Quaternary Sediments: Petrographic Methods for the Study of Unlithified Rocks (SECOND EDITION)

By Stephen J. Gale and Peter G. Hoare

Second Edition

Quaternary Sediments: Petrographic Methods for the Study of Unlithified Rocks (Second Edition), first published in 1991, remains the definitive text on the analysis of unlithified geological materials. The book considers how the information preserved in sediments, soils and weathering products may be used to reconstruct past environments. It describes and assesses physical and chemical laboratory procedures and shows how to interpret the results of these analyses. The application of each procedure to environmental reconstruction is stressed. Case studies, diagrams and extensive references provide further information.

The Second Edition is 17 per cent longer than the first. It contains new sections on errors and their analysis, on sampling procedures, and on handling and interpreting geochemical data. It also considers neglected properties such as loss on ignition and dry bulk density. These are frequently measured but under-interpreted and yet are often of critical significance in investigations of environmental change. The index has been updated and greatly expanded.

Reviewing the first edition, Professor Stephen K. Donovan of the Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum in The Netherlands, wrote:

"… Quaternary Sediments is a gem … it … answer[s] all of the questions that are likely to arise in a lifetime of sediment analysis, and then some. It is, in a nutshell, a goldmine of information on the right way to undertake so many of the routine laboratory tasks that are used by geomorphologists and other ‘soft rock’ geologists."

Stephen Gale graduated from the University of Oxford and completed his PhD at the University of Keele. He has held a series of teaching and research posts at the University of East Anglia; the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth; the University of Oxford; CCAT, Cambridge; the University of New England and the University of Sydney. He is currently Professor and Head of the School of Geography, Earth Science and Environment at the University of the South Pacific. His research has largely dealt with environmental change over timescales extending up to hundreds of millions of years. Most recently, however, he has concentrated on the environmental changes of the last few centuries, and the impacts of human activity during this time.

Peter Hoare graduated from the University of London and gained his PhD from the University of Dublin. His career includes laboratory work at Rothamsted Research, time spent with the British Geological Survey and teaching at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. He retired in 1999. He is currently an Associate Member of the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain group, carrying out geological research that underpins the work of archaeologists. He is also studying the glacial history of eastern England, the life of a seventeenth-century Governor of Barbados and the orientation of medieval English churches.

Table of Contents
Second edition acknowledgements
First edition acknowledgements

Chapter 0
0.1 Prologue
0.2 Errors and error propagation
0.3 Sampling for particle-size analysis
0.4 The interpretation of loss on ignition data as a measure of plant organic content
0.5 Dealing with geochemical data
0.6 Dry bulk density
0.7 References

Chapter 1 Laboratory analysis of Quaternary materials
1.1 Aims and approaches
1.2 References

Chapter 2 Sample documentation, preparation and storage
2.1 Sample documentation
2.2 Sample preparation
2.3 Sample storage
2.4 Subsampling
2.5 References

Chapter 3 Basic laboratory techniques and procedures
3.1 Equipment: care, use, reading
3.2 Chemical solutions
3.3 The laboratory notebook
3.4 Measurement
3.5 References

Chapter 4 The physical composition and analysis of regolith materials
4.1 Particle-size analysis
4.2 The shape of gravel-grade particles
4.3 The mesofabric of diamictons
4.4 The colour of regolith materials
4.5 Lithological analysis of gravel-grade particles
4.6 The heavy mineralogy of sand-grade particles
4.7 The magnetic susceptibility of regolith materials

Chapter 5 The chemical composition and analysis of regolith materials
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Sources of chemical inputs to regolith materials
5.3 Weathering and pedogenesis
5.4 Movement of chemicals through the regolith
5.5 The accumulation of chemicals at particular positions in the regolith
5.6 Application of geochemical analysis to Quaternary palaeoenvironmental problems
5.7 Sampling and sample preparation
5.8 The determination of acid-extractable sodium, potassium and calcium content by flame photometry
5.9 The estimation of plant organic content by loss on ignition
5.10 The determination of calcium carbonate-equivalent content by gravimetry and gasometry
5.11 The determination of acid-extractable sulphate content by gravimetry
5.12 The electrometric determination of pH
5.13 The representation of geochemical data
5.14 References

Chapter 6 Appendices
6.1 The International System of Units
6.2 Density and dynamic viscosity of pure liquid water at standard atmosphere as a function of temperature
6.3 Acceleration due to gravity
6.4 Typical dry bulk densities of rocks at surface temperature and pressure
6.5 Atomic mass
6.6 Minerals and their identification
6.7 Heavy minerals and their identification
6.8 Conduct in laboratories
6.9 References

Index