Igneous Rocks and Processes: A Practical Guide

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1444330659 ISBN 13: 9781444330656

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010

This book is for geoscience students taking introductory or intermediate-level courses in igneous petrology, to help develop key skills (and confidence) in identifying igneous minerals, interpreting and allocating appropriate names to unknown rocks presented to them. The book thus serves, uniquely, both as a conventional course text and as a practical laboratory manual.

Following an introduction reviewing igneous nomenclature, each chapter addresses a specific compositional category of magmatic rocks, covering definition, mineralogy, eruption/ emplacement processes, textures and crystallization processes, geotectonic distribution, geochemistry, and aspects of magma genesis. One chapter is devoted to phase equilibrium experiments and magma evolution; another introduces pyroclastic volcanology. Each chapter concludes with exercises, with the answers being provided at the end of the book.

Appendices provide a summary of techniques and optical data for microscope mineral identification, an introduction to petrographic calculations, a glossary of petrological terms, and a list of symbols and units. The book is richly illustrated with line drawings, monochrome pictures and colour plates.

Additional resources for this book can be found at: http://www.wiley.com/go/gill/igneous.

About the Author:

Robin Gill has lectured in igneous petrology and geochemistry at the University of London for 22 years, and before that held postdoctoral posts at the Universities of Manchester, Western Ontario and Oxford. He is author of Chemical Fundamentals of Geology (Springer) and editor of Modern Analytical Geochemistry (Addison Wesley Longman).

Review:

"Igneous petrology is difficult to master using only a single course resource. Thus, instructors often steer students toward supplementary readings on how to work with geochemical data or identify igneous minerals in thin section. Gill takes a big step toward resolving this challenge, integrating content in a way that instructors will value as a holistic presentation of concepts and tools." (Choice, 1 March 2011)

"This textbook will be an invaluable guide for undergraduates in the laboratory and will allow them to develop their interpretative skills in petrology in the most intuitive way. The breadth of topics, clear layout and level of detail will no doubt lead it to become an essential, always on- hand reference for students." (Geological Magazine, 2010)