Special emphasis is given to the constitutive behaviour of rock material, including rock mechanics and partial saturation, chemo-mechanics, thermo-hydro-mechanics, weathering and creep. Theoretical concepts, laboratory and field experiments and numerical simulations are discussed. Multiphysics coupling and long-term behaviour has practical applications in a number of areas. In oil engineering (enhanced oil recovery, CO2 injection, and well stability); in underground waste storage, post-mine behaviour and the long-term behaviour of railway and road infrastructures. This book will be useful to professionals and academics working in a variety of fields related to rock mechanics and environmental geotechnics. .

High pressure mineral physics is a field that has shaped our understanding of deep planetary interiors and revealed new material phenomena occurring at extreme conditions. Comprised of sixteen chapters written by well-established experts, this book covers recent advances in static and dynamic compression techniques and enhanced diagnostic capabilities, including synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction, spectroscopic measurements, in situ X-ray diffraction under dynamic loading, and multigrain crystallography at megabar pressures. Applications range from measuring equations of state, elasticity, and deformation of materials at high pressure, to high pressure synthesis, thermochemistry of high pressure phases, and new molecular compounds and superconductivity under extreme conditions. This book also introduces experimental geochemistry in the laser-heated diamond-anvil cell enabled by the focused ion beam technique for sample recovery and quantitative chemical analysis at submicron scale. Each chapter ends with an insightful perspective of future directions, making it an invaluable source for graduate students and researchers.

As in the original edition of 1988, this book covers the principles and practice of argon isotopic dating, a technique that has been used to determine the numerical age of the Earth. The greater precision of the 40Ar/39Ar method allows scientists to test smaller geological samples than its precursor, the K-Ar method, which required a comparison of different elements. The new edition will incorporate new developments made in 40Ar/39Ar application over the last decade, made possible by advances in lasers and mass spectrometry.

This book is an illustrative introduction to metamorphic rocks as seen in the field, designed for advanced high school to graduate-level earth science and geology students to jump-start their observational skills. In addition to photographs of rocks in the field, there are numerous line diagrams and examples of metamorphic features shown in thin section. The thin section photos are all at a scale and in a context that can be related to views seen in the field through a hand lens.

Table of Contents

Preface

About the author

Acknowledgements

A matter of scale

1 Introduction

The basics

Pressure, temperature, and metamorphic grade

Movement of rocks through P-T space

Preserving the prograde assemblage

Metamorphic field gradient

Rock strain: foliation and lineation

Chemical flux

Recrystallization

Summary and introduction to the following chapters

Part 1: Metamorphic rock types

2 Pelitic rocks

3 Quartzites

4 Marbles

5 Calc-silicate rocks

6 Mixed sedimentary rocks

7 Conglomerates and breccias

8 Gneisses

9 Basaltic rocks, low and intermediate pressure

10 Blueschists

11 Eclogites

12 Ultramafic rocks

13 Contact metamorphic rocks

14 Rocks in fault zones

Part 2: Metamorphic features

15 Foliation, cleavage, lineation

16 Folds

17 Porphyroblasts, porphyroclasts, and augen

18 Boudins

19 Veins and hydrothermal alteration

20 Metasomatism

21 Partial melting and migmatites

22 Retrograde metamorphism

Part 3: Relict pre-metamorphic features

23 Relict sedimentary features

24 Fossils in metamorphic rocks

25 Relict igneous features

References

Glossary of terms, rock types, and minerals

Glossary of terms

Glossary of rock types

Glossary of minerals

Index

This second edition is fully updated to include new developments in the study of metamorphism as well as enhanced features to facilitate course teaching. It integrates a systematic account of the mineralogical changes accompanying metamorphism of the major rock types with discussion of the conditions and settings in which they formed. The use of textures to understand metamorphic history and links to rock deformation are also explored. Specific chapters are devoted to rates and timescales of metamorphism and to the tectonic settings in which metamorphic belts develop. These provide a strong connection to other parts of the geology curriculum. Key thermodynamic and chemical concepts are introduced through examples which demonstrate their application and relevance. Richly illustrated in colour and featuring end-of-chapter and online exercises, this textbook is a comprehensive introduction to metamorphic rocks and processes for undergraduate students of petrology, and provides a solid basis for advanced study and research.

Igneous and metamorphic petrology has over the last twenty years expanded rapidly into a broad, multifaceted and increasingly quantitative science. Advances in geochemistry, geochronology, and geophysics, as well as the appearance of new analytical tools, have all contributed to new ways of thinking about the origin and evolution of magmas, and the processes driving metamorphism.

This book is designed to give students a balanced and comprehensive coverage of these new advances, as well as a firm grounding in the classical aspects of igneous and metamorphic petrology. The emphasis throughout is on the processes controlling petrogenesis, but care is taken to present the important descriptive information so crucial to interpretation.
One of the most up-to-date synthesis of igneous and metamorphic petrology available.
Emphasis throughout on latest experimental and field data.
Igneous and metamorphic sections can be used independently if necessary.

Microscopic organic-walled fossils are found in most sedimentary rocks. The organic particles - spores, pollens and other land and marine derived microfossils, representing animals, plants, fungi and protists - can be extracted and used to date the rock, reveal details of the original sedimentary environment and provide information on the climate of the time. The mix within a sediment of whole organic particles - palynomorphs - and organic fragments - palynodebris - form palynofacies. This book presents research work on the sedimentation of components of palynofacies and details their importance for sequence stratigraphy and the interpretation of ancient biologic and geologic environments. A comprehensive introduction to the subject is presented in the first chapter. Palynosedimentation in modern environments, the reconstruction of terrestrial vegetation and the application of the data to sequence stratigraphy are then considered. Later chapters detail various quantitative methods and their specific applications in the subject. This is a valuable reference work for palynologists and sedimentologists and also for paleobiologists, and for professionals working in the hydrocarbons industries.

Large igneous provinces (LIPs) are intraplate magmatic events, involving volumes of mainly mafic magma upwards of 100,000 km3, and often above 1 million km3. They are linked to continental break-up, global environmental catastrophes, regional uplift and a variety of ore deposit types. In this up-to-date, fascinating book, leading expert Richard E. Ernst explores all aspects of LIPs, beginning by introducing their definition and essential characteristics. Topics covered include continental and oceanic LIPs; their origins, structures, and geochemistry; geological and environmental effects; association with silicic, carbonatite and kimberlite magmatism; and analogues of LIPs in the Archean, and on other planets. The book concludes with an assessment of LIPs' influence on natural resources such as mineral deposits, petroleum and aquifers. This is a one-stop resource for researchers and graduate students in a wide range of disciplines, including tectonics, igneous petrology, geochemistry, geophysics, Earth history, and planetary geology, and for mining industry professionals.

Lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites are important resources for rare metals. For Cs, only the LCT pegmatites with the zeolite group mineral pollucite at Bikita (Zimbabwe Craton) and Tanco (Superior Province Craton) are of commercial importance. Common characteristics of world-class LCT pegmatite deposits include their Meso- to Neoarchean age and geological setting within greenstone belt lithologies on Archean Cratons. This study presents the first coherent and comparative scientific investigation of five major LCT pegmatite systems from the Yilgarn, Pilbara and Zimbabwe Craton. For the evaluation of their Cs potential and of the genetic concepts of pollucite formation, the pegmatites from Wodgina, Londonderry, Mount Deans and Cattlin Creek were compared to the Bikita pollucite mineralization.  The integration of the new data (e.g., geochronological and radiogenic isotope data) into the complex geological framework: 1) enhances our knowledge of the formation of LCT pegmatite systems, and 2) will contribute to the further exploration of additional world-class LCT pegmatite deposits, which 3) may host massive pollucite mineralisations. 

The basis of this investigation is the petrographic and geochemical understanding of principal igneous rock types of the Noril’sk region, in order to demonstrate that these data provide unique and self-evident solutions to the problems of petrogenesis and mineralization. The results of the investigations are presented in two volumes: the first includes mainly text and the second contains illustrations. In the first volume, the state of the main problems of the genesis of igneous rocks with reference to Traps and related ore deposits is discussed, as well as short petrological descriptions of igneous complexes in the region, the mineral and geochemical diversity of the rocks, and aspects of the differentiation of basaltic melts and mineralization are described. Taking into account the vast number of publications on the petrology of Traps of the Noril’sk region, primary attention in the monograph is given to earlier unknown phenomena, as well as other aspects that are of great importance for solving genetic problems. Some exotic geologic targets such as the Mikchandinsky differentiated cover, the magnetite lava flow of the Putorana Plateau, the magmatogenic breccia of Kharaelakh and others are described in detail. The second volume contains an atlas of Rock Indications of igneous rock-types; formally identified reference rocks from all igneous complexes of the region, as well as photographs of thin sections of typical rocks and analytical tables of rocks and minerals from the key sections of sedimentary units and intrusions. Each rock type has been geochemically and petrographically analysed thereby providing a formal identity, complete with a photograph of the thin section. Photomicrographs of the rocks in this book will be a useful aid in visualizing the diversity of rock types in the Traps; each photograph reflecting a unique combination of minerals.

Originally published in 1929, this book contains an overview of the conditions that have controlled the distribution of various sedimentary deposits. Marr covers topics such as marine deposits and the use of fossils for purposes of correlation. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in physical geography and the history of geology.

Large igneous provinces (LIPs) are intraplate magmatic events, involving volumes of mainly mafic magma upwards of 100,000 km3, and often above 1 million km3. They are linked to continental break-up, global environmental catastrophes, regional uplift and a variety of ore deposit types. In this up-to-date, fascinating book, leading expert Richard E. Ernst explores all aspects of LIPs, beginning by introducing their definition and essential characteristics. Topics covered include continental and oceanic LIPs; their origins, structures, and geochemistry; geological and environmental effects; association with silicic, carbonatite and kimberlite magmatism; and analogues of LIPs in the Archean, and on other planets. The book concludes with an assessment of LIPs' influence on natural resources such as mineral deposits, petroleum and aquifers. This is a one-stop resource for researchers and graduate students in a wide range of disciplines, including tectonics, igneous petrology, geochemistry, geophysics, Earth history, and planetary geology, and for mining industry professionals.

The definitive guide to rocks and minerals, completely updated for the fifth edition, includes 385 color photographs showing rocks, minerals, and geologic formations. Hundreds of minerals are described, with details such as geographic formations. Hundreds of minerals are described, with details such as geographic distribution, physical properties, chemical composition, and crystalline structures.

This book reviews the geochemical and petrological characteristics of potassic igneous rock complexes, and investigates the different tectonic settings in which these rocks occur. The authors provide an overview and classification of these rocks and elucidate the geochemical differences between barren and mineralized potassic igneous complexes. High-K rocks host a number of epithermal gold and porphyry copper-gold deposits. In recent years, there has also been growing recognition of an association of such rocks with iron-oxide copper-gold (IOCG) deposits, intrusion-related gold deposits (IRGDs) and possibly even Carlin-type gold deposits. This book is not only relevant to academic petrologists working on alkaline rocks, but also to exploration geologists prospecting for epithermal gold and/or porphyry copper-gold deposits in modern and ancient terrains. This fourth, updated and expanded edition incorporates new data and references from Africa, Australia, Brazil, China, Greece, Iran, Mongolia, North America, Russia and Turkey, including new maps and sections and new color plates of high-grade gold-copper ore from major deposits hosted by potassic igneous rocks.

Thermochronology, the study of the thermal history of rocks, enables us to quantify the nature and timing of tectonic processes. First published in 2006, Quantitative Thermochronology is a robust review of isotopic ages, and presents a range of numerical modeling techniques to allow the physical implications of isotopic age data to be explored. The authors provide analytical, semi-analytical and numerical solutions to the heat transfer equation in a range of tectonic settings and under varying boundary conditions. They then illustrate their modeling approach built around a large number of case studies. The benefits of different thermochronological techniques are also described. Computer programs on an accompanying website at www.cambridge.org/9781107407152 are introduced through the text and provide a means of solving the heat transport equation in the deforming Earth to predict the ages of rocks and compare them directly to geological and geochronological data. Several short tutorials, with hints and solutions, are also included.

The interpretation of geophysical data in exploration geophysics, well logging, engineering, mining and environmental geophysics requires knowledge of the physical properties of rocks and their correlations. Physical properties are a "key" for combined interpretation techniques. The study of rock physics provides an interdisciplinary treatment of physical properties, whether related to geophysical, geotechnical, hydrological or geological methodology. Physical Properties of Rocks, 2nd Edition, describes the physical fundamentals of rock properties, based on typical experimental results and relevant theories and models. It provides readers with all relevant rock properties and their interrelationships in one concise volume. Furthermore, it guides the reader through experimental and theoretical knowledge in order to handle models and theories in practice. Throughout the book the author focuses on the problems of applied geophysics with respect to exploration and the expanding field of applications in engineering and mining geophysics, geotechnics, hydrology and environmental problems, and the properties under the conditions of the upper Earth crust.

Originally published during the early part of the twentieth century, the Cambridge Manuals of Science and Literature were designed to provide concise introductions to a broad range of topics. They were written by experts for the general reader and combined a comprehensive approach to knowledge with an emphasis on accessibility. This volume contains the 1922 second edition of Grenville A. J. Cole's Rocks and their Origins, first published in 1912. Intended for non-specialists, the book offers six concise chapters on various rock types, their characteristics, and their formation.

This book was first published in 1973. Its authors, David Krinsley and John Doornkamp, have here compiled a comprehensive catalogue of the many presences and absences found within the characteristics of different types of quartz grain sand. Their study was originally designed to fill those gaps which existed in the field of quartz grain surface texture research at the time. The focal point of Krinsley and Doornkamp's work is found in its numerous micrographs, selected specifically for their ability to demonstrate the many variations in the surface textures of quartz grain sand. Although much progress has been made in this field since the book's publication, it will still be of great interest to all researchers with an interest in this topic. The four-page bibliography provided by the authors also makes this book a useful reference point for all scholars wishing to explore the history and development of this fascinating discipline.

The papers within these volumes were compiled between late 1978 and early 1980, from data on tillites and tillite-like rocks. The research was conducted for the Pre-Pleistocene Tillite Project of the International Geological Correlation Programme, and was first published in volume form in 1981. In this substantial work, M. J. Hambrey and W. B. Harland have assembled essays by leaders in the field of pre-Pleistocene glacial research. The work's various chapters review in depth the glacial records of Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australasia, Europe, and North and South America. The second volume concludes with a fascinating editorial overview of the pre-Pleistocene glacial record of the Earth as a whole. The reader is also presented with a collection of readily accessible statistics, maps and charts. This set will be of particular use to scholars of sedimentology, paleoclimatic patterns, climate change and ice ages, and the time-correlation of rocks.

Alfred Harker (1859 1939) was a prominent petrologist who spent his career at St John's College, Cambridge, lecturing on and researching rock formations and related geological activity. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1902, and was president of the Geological Society from 1916 to 1918. He used his Cambridge lectures as the foundation for this book (first published in 1909), offering an introduction to the development of rocks and related volcanic activity. With more than one hundred diagrams of various aspects of geological formations, this work also provides a visual guide to the location and formation of igneous rocks. Over the course of the work, he covers the themes of vulcanicity, rock structure, crystallization, the role of magma and the principles of rock classification, giving a broad picture of the field of petrology around the beginning of the twentieth century.

Following their recognition by GUmbel (1874), lamprophyres were treated for an entire century as little more than obscure curiosities. Although this situation has changed recently, with a flowering of publications and active workers, lamprophyres remain almost the only group of igneous rocks which have not yet received attention in a dedicated monograph. In five exploratory reviews (1977-1987), the writer aimed to set out what was known about these rocks. The lUGS Subcommission on igneous rock systematics had meanwhile presented its nomenclatural framework (Streckeisen 1979). All this has now been overtaken by a recent explosion of interest, epitomized not least by lamprophyres' greater prominence in the 4th International Kimberlite Conference Proceedings. More data have become available since 1985 than over the entire previous century, and it is obviously impossible for such an extraordinary outpouring to be fully reviewed in this first, preliminary book. At the risk of dissatisfying some readers, therefore, this book concentrates on factual matters, and on a broad overview rather than minutiae. Because not even a world map of known lamprophyres was previously available, almost half the book is deliberately taken up by the first global lamprophyre compilation, and its commensurately extensive Bibliography. Such a compendium of largely objective information is believed to be of more immediate interest and lasting value than a premature pottage of petrogenetic polemic. Chapters 1-7 bring previous studies up to date, and concentrate on factual information.

Following their recognition by Gumbel (1874), lamprophyres were treated for an entire century as little more than obscure curiosities. Although this situation has changed recently, with a flowering of publications and active workers, lamprophyres remain almost the only group of igneous rocks which have not yet received attention in a dedicated monograph. In five exploratory reviews (1977-1987), the writer aimed to set out what was known about these rocks. The lUGS Subcommission on igneous rock systematics had meanwhile presented its nomenclatural framework (Streckeisen 1979). All this has now been overtaken by a recent explosion of interest, epitomized not least by lamprophyres' greater prominence in the 4th International Kimberlite Conference Proceedings. More data have become available since 1985 than over the entire previous century, and it is obviously impossible for such an extraordinary outpouring to be fully reviewed in this first, preliminary book. At the risk of dissatisfying some readers, therefore, this book concentrates on factual matters, and on a broad overview rather than minutiae. Because not even a world map of known lamprophyres was previously available, almost half the book is deliberately taken up by the first global lamprophyre compilation, and its commensurately extensive Bibliography. Such a compendium of largely objective information is believed to be of more immediate interest and lasting value than a premature pottage of petrogenetic polemic. Chapters 1-7 bring previous studies up to date, and concentrate on factual information.

Igneous petrology was to some extent essentially a descriptive sci ence until about 1960. The results were mainly obtained from field work, major element analyses, and microscopical studies. During the 1960's two simultaneous developments took place, plate tectonics became generally accepted, and the generation of magmas could now be related to the geodynamic features like convection cells and subduction zones. The other new feature was the development of new analytical apparatus which allowed high accuracy analyses of trace elements and isotopes. In addition it became possible to do ex perimental studies at pressures up to 100 kbar. During the 1970's a large amount of analytical data was obtained and it became evident that the igneous processes that control the compositions of magmas are not that simple to determine. The composition of a magma is controlled by the compositions of its source, the degree of partial melting, and the degree of fractionation. In order to understand the significance of these various processes the relationship between the physical processes and their geochemical consequences should be known. Presently there are several theories that attempt to explain the origin of the various magma types, and these theories can only be evaluated by turning the different ideas into quantitative models. We will so to speak have to do some book keeping for the various theories in order to see which ones are valid. the present book is intended as an introduction to the more fun damental aspects of quantitative igneous petrology."

This textbook is a complete rewrite, and expansion of Hugh Rollinson's highly successful 1993 book Using Geochemical Data: Evaluation, Presentation, Interpretation. Rollinson and Pease's new book covers the explosion in geochemical thinking over the past three decades, as new instruments and techniques have come online. It provides a comprehensive overview of how modern geochemical data are used in the understanding of geological and petrological processes. It covers major element, trace element, and radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry. It explains the potential of many geochemical techniques, provides examples of their application, and emphasizes how to interpret the resulting data. Additional topics covered include the critical statistical analysis of geochemical data, current geochemical techniques, effective display of geochemical data, and the application of data in problem solving and identifying petrogenetic processes within a geological context. It will be invaluable for all graduate students, researchers, and professionals using geochemical techniques.

Komatiites erupted billions of years ago as pulsating streams of white-hot lava. Their unusual chemical compositions and exceptionally high formation temperatures produced highly fluid lava that crystallized as spectacular layered flows. Investigation of the extreme conditions in which komatiites formed provides important evidence about the thermal and chemical evolution of the planet, and the nature of the Precambrian mantle. This monograph, written by three experts with long experience in the field, presents a complete account of the characteristics of komatiites including their volcanic structures, textures, mineralogy and chemical compositions. Models for their formation and eruption are evaluated (including the anhydrous vs. hydrous magmas controversy). A chapter is also devoted to the valuable nickel and copper ore deposits found in komatiites. Komatiite is a key reference for researchers and advanced students interested in petrology, Archaean geology, economic geology, and broader questions about the evolution of the Earth's crust and mantle.