The Ecology of Areas with Serpentinized Rocks: A World View

by B.A. Roberts (Editor), J. Proctor (Editor)

Overview

B. A. ROBERTS&J. PROCTOR The term 'serpentine' referring to rocks and min- of each of the polymorphs. These conditions in- erals, can be traced back to the ancient Roman clude temperatures of generally less than 530°C, era of Dioscorides (A. D. 50) (Faust & Fahey and fluid pH's in excess of 10 with low pC02- Serpentine protoliths are essentially ultramafic 1962) and they suggest that the speckled colour of serpents and the fact that Dioscorides recom- rocks which fall into a number of categories: (a) mended it for the prevention of snakebite as two stratiform complexes, (b) concentrically zoned complexes, (c) ophiolite complexes and, (d) high- of many origins of the name. It is well known that the use of serpentinized rocks by sculptors temperature peridotite complexes. The most and carvers since ancient times is a tradition that commonly recognized are generally assigned to the ophiolite suite (Malpas, Ch. 2, this is still carried on today (Fig. 1). The differences in chemical composition of serpentinized rocks volume) and occur in most fold-mountain belts are many and specimens come in a wide range of of the world. Serpentinized ultramafic rocks attractive solid and mixed colours, e. g., red, H4(MgFe hSi20 9, approximate composition) green, blue and black.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789401056540
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	11/22/2012
Series:	Geobotany , #17
Edition description:	1992
Pages:	429
Product dimensions:	8.27(w) x 11.02(h) x 0.04(d)

Table of Contents

Section I Introduction.- I. Introduction.- Section II Geology.- II. Serpentine and the geology of serpentinized rocks.- Section III North America.- III. Plant life of western North American ultramafics.- IV. Ecology of serpentinized areas, Newfoundland, Canada.- V. A phyto-ecological investigation of the Mount Albert serpentinized plateau.- Section IV Europe.- VI. Chemical and ecological studies on the vegetation of ultramafic sites in Britain.- VII. The ecology of serpentinized areas of north-east Portugal.- VIII. Distribution of serpentinized massives on the Balkan peninsulas and their ecology.- IX. The distribution and ecology of the vegetation of ultramafic soils in Italy.- Section V Far East and Japan.- X. The vegetation over ultramafic rocks in the tropical Far East.- XI. The distribution and extent of serpentinized areas in Japan.- Section VI Africa.- XII. The ecology of ultramafic areas in Zimbabwe.- XIII. The vegetation over mafic and ultramafic rocks in the Transvaal Lowveld, South Africa.- Section VII Australasia.- XIV. The vegetation of the greenstone belts of Western Australia.- XV. The serpentinized areas of New Zealand, their structure and ecology.- Section VIII.- XVI. Concluding remarks.

Editorial Reviews

‘ The book will become a standard reference for all those interested in soil-plant relationships and will provide a stimulus for further research in this aspect of biogeography and geobotany. '
Science

‘ ... to congratulate the editors on producing this excellent and exhaustive work on the ecology of world regions with serpentinized rocks. I am sure that this exciting and hiterhto neglected field will be well served and encouraged by the appearance of this important work. '
New Zealand Jrnl of Ecology, 16:2

From the Publisher