Book reviews

Loess Mantle of the Earth and its Properties

Ed. V.T. Trofimov, Moscow University Press 2001,

464 pp. (in Russian) ISBN 5-211-04336-7 price not

known

In 1934, the great classic ‘Der Loss und seine

geotechnischen Eigenschaften’ by Alfred Scheidig

was published in Dresden and Leipzig. It was an ex-

cellent, comprehensive study of worldwide loess, with

geotechnical and engineering–geological overtones,

and it was the standard work for many years. Now

Trofimov and his co-writers have produced an updated

equivalent. This is a Russian view of the World but the

editor has taken care to ensure that every part of the

loess world has received adequate treatment. Experts

have been enrolled to contribute their specialist knowl-

edge, for example, A.E. Dodonov has contributed the

chapter on ‘Loess rocks in Asia’. Following Russian

practice, we study loess rocks (Lessovye porody) rather

than loess ground or loess soils. This could become a

Scheidig-like classic for many years to come, although

it appears that only 500 copies have been issued so all

engineering–geological libraries should purchase a

copy immediately.

The book is divided into three main sections which

contain 14 chapters. Section 1 deals with worldwide

loess; there is an introductory chapter and then chap-

ters on Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zea-

land, North America, and South America. Good cover

with some interesting maps; a valiant attempt made to

deal with loess in New Zealand— the NZ map actually

highlights Timaru— the place where John Hardcastle

discovered loess stratigraphy in 1890. The second

section introduces the focus on engineering geology.

This is achieved by concentrating on nine sites and

discussing relevant stratigraphic sections at length.

Chapter 8 is an introductory chapter and then Chapter

9 looks at the Afonino section near Nizhnii Novgorod,

more or less due east of Moscow— this is the only

‘inland’ site discussed, the rest are all on the fringes of

the former Soviet Union. The sites discussed are all

Soviet sites, but this makes sense in that the main

engineering–geological problems relating to loess

were within the boundaries of the USSR. Chapter 10

examines eight sites: Volgodonsk—near Rostov-on-

Don, where the famous Atommash factory loess

ground failure occurred; Zaporozh’e; Otkaznoe, south-

east of Stravropol’; Gyaurs; Chirchik—near Tashkent

in Uzbekistan; Adyrnyi, at Dushanbe in Tajikistan;

Volodarka, near Barnaul; and Bolyshaya Salba, near

Krasnoyarsk— the most easterly of the sites. The map

of sites and localities (Fig. 57) shows clearly how the

interesting loess occurrences are located around the

fringe of the USSR. Engineering–geological loess

investigations in the future may well be concentrated

in Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Section 3 provides a look at a ‘new found land’, a

new horizon for investigators not familiar with Russian

loess history. In three substantial chapters, the problem

of the ‘genesis of collapsibility in loess rocks’— a

problem which has concerned Russian-speaking inves-

tigators since the days of N.Ya.Denisov—but which

has never been discussed in the western literature is

discussed here. Trofimov has to be the leading figure in

this discussion, but over the years leading experts like

Kriger, Minervin andMavlyanov have contributed ma-

jor studies. Trofimov has spent many years develop-

www.elsevier.com/locate/enggeo

Engineering Geology 66 (2002) 319–323

ing the ‘Denisov diagram’—a simple method of sho-

wing the collapse behaviour of a ground system. De-

nisov (most famously in his 1953book) plottedporosity

against pressure and indicated the collapse history of

loess ground. Trofimov has refined this approach and

it reaches an apotheosis in Section 3. One of the

problems that engineering–geologists in the USSR

had with loess was that they got involved in the

disputes about the origin of the material, and since it

is the open structure (high voids ratio) which helps to

define loess but also gives it its collapsibility the

origin of the structure (and hence the origin of the

deposit) became a topic for discussion. E.M. Sergeev,

who dominated engineering geology in the USSR for

many years, proclaimed a firm adherence to the ‘in-

situ’ theory of loess formation as propounded by L.S.

Berg. This was in effect the ‘official’ Soviet theory

and it crept into engineering geology. Denisov was

criticised for following the aeolian theory but Sergeev

stuck to the official line, and probably influenced his

protege Trofimov. Much thought and experiment

went into deriving collapsibility models, which by-

passed western investigators completely. There is a

famous paper by Minervin on the development of

collapsibility in loess (1993) which cites 50 referen-

ces—all of which are in Russian— there being no

non-Russian contributions to the discussion. Kriger

(1986) managed to write a whole book on the origins

of collapsibility—but he was rather more open to

aeolian ideas. So Part 3 holds great interest— an

engineering–geological aspect of loess which offers

new ideas and new approaches.

The bibliography is substantial, in both Cyrillic

and Latin parts; eight references to R.V. Ruhe, a

reference to R.L. Handy’s paper on loess distribution

by variable winds, but not to his classic work on

subsidence, four pieces by Arnt Bronger, perceptive

references to Genevieve Coude-Gaussen (five refer-

ences); Yaalon on desert loess, and Ludwig Zoeller

finishing the list. This is a book that deserves to be

noticed and used. There are still large linguistic gaps

in our subject area that need to be closed; this book is

an admirable contribution to loess scholarship; make

the effort and read it.

Ian Smalley

GeoHazards Research Group, School of Property and

Construction, Nottingham Trent University, UK

E-mail address: smalley@loessletter.com

PII: S0013 -7952 (02 )00024 -8

Dynamics of Rockslides and Rockfalls

T.H. Erismann and G. Abele. Springer-VerlagBerlin Heidelberg, 2001. 316 pages. ISBN 3-540-67198-6. Hardbound

This is a book that will form a useful reference for

engineers and geoscientists interested in large rock-

slides and rockfalls. The authors’ presentation of the

material displays an in-depth understanding and

awareness of the importance of the basic physics

and mechanics of the rock slope failure process.

Throughout the text, the authors are quick to point

out instances within the published literature and from

engineering case studies where the physics of the

problem has perhaps not been fully appreciated.

The first section of the book presents an interest-

ing examination of selected ‘‘key events’’ where

quality data is available. Chapter 2 presents a critical

discussion of the Pandemonium Creek (Canada),

Blackhawk (US), Kofels (Austria), Val Pola and

Vaiont (Italy), and finally Huascaran (Peru) rock

slope failures. The material presented is a useful

reference and is presented from a highly original

perspective. The reviewer felt that the case history

chapter suffered somewhat from a rather convoluted

presentation and forward referencing system. The

reader is frequently obliged to page to-and-fro

through the book in order to fully appreciate the

content of the matter being presented. Notwithstand-

ing, an insightful discussion of the case studies sets

the stage for a potentially provocative series of three

chapters dealing successively with the mechanisms

of release, disintegration and displacement. These

chapters form the heart of the book and deal with

rockslides and rockfalls from a physical and mathe-

matical viewpoint.

Book reviews320