nodules and pisoliths.
I would highly recommend this book to all libraries, to field geologists, environmental geologists, petrologists and soil scientists alike, and the quantity and quality of the book’s content make it excellent value for money.
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