Volcanism and the Upper Mantle: Investigations in the Kurile Island Arc (Monographs in Geoscience)

The present volume seems to me to be a particularly im­ portant one for several reasons. Not least among these is the fact that it summarizes the work of two decades by G. S. Gorshkov, one of the world's leading volcanologists. In addition, it is the first general work of this length on the volcanism of what might be called a "narrow" island arc, a relatively simple megastructure as com­ pared with the "wide" arcs such as Japan and Indonesia. Finally, in this volume Gorshkov has summarized and cited extensive evi­ dence for his general ideas on the relation between volcanism and the earth's crust and mantle. A few potentially troublesome items should be noted here. In the translation the Russian terms "suite" and "series" have been retained, though for American readers these might better have been translated as "formation" and "group. " In almost all cases Russian place names have simply been transliterated rather than translated (e. g. , "Yuzhnyi Isthmus" rather than "South Isthmus"); in a few cases the English equivalent has been given in brackets where this is essential to the understanding of the author's com­ ments. The adjectives have retained their Russian case endings in the process (masculine -yi or -ii, feminine -aya or -'ya, neuter -oe) and this may occasionally lead to some slight confusion, for example, when the author calls a given feature Severnyi Volcano at one point and Severnaya Mountain at another. The present volume seems to me to be a particularly imƯ portant one for several reasons. Not least among these is the fact that it summarizes the work of two decades by G.S. Gorshkov, one of the world's leading volcanologists. In addition, it is the first general work of this length on the volcanism of what might be called a "narrow" island arc, a relatively simple megastructure as comƯ pared with the "wide" arcs such as Japan and Indonesia. Finally, in this volume Gorshkov has summarized and cited extensive eviƯ dence for his general ideas on the relation between volcanism and the earth's crust and mantle. A few potentially troublesome items should be noted here. In the translation the Russian terms "suite" and "series" have been retained, though for American readers these might better have been translated as "formation" and "group." In almost all cases Russian place names have simply been transliterated rather than translated (e. g., "Yuzhnyi Isthmus" rather than "South Isthmus"); in a few cases the English equivalent has been given in brackets where this is essential to the understanding of the author's comƯ ments. The adjectives have retained their Russian case endings in the process (masculine -yi or -ii, feminine -aya or -'ya, neuter -oe) and this may occasionally lead to some slight confusion, for example, when the author calls a given feature Severnyi Volcano at one point and Severnaya Mountain at another Front Matter....Pages i-xv Structure of the Kurile Arc....Pages 1-6 History of Investigation of the Volcanoes....Pages 7-19 Structure of the Earth’s Crust and Geophysical Fields....Pages 21-36 Geology of the Basement....Pages 37-48 Volcanoes of the Kurile Islands....Pages 49-234 Petrography and Petrochemistry of the Volcanic Rocks....Pages 235-276 Characteristic Petrochemical Features of the Lavas of the Other Island Arcs and of Intracontinental and Oceanic Volcanoes....Pages 277-332 Evolution of Volcanism as a Reflection of the Evolution of the Upper Mantle....Pages 333-348 Back Matter....Pages 349-385