当前位置: X-MOL 学术Am. Mineral. › 论文详情
Our official English website, www.x-mol.net, welcomes your feedback! (Note: you will need to create a separate account there.)
Book Review
American Mineralogist ( IF 3.1 ) Pub Date : 2021-04-01 , DOI: 10.2138/am-2021-b10649
Eric J. Pyle 1
Affiliation  

Book Review: Earth Materials: Components of a Diverse Planet (2019) By Dexter Perkins, Kevin R. Henke, Adam C. Simon, Lance D. Yarbrough. CRC Press. ISBN 9780429197109, 556 pages. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429197109When reading the title, Earth Materials, there are immediate expectations raised that not only will mineralogy be discussed, but a discourse on petrology presented as well. There are relatively few texts available that meet both of these expectations. Mineralogy texts naturally concentrate on mineral chemistry, crystallography, and systematics, while most petrology texts emphasize igneous and metamorphic rocks, leaving sedimentary petrology to separate texts. With the broadening of interdisciplinary majors and degree tracks in geoscience or geoscience-related majors (i.e., engineering geology, environmental science), the need for concise, combined texts that appropriately represent the broad spectrum of Earth materials, and their contexts, has increased.Across the 16 chapters of Earth Materials: Components of a Diverse Planet, the basic concepts of mineralogy and all three major types of rocks are discussed, with the appropriate supporting concepts from chemistry and physics, all with relevant examples placed generally within a plate tectonic context. Many of these examples are among the world-class locations frequently used in Earth materials textbooks, but are not always among the most physically accessible in the world. This book departs from other mainstream texts by including not just minerals and rocks, but other materials that are fundamental to the development and fractionation of Earth materials, such as sediments, soils, and water. Of particular note is the section on engineering properties, which is almost never included in Earth materials texts, yet offers vital applications of the preceding content and an interesting launch point for more advanced study in engineering geology.The text starts in a fairly conventional manner with the composition of the Solar System and the Earth, and the necessary nucleosynthesis for the creation of elements within the periodic table. There is a standard progression through basic mineralogy, but the text in this section does not dwell on chemistry, mineral formulae, or deriving weight-percent composition of minerals. It offers only a brief description of mineral solid-solution series and ternary representations of composition, preliminary to later discussions of processes within the types of rocks themselves. What sets this text apart is the natural extension of this material into a very strong yet clearly presented section on mineral crystallography, which cannot help but to engage students. Multiple representations of mineral coordination, structure, and symmetry are presented in a logical sequence.What follows are sections of plutonic and volcanic rocks and related landforms, sediments and sedimentary rocks and strati-graphic principles, and metamorphic rocks, all with a relatively light touch of chemistry and a heavy dose of physical processes, textures, and resultant features.Fractionation as a process is discussed in a somewhat variable manner across these sections, being more strongly represented with igneous rocks, implicit in sediment texture development, and diminished with metamorphic rocks. The chapter on metamorphism seems overly brief, beginning first with texture development and then facies types and their representations through mineral reactions. Simplified phase diagrams are used, but these are focused on prograde processes. Unlike other sections, the metamorphic chapter has little in the way of tectonic setting representations.Weathering is presented in a chapter separate from sedimentary rocks and processes, with a focus on how material is broken up rather than how it is distributed. Once again, chemistry is discussed in general terms, with an emphasis on the mineral antecedents and outcomes and less on the processes and reactions of chemical weathering in and of themselves. That said, the second focus in this section, on soil formation and distribution, is a vital connection between the geosphere, the hydrosphere, and the atmosphere. The text concludes with a fairly conventional yet detailed and contemporary discussion of economic and energy resources, with some concern for the environmental consequences of their exploitation. Human history with mineral exploitation is discussed, providing some context for students that may be pursuing a non-bedrock geology degree track. There is a substantial section on nuclear energy and the consequences of its use, as well. The final part, the aforementioned engineering section, offers a means of tying many previous components together into a much more specialized study. Appropriate quantitative modeling techniques are introduced, ready for use in more advanced courses.The text is written in plain language at the appropriate level of conversational tone. It is never intimidating nor turgid and tends to draw the reader along quite handily. There are voluminous illustrations and diagrams throughout the text, the majority of which are clear and representative. Some of the illustrations, however, lack a clear scale that would aid students new to the material, and several schematic diagrams are simplified to the point of distortion. That said, the graphics support the text and are not mere ornamentation.There remains the question of audience for this text. While it lacks sufficient depth in either mineralogy or petrology to be of use in conventional courses of either type, it would be of considerable value in courses that require both mineralogy and petrology, as well as related Earth processes. These courses could include an honors-level or advanced physical geology course, a pre-mineralogy or pre-petrology course, or a course for prospective teachers of science. While no specific laboratory exercises are provided, the vignettes at the beginning of each chapter would have utility in developing exercises for laboratory or online classes. The text would be of particular use to students majoring in environmental science, civil engineering, or engineering geology tracks, where the conventional year of mineralogy and petrology is both too much and not enough at the same time. Earth Materials fills a growing need as the geosciences, or the need for geoscience information, evolves into new curricula and more specialized programs.

中文翻译:

书评

书评:地球材料:多样化星球的组成部分(2019年),作者:德克斯特·珀金斯(Dexter Perkins),凯文·R·亨克(Kevin R.Henke),亚当·C·西蒙(Adam C.Simon),兰斯·D·雅布鲁(Lance D.Yarbrough)。CRC出版社。ISBN 9780429197109,556页。https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429197109在阅读《地球材料》一书时,人们立即提出了不仅要讨论矿物学的问题,而且还要提出有关岩石学的论述。满足这两个期望的文本相对较少。矿物学文本自然集中于矿物化学,晶体学和系统学方面,而大多数岩石学文本则强调火成岩和变质岩,而沉积岩石学则将其分开。随着地理科学或与地球科学相关的专业(即工程地质学,环境科学)的跨学科专业和学位课程的扩大,越来越需要简洁,综合的文本来恰当地代表地球材料的广泛范围及其背景。在《地球材料:不同行星的组成部分》,《矿物学的基本概念》和所有三种主要岩石类型的16章中,讨论了有关化学和物理学的适当支持概念,并对所有相关示例都放置在板块构造背景下进行了讨论。这些示例中有许多是地球材料教科书中经常使用的世界级位置,但并不总是世界上物理上最易访问的位置。本书与其他主流文献不同,它不仅包括矿物和岩石,还包括对地球物质的发展和分离至关重要的其他物质,例如沉积物,土壤和水。特别需要注意的是有关工程特性的部分,该部分几乎从未包含在地球材料教科书中,但却提供了先前内容的重要应用以及为更高级的工程地质学研究提供了有趣的起点。太阳系和地球的组成,以及在元素周期表中创建元素所需的核合成。基本矿物学有一个标准的发展过程,但是本节中的内容不涉及化学,矿物配方或推导矿物的重量百分比组成。它仅简要介绍矿物固溶体系列和组成的三元表示形式,为以后讨论岩石本身类型中的过程作了初步准备。使本书与众不同的是,该材料自然地延伸到了一个非常强大而又清晰呈现的矿物晶体学部分,这不得不引起学生的兴趣。矿物配位,结构和对称性的多种表示形式按逻辑顺序表示,其后为浅成岩和火山岩及其相关地貌,沉积物和沉积岩,地层学原理以及变质岩的部分,所有这些都相对较轻化学分馏和大量物理过程,质地以及所产生的特征。在这些部分中,分馏作为一个过程以某种变化的方式进行了讨论,其中以火成岩更为明显,隐含在沉积物质地发育中,而变质岩则有所减弱。 。关于变质的章节似乎过于简短,首先从质地发展开始,然后是矿物反应产生的相类型及其表示。使用了简化的相图,但是这些相图集中在升级过程上。与其他部分不同的是,变质章的构造背景描述很少。风化是在与沉积岩和沉积过程分开的一章中介绍的,重点是如何分解物质而不是如何分布。再次,我们将对化学进行一般性的讨论,重点是矿物的前因和结果,而不是化学风化的过程和反应。也就是说,本节的第二个重点是土壤的形成和分布,是地球圈,水圈和大气之间的重要纽带。本文以对经济和能源的相当常规而又详细的当代讨论作为结尾,其中有些关注其开采的环境后果。讨论了矿物开采的人类历史,为可能追求非基岩地质学位课程的学生提供了一些背景信息。关于核能及其使用的后果也有相当一部分。最后一部分,即前面提到的工程部分,提供了将许多以前的组件捆绑在一起进行更专门研究的方法。引入了适当的定量建模技术,可以在更高级的课程中使用。文本以简单的语言以适当的会话语调编写。它从不令人生畏或曲折,并且往往很方便地吸引读者。全文中有大量插图和图表,其中大多数清晰且具有代表性。但是,其中一些插图缺乏清晰的比例,无法帮助刚接触该材料的学生,并且一些示意图被简化到失真的程度。也就是说,图形支持文字而不只是装饰,这仍然是观众关注的问题。虽然它在矿物学或岩石学方面都缺乏足够的深度以至于无法在这两种类型的常规课程中使用,但在需要矿物学和岩石学以及相关地球过程的课程中将具有相当大的价值。这些课程可能包括荣誉级或高级自然地质学课程,矿物学前课程或岩石学前课程或面向准科学老师的课程。尽管没有提供具体的实验室练习,但每章开头的小插曲在开发实验室或在线课程练习时将很有用。该文本对环境科学,土木工程或工程地质专业的学生特别有用,因为传统的矿物学和岩石学学年在一起太多,但同时又不够。随着地球科学或对地球科学信息的需求演变成新的课程和更专业的计划,Earth Materials满足了日益增长的需求。常规的矿物学和岩石学年太多,但同时又不够。随着地球科学或对地球科学信息的需求演变成新的课程和更专业的计划,Earth Materials满足了日益增长的需求。常规的矿物学和岩石学年太多,但同时又不够。随着地球科学或对地球科学信息的需求演变成新的课程和更专业的计划,Earth Materials满足了日益增长的需求。
更新日期:2021-04-01
down
wechat
bug