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organization evolve? There is a rich interplay between the brittle elastic fracture caused by boundary
loads and thermal stresses, the viscoelastic creep and stress relaxation in the high-temperature grain
boundary glasses and supercooled melts, and the deeper multiphase flow regimes of the core region.
Only careful laboratory-based studies of each process can begin to produce the data sets required. In
addition, these studies must be coupled with a detailed materials characterization that is requisite for an
understanding of what is flowing and how it flows. Coupled work in crystallization kinetics will play an
integral role. Thus, our knowledge of the complex interacting Theologies of active flows or domes now
considerably lags behind our abilities to mimic numerically their motion. Although the present volume
does not include these data and numerical techniques, it is part of the preamble to such studies, and so
helps to set a physical context.
On balance, the volume is a good overview of field observations of lava flows and some approaches
to flow modelling, with a strong emphasis on flow morphology and its development. The range of
topics covered within this scope is fairly diverse and the topics complement each other well. The
University College London and Biddies, Ltd. have done a good job in producing the book, and have
used a quality paper stock that presents the numerous half-tones well. The format is 17-1 cm x 24-7 cm
and the black covers contain colour IR and TIMS images of the Kupianaha flow at Kilauea volcano,
Hawaii. Overall, the book is an attractive product. The volume is also a useful complement to the
related effort: IA VCEI Proceedings in Volcanology, Volume 2, Lavaflows and Domes: Emplacement
Mechanisms and Hazard Implications (J. H. Fink, Editor) Springer, Berlin (1990). The volcanologist
will want to acquire both, and should consider encouraging his or her institutional library to do
likewise.
M. P. Ryan
Using Geochemical Data: Evaluation, Presentation, Interpretation, by Hugh Rollinson. Longmans,
Harlow, 1993. 352 pp. £24.99 (PB).
About 3 years ago, after attending a meeting during which a bemusing plethora of geochemical
variation diagrams had been presented, I was complaining to a colleague that there was no single
source to which it was possible to refer for enlightenment on the rationale for some of the diagrams.
There appeared to be a need for a text on the subject, and at last this gap in the geoscience literature has
been filled most admirably by Hugh Rollinson's book. A thing that appealed to me at the outset is
Rollinson's insistence that geochemistry cannot be used in isolation and that any successful
geochemical investigation must be based upon a proper understanding of the geology of the area, a
concept sometimes overlooked by some of the more chemical of the geochemical fraternity.
The first chapter deals with geochemical processes and their geochemical signatures, and analytical
methods. For the beginner, there is a useful section on selecting appropriate analytical techniques, and
a cautionary section on potential sources of error. The following chapter, dealing with the statistical
analysis of geochemical data, handles such fundamentals as averages, correlation, regression, and
principal component analysis. The reader is treated sympathetically and, in this chapter, which could
be off-putting for the student, the terms are simply though thoroughly defined and statistical techniques
are well explained.
Chapter 3 deals with the use of major element data, mainly in igneous rocks, though with a relatively
brief section on sediments (arenites and mudrocks). Rock classifications are dealt with thoroughly
[total alkali vs. (TAS) classifications and derivatives; CIPW norms; An-Ab-Or classification; A-F-M
diagrams, etc.], and the methods of plotting data on classification and variation diagrams are explained
and interpreted. This is followed by a rigorous chapter on the use of trace element data that covers the
subjects of physical and geological controls on trace element distribution, the use of the rare earth
elements and spider diagrams (together with the author's preferences for the data sets to be used in
normalizing), enrichment-depletion diagrams, and the modelling of trace element distribution in
igneous rocks. Chapter 5 is concerned with the use of geochemical data, mainly on basalts and basaltic
andesites, to discriminate the tectonic setting in which they were erupted. Short sections deal with
discrimination diagrams for granitic rocks and clastic sediments.
The use of radiogenic (Pb, Sr, and Nd) and stable (O, H, C, and S) isotope data are explained in the
next two chapters, the subject cover ranging from the use of radiogenic isotopes in geochronology and
petrogenesis to the value of oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in fingerprinting hydrothermal solutions.
This is an eminently thorough and also user-friendly book. For example, the beginner will find, in the
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isotope geochemistry chapters, useful worked examples for a number of calculations for parameters
ranging from eNd values to oxygen isotope thermometry. I also like the fact that, having presented a full
menu of, for example, the techniques or variation diagrams that the novice may come upon in the
literature, Rollinson then gives firm guidance as to what he believes to be the best line to follow.
Perhaps we shall eventually arrive at a standard set of readily comparable geochemical diagrams, as
advocated by the late Nick Rock.
Although this book was originally intended as a guide to postgraduate students beginning a
geochemical project, it will be an invaluable reference source for geochemically oriented, final-year
undergraduates, and also for more specialized petrologists and chemists seeking information on
geochemical techniques and interpretation in the border zone between geology and chemistry. The text
is clear and accompanied by well-drafted diagrams. The book's relatively modest price will allow it to
reach the wide readership that it so richly deserves.
Barry Dawson