Evaporites, petroleum and mineral resources

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Book Reviews

few minor typographical errors to distract the reader. The only organizational fault is a lack of a glossary of symbols. Overall, this is a truly good book that I can recommend to graduate students and researchers seriously interested in understanding rockfluid interactions and the patterns that result. At US $59.50, it is affordable to most people. However, 1 would also recommend that

the interested reader purchase at the same time Kinetics ofGeochemicul Processes, if only to insure a balanced view.

Evaporites, Petroleum and Mineral Resources edited by J. L. Melvin. Developments in Sedimentology 50, Elsevier, 1991, 556p., US $120.00 (ISBN 0-444-88680-X).

distracting. Much of the material covered in these first two chapters can also be found in SCHREIBER( 1988). “Depositional Environments of Non-Marine Evaporites” are covered by Joseph Smoot and Tim Lowenstein in Chapter 3. This is an extensive compilation of material not covered in any of the other books on evaporites and a topic difficult to find in the literature. There are numerous examples of modem and ancient non-marine evaporites and summary tables of occurrences. The extensive reference list compiled for this chapter is also a plus, and a necessity for anyone working on non-marine evaporites. The chapter is somewhat lengthy and overly detailed compared to others in the book. Robert Hite and Donald Anders discuss “Petroleum and Evaporites” in Chapter 4. An association between hydrocarbons and evaporites has been recognized for some time. However, the nature and details of this association have not been well documented. These authors present several organic geochemical analyses (mostly gas chromatographs) of hydrocarbons from evaporites and give what I would call a progress report on the topic. Although a great deal of progress has been made in the last decade, it is obvious that the relationships of petroleum and evaporites are far from being completely understood. Mineral resources associated with evaporites are covered in the final two chapters on “Halokinesis, Cap Rock Development, and Salt Dome Mineral Resources” by Richard Kyle and Harry Posey and “Evaporites, Evaporitic Processes and Mineral Resources” by Richard Kyle. The first article gives a review of salt-dome formation and structure, fluid migration patterns around salt domes, and salt dome mineral resources. The topic is covered well. The final chapter gives a much too brief overview of the complex problem of evaporitic processes and a broad and general survey of evaporite mineral resources.

Evaporites, Petroleum and Mineral Resources reflects the dramatic change in research on evaporites away from geochemistry toward a more sedimentologic approach, which has occurred during the last few decades. Older books on the origin of evaporites, such as those written by BORCHERTand MUIR( 1964) and BRAITSCH( 1971) , examined the origin of these deposits from a largely geochemical viewpoint. SONNENFELD ( 1984) also emphasized geochemical aspects of evaporites, while incorporating some sedimentological information. SCHREIBER ( 1988) edited a book which presented evaporite deposition from a predominantly sedimentologic view. The earlier works can be criticized for the one-sided geochemical treatment of evaporites and lack of sedimentologic and petrographic material. There have been significant developments recently in the sedimentologic aspects of evaporites and these are presented well in Evaporites, Petroleum and Mineral Resources. However, the pendulum may have swung too far, and I criticize the relative lack of geochemical treatment found here. Evaporites, Petroleum and Mineral Resources is a good book for information on sedimentologic and petrographic aspects of evaporites, and I recommend it to anyone working with evaporite sediments. However, it falls short of giving a well-balanced sedimentologic and geochemical perspective of the topic. This book is a collection of review articles which can be divided into two parts, the first on sedimentology and the second on resources. The first three chapters are focussed on the sedimentology of marine and nonmarine evaporites. The sedimentology is generally well presented; however, there is very little discussion of the geochemistry of evaporites. The last three chapters are devoted to petroleum and mineral resources in or associated with evaporites. A single introductory chapter could have eliminated much of the repetition found at the beginning of each chapter. The first chapter, “Marginal Marine Halite: Sabkhas and Salinas,” by C. Robertson Handford is an excellent compilation of the descriptive sedimentology of halite deposits. The clear and concise discussion of halite crystal fabrics and growth mechanisms stands out. The second chapter is written by John K. Warren and covers “Sulfate Dominated Sea-Marginal and Platform Evaporative Settings” (the word “Calcium” should precede the above). This chapter contains a good deal of information on depositional models for gypsum/anhydrite accumulation with numerous modem and ancient examples. It is overly lengthy, in stark contrast to Handford’s clear compact style, and I find the numerous discussions of the origin of dolomite

Allochthonous Terranes edited by J. F. Dewey, I. G. Gass, G. B. Curry, N. B. W. Harris, and A. M. C. Sengor. Cambridge University Press, 1991, 199 p., US $64.95 (ISBN o-521-40461-4). Allochthonous Terranes edited by J. F. Dewey et al. comprises twelve articles and a brief discussion based on talks and discussions at a meeting of the Royal Society of London held in November 1989. The volume includes a mixed suite of papers ranging from those presenting new and important data related to the terrane concept to those that read like expanded abstracts and present little if any data and a great deal of speculation. The first article by A. M. C. Sengor

Department of Oceanography Dalhousie University Halifa, NS B3H 4J1, Canada

Bernard P. Boudreau

REFERENCES BORCHERTH. and MUIR R. 0. ( 1964) Salt Deposits: The Origin, Metamorphism and Deformation of Evaporites. D. Van Nostrand co. BRAITSCH0. ( 197 1) Salt Deposits: Their Origin and Composition. Springer-Verlag. SCHREIBER B. C., ed. ( 1988) Evaporites and Hydrocarbons. Columbia Univ. Press. SONNENFELD P. ( 1984) Brines and Evaporites. Academic Press Inc. Department of Geology and Geophysics The University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta T2N IN4 Canada

Ronald J. Spencer

and J. F. Dewey on “terranology” challenges the terrane concept and shows by a review of the history of erogenic belts that the idea of terranes is not a new one. They suggest that words like “. . block, silver, and fragment are more informative than terrane, because the latter simply denotes a nondescript surface or expanse, and the former are not burdened by any previous geographic or stratigraphic connotation.” They conclude that terranology has no objective methodology not inherent in field and structural studies and that the terrane concept does not advance geological science, but tends to stagnate it, because once a piece of crust is classified as a terrane, one no longer questions and tests certain aspects of its evolution because