The Interpretation of Igneous Rocks

Our aim in writing this book is to try to show how igneous rocks can be persuaded to reveal some ofthe secrets of their origins. The data of igneous rocks consist of field relations, texture, mineralogy, and geochemistry. Additionally, experimental petrology tells us how igneous systems might be expected to behave. Working on this material we attempt to show how hypotheses concerning the origins and evolution of magmas are proposed and tested, and thus illuminate the interesting and fundamental problems of petrogenesis. The book assumes a modest knowledge of basic petro- graphy, mineralogy, classification, and regional igneous geology. It has a role complementary to various established texts, several of which are descriptively good and give wide coverage and evaluation of petrogenetic ideas in various degrees of detail. Existing texts do not on the whole, however, deal with methodology, though this is one of the more important aspects of the subject. At first sight it may appear that the current work is a guidebook for the prospective research worker and thus has little relevance for the non-specialist student of geology. We hope this will prove to be far from the case. The methodological approach has an inherent interest because it can provide the reader with problems he can solve for himself, and as an almost incidental consequence he will acquire a satisfying understanding.