2000, Softcover
278 pages
Dimensions: 220 x 270 mm
ISBN: 5900395278
$79.00
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| Lovozero Massif |
History, Pegmatites, Minerals
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 Language: English
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Author: Igor V. Pekov
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This almost 500-page volume is a beautifully descriptive work covering all aspects of an important part of one of the world's most unusual mineralized areas, Russia's Kola Peninsula. The massif itself is an approximately 650-square-kilometer alkalic pluton and associated rare mineral-bearing pegmatites, from which no less than 341 species have been reported. Those who have haunted the halls of Tucson's Executive Inn or Denver's Holiday Inn-North during the major shows held in these cities are familiar with the specimens from this classic locality displayed in most of the Russian dealers' rooms. With the publication of this book it is now possible to put the specimens for which this area is so famous into proper locality perspective.
The book begins with a short editorial, an introduction, acknowledgments, and a listing of abbreviations. Following are a chapter containing a good review of the area's geography (including an important list of place names) and another devoted to the research and exploration history of the massif, which begins with the late nineteenth century and focuses on later intervals of important activity. Both of those chapters contain an impressive selection of important historical photographs. The next chapter discusses the mineralogically important pegmatites and associated "hydrothermalites." This chapter has excellent descriptions of important specimen-producing sites and a wide assortment of color photographs and geologic sketch maps. The dominant section of the book follows, an approximately 260-page chapter devoted to the mineral species attributed to the Lovozero Massif.
The chapter on minerals is subdivided into eleven sections that include a list of species, alphabetically arranged mineral descriptions, a discussion of the distribution of minerals within chemical classes, minerals for which the massif is the type locale (73) and a chronology of their discoveries, minerals for which formal structural studies have been conducted, a section on fluorescent minerals, and a section on giant crystals that also offers, in some instances, pocket sizes. The chapter closes with an interesting comparative table that allows one to understand the very descriptive names derived from the Saami language. The chapter is replete with many excellent color photographs of minerals, crystal drawings, and tables of chemical analyses. The book closes with a comprehensive listing of almost five hundred references.
This is a very serious piece of work, not intended exclusively for the mineral collector. It is a fully authoritative reference that, for most of us, will be the first and last source of information related to many species for which there are few data easily available in English. There are cumbersome, at times awkward, runs of translation that could have been smoothed out by a final editorial review. Still, the impact is there, the information appears accurate and comprehensive, the illustrations are outstanding, and this important contribution should not be neglected as you ponder how to improve your technical knowledge as well as how to upgrade your reference library.
Dr. Robert B. Cook
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
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