Nature Vol. 264 December 23/30 1976 815

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Geological survey of Greenland J. Sutton

Geology of Greenland. Edited by Every chapter comes at first hand the development of petrology. In each Escher and Watt. Pp. 603. (Geological from experts who have been repeatedly instance accounts of newly discovered Survey of Greenland: 0stervoldgade to the terrain they describe. Each pro­ phenomena prompt inquiries into their 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark, vides a readable narrative between a origin. One thinks of Bowen's use of I 976.) DKr.l95 inc. postage. dozen and sixty pages in length, ex­ British investigations some fifty years cellently illustrated. The figures (there ago. An equal opportunity is provided CoMPARED with many parts of the are 470) include a variety of geological here. Solar System, the Earth is a protean sketch maps and photographs that But this is no more than the first creature, in a constant state of change. demonstrate the clarity with which course. There follow chapters on the With such activity and destruction, geological phenomena are displayed in younger rocks of the east, north and Earth-bound geologists can never hope Greenland. The authors reflect the west coasts, each of which developed to find a landscape carpeted, as on the international nature of the enterprise. somewhat differently, although all Moon, with fragments which have Jain The Survey collaborates with more ilustrate what may happen before and undisturbed for 3,000 Myr. Yet just than fifty Universities and Institutes, during the separation of continental occasionally geological circumstances and moreover does so with a generosity blocks. The evolution of eastern Green­ combine to provide an unusually clear and openness which has attracted able land is taken in three excellent chapters view of the geological past. The coast­ scientists from many countries. The from late Precambrian times to the late lines of Greenland, scraped bare by an heart of the undertaking lies, however, Tertiary. A similar time span is covered ice sheet which has now drawn hack to in Denmark. Tt is Danish resources and in an account of northern Greenland reveal fresh rock, provide unparalleled leadership that have brought the Geo­ which provides the first synthesis of ormortunities for geological research. logical Survey of Greenland to its that region based on detailed observa­ This splendid book shows how suc­ present eminence. Readers of this book tion. Petroleum prospects, although cessfully the Geological Survey of have plenty of material on which to sti11 at an early stage, are suggested by Greenland has grasped these oppor­ assess this judgement. the accounts of sedimentation around tunities during its first 30 years of The opening chapters wi11 appeal to the Greenland coasts, which include short reference to commercial work activity. the student of crystalline rocks. Here As Dr Ellitsgaard-Rasmussen, who are described the Archaean and offshore. An account of the glaciation and ha~ directed the Survey for most of this Proterozoic rocks which form the mass time. points out, the Arctic climate and of Greenland. The main divisions Quaternary history of Greenland com­ isolated situation require the mounting established in Greenland can he ex­ pletes the geological record of this of special expeditions to carry out tended into Canada and north-western remarkable island. About fifty page~ geological research in Greenland. The Europe, and so provide a key to a uni­ are devoted to economic mineral~. co how ably the staff have mastered log­ sight into geological processes of those with an account of the kimherlites of istical problems. With no fuss and great times, made possible by careful study western Greenland. efficiency the Survey moves, feeds and of excellently displayed terrain. These supports its geological parties who are chapters could influence scientific thus able to concentrate on scientific thought in the way the British Geologi­ 1. Sutton is Professor of GeolORY at work, and who have surveyed, at least cal Survey's work on Tertiary volcanic lmoerial ColleRe. University of London. in outline, the entire mountainous sea­ centres early this century influenced UK. board bordering the world's largest island. The opening sentence of the Direc­ Essence of Iceland tor's preface puts the matter with characteristic plainness and brevity: geography describe the physical char­ "Geology of Greenland", he writes, The Landscapes of Iceland: Types acteristics of landscape as a platform or "aims to provide a concise modern and Regions. By H. Preusser. Pp.xvi+ stage on which the life styles of work account of nearly all aspects of Green­ 363. (Junk : The Hague, The Nether­ and play are integrated into a cultural land's geology". It does precisely this, lands, 1976.) DGu120.00. pattern over the environment, increas­ drawing almost entirely on recent work ingly controlled by complex economic while recognising the achievements of REGIONAL geography encompasses the forces. If these components are well the pioneers, from the days of Giesecke systematic patterns of landscape: the drawn and emphasis is duly apportioned in the early nineteenth century to the physical form and structure, the heat to each, and differences across regional expeditions of Lauge Koch, Wegmann, and water available through the seasons boundaries arc correctly discerned, the Watkins and Wager more than a and the resulting biotic and human essay is then greater than the sum of hundred years later. development. Most essays in regional © 1976 Nature Publishing Group