Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 47 ( 1991 ) 367-369
Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam
Book Reviews
A Classification of Igneous Rocks and Glossary of Terms, by R.W. Le Maitre (Editor). Blackwell Scientific Publications,
Oxford, U.K. 1989. Hardback, xv+ 193 pp. +wall chart, price £19.50, ISBN 0-632-02593-X.
This important book contains two main sec-
tions. The first promulgates the many recom-
mendations of the International Union of
Geological Sciences Subcommission on the
Systematics of Igneous Rocks on the classifi-
cation and nomenclature of igneous rocks (31
pages). These recommendations which are now
brought together in one slim volume originally
appeared in 22 separate papers published be-
tween 1973 and 1988. The second important
section of the book is a comprehensive glos-
sary of igneous rock terms (89 pages). In an
informative Foreword Professor Albert
Streckeisen traces the trials and tribulations of
the Subcommission over a period of twenty
years. It is interesting to discover that the Sub-
commission's initial decision to begin its de-
liberations with an examination of the nomen-
clature of the plutonic rocks was taken on the
advise of Professor Tom Barth who was at that
time president of the IUGS. After deciding to
proceed in this manner their next major deci-
sion was quite logical and it was to classify the
plutonic rocks using their actual model min-
eral contents. After the QAPF (quartz-alkali
feldspar-plagioclase-feldspathoid ) classifica-
tion of plutoic rocks had been generally ac-
cepted they took the bold step to recommend
that modal mineral compositions should be
used in the primary classification of all ig-
neous rocks, and further that the volcanic rocks
should be classified and named according to
their position in a QAPF diagram. It is intrigu-
ing to consider what the members of the Sub-
commission would have recommended if they
had started their deliberations by discussing the
classification of volcanic rocks which often
0377-0273/91/$03.50 © 1991 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved.
367
contain cryptocrystalline and/or hyaline
phases.
Volcanologists should not that this book
contains a short section (pp. 7-9 ) on the clas-
sification of pyroclastic rocks and tephra. They
may however find the Glossary disappointing
because it does not include many of the rock
names used in volcanology. Terms omitted in-
clude pyroclastic fall deposit, pyroclastic flow
deposit, pyroclastic surge deposit, and even the
common term lahar. It was also noted that the
Glossary includes the unfortunate term peri-
dotitic komatiite without warning the reader
that it is undesirable to use the term peridotite
when describing a volcanic rock. This com-
ment is particularly apposite because all the
peridotitic komatiites from the type area de-
scribed by Viljoen and Viljoen ( 1969, p. 72)
classify as normal komatiites if one uses the
criteria recommended by the Subcommission.
The writer was also disappointed to discover
that the Glossary defined igneous rock as (p.
76) "a rock that has solidified from a molten
state either within or on the surface of the
earth". It is hoped that the next edition of the
book is less Earth chauvinistic. The book also
contains a timely reminder to petrologist who
abuse the term granitoid. Granitoid (p. 22) is
a field term for plutonic rocks that contain be-
tween 20% and 60% Q in a preliminary QAP
classification, and when the mineral modes of
such quartz-rich plutonic rocks are known they
should be classified in a more precise manner
using the QAPF diagram for plutonic rocks (p.
14).
The book also contains a separate, well de-
signed wall-chart. This chart not only summar-
368
ises the Subcommission's classifications of the
carbonatites, charnockitic rocks, lampro-
phyric rocks, melilitic rocks, plutonic rocks
(common), pyroclastic rocks, and volcanic
rocks (common), but it also challenges one
with the question of whether there are simple
natural relationships linking the various groups
of igneous rocks. Although the Subcommis-
sion has attempted to separate classification
from petrogenetic theory, the writer intui-
tively believes that a comprehensive classifi-
cation should provide insights into the rela-
tionships between the various rock groups, and
also draw attention to the minor anomalies that
are likely to exist between different classifica-
tions devised at different times for different
purposes. In the QAPF classification of vol-
canic rocks, for example, the basalts are not
separated from the andesites or basaltic ande-
Volcanoes of the Antarctic Plate and Southern Oceans, edited by W.E. LeMasurier and J.W. Thomson, volume 48, Ant-
arctic Research Series, American Geophysical Union, 487 pp. (ISBN 0-87590-172-7, US $55.00, AGU members US
$38.50).
This volume is a comprehensive guide to our
state of knowledge of late Cenozoic volcanism
on and around the Antarctic plate. Much of the
book concerns West Antarctica, one of the great
continental rift-related alkaline volcanic re-
gions of the world. Also included are descrip-
tions of the subantarctic oceanic islands of both
the Antarctic and Pacific plates. Only the vol-
canoes of the South Sandwich and South Shet-
land Islands, which are related to subduction
processes, are not representative of intraplate
or hot-spot magmatism.
The publication is the culmination of an In-
ternational Association of Volcanology and
Chemistry of the Earth's Interior project to up-
date and greatly expand the 1960 Catalogue of
Active Volcanoes of Antarctica. Information
has been contributed by 38 authors from the
U.S., The U.K., New Zealand, Australia, South
Africa, Germany and France. Major contribu-
tions have been made by P.E. Baker, P.R. Kyle,
W.E. LeMasurier, J.L. Smellie and J.W.
sites. According to the wall-chart if they are to
be separated one has to use another diagram
which employs a value of 50% SiO2 to separate
the basalts from the andesites. In the a'AS dia-
gram a more realistic value of 52% SiO2 is used
in the separation of the basalts from the basal-
tic andesites.
The valuable work of the Subcommission is
not yet finished. This is clearly acknowledged
by the present chairperson of the Subcommis-
sion in his Preface to the book (p.x.). He sees
the future work of the Subcommission as
"keeping the systematics up-to-date and inter-
nationally relevant", and also in reexamining
the nomenclature of some specialised areas of
igneous petrology, such as the potassic rocks
and the basaltic rocks.
ERIC MIDDLEMOST
(Sydney, NSW)
Thomson. For descriptive purposes the region
has been divided into seven provinces: the
McMurdo volcanics of the western Ross Sea;
Marie Byrd Land; Alexander Island, Palmer
Land and Ellsworth Land; Graham Land and
the South Shetland Islands; the South Sand-
wich Islands; oceanic islands of the Antarctic
Plate (including Bouvetoya, Marion and Ker-
guelen); subantarctic islands of the Pacific
Plate (including Auckland, Campbell and
Macquarie).
A short overview of the volcanology and tec-
tonic relationships within the region as a whole
is given by W.E. LeMasurier, and brief sum-
maries for each of the seven provinces are in-
cluded. The main body of the volume com-
prises descriptions of individual volcanoes
using a format modelled on the Catalogue of
the Active Volcanoes of the World and includ-
ing volcanological, petrological, chronological,
structural and historical data. Many contribu-
tions are original and contain unpublished