Quaternary Sediments

S.J. Gale and P.G. Hoare

First published in 1991, Quaternary Sediments 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.

Gale, S.J. and Hoare, P.G. 2011. Quaternary Sediments: Petrographic Methods for the Study of Unlithified Rocks. Blackburn Press, New Jersey, 2nd ed., xlv + 325 pp. ISBN-10: 1-932846-25-5. ISBN-13: 978-1-932846-25-6. US$69.95.