390 6eoJ~mal 14.3/1987

Book reviews

Peesi, M. (ed.): Envi ronmenta l and dyna - mic geomorphology (Studies in Geography in Hungary 17) 220 pp., Akademiai Kiado, Budapes t 1985.

These twen ty - two papers by Hungar ian scientists were presented to the First In ternat ional Geomorphological Confe- rence in Manches te r . There is the expec- ted concern with soil erosion and with active slope processes (here landslips in the loess of the Danube bluffs). Alongside t he papers on process- form relat ionships are two o ther groups, one concerned with longe r - t e rm landform evo- lut ion or analysis, t he o ther with the mapp ing and in terpre ta t ion of landforms. Given t he marvel lous alluvial forms of the Tisza valley it is good to see a well- i l lustrated paper by Loezy, though by the t ime his geomorphological m a p is interpreted in t e rms of agriculural potential , mos t of the detail has d isap- peared. The papers on p lana t ion surfaces are an interes t ing group, for t he fre- quent burial of such in the P a n n o n i a n Bas in m e a n s t ha t da t ing is often possi- ble. Indeed Pecsi and Mezosi boldly subt i t le thei r piece "Explanat ion of geomorphological surfaces", though more detail is found in the following paper by Juhasz and Kertesz which foeusses on surfaces on hors t s buried by subsidence during the Late Ter t iary and now ei ther remaining buried, or uplifted again complete with r e m n a n t s of their Eocene or Oligocene cover. Overall these essays are easy to read (the English t rans la - tion is usually smoo th and clear), bu t t h e y - a r e nearly all a little brief for a full exposit ion of their material , and almost all of t h e m could do with fuller i l lustration. Pho tog ra phs would perhaps have been difficult to provide on this budget ( though reference to those avai- lable in o ther books might have helped the serious s tudent ) , bu t we do need more, and more detailed, maps . T hus IVIarosi writes on erosion hazard around Lake Bala ton , and later with Szilard he describes the Ba la ton Riviera, bu t nei- ther of these has a m a p of any kind. Pecsi has some excellent m a p s in his in t roductory essay he should have encouraged the others to use them. W hen geomorpholgists have to deliver m a p s or tables on which decisions of land use or m a n a g e m e n t may be based, they must pro- duce a simple classification of areas which the non-specia l is t can use in his decis ion-making. Some of these are p ro- duced by the ama lgama t i on of categories on geomorphological m a p s as in the case

of Loczy's work on the Tisza. In two cases included here, quite varied cha - racteristics are brought toge ther in a scoring technique; thus Maros i scores surface resis tance to erosion, l i tholo- g-y, slope angle, soil surface cover, and land use to derive values to guide deci- sions designed to minimise soil loss. He does not explain the basis of the tech- nique, commen t on its success, nor com- pare the approach with the USLE. If Envi ronmenta l Geomorphology is to be tu rned into Applied Geomorphology (for unlike Pecsi I cannot regard t h e m as the same thing) techniques such as these deserve grea ter elaboration, discussion and justif ication. Perhaps a second in ternat ional conference could just ify a volume "Applying Geomorphology" and t hen we could be told how it is done.

Kei th Clayton , Norwich, UK

Klug, H.: Flutwellen u n d Risiken der Kfiste. 122 pp. F. Steiner, S tu t tga r t 1986.

This textbook on a basic level is dea- ling with ca tas t rophic sea waves and coastal hazards . It is in tended to form a link between genera] and sys temat ic textbooks on the one hand , and more specialized papers on the other. Three types of ca tas t rophic waves are recognized: Seismically induced t s u n a - mis, mainly occurring in the Pacific, waves genera ted by tropical cyclones, mainly occurring in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and the Northwest Pacific, and finally waves associated with ext ra- tropical s torms, which are most frequent in the Nor th Sea and the Baltic. This regionality of the p h e n o m e n a is being stressed th roughout the book. The con ten t s are as follows: A short in t roduct ion on wave generat ion and travel, as well as e lements ( the tide, s to rm surges, etc.) influencing the extent of the ca tas t rophe . In the follo- wing chapters , the three p h e n o m e n a are described separately. Their regional d is t r ibut ion and geographical dissimila- rities, their generat ion and charac ter is being traced, as well as the conse- quences and resul t ing damage . Finally, countermeasures , prognoses and warning sys tems are touched upon. Major ca ta - s t rophic waves and their consequences are listed as far back as records permit and several specific examples are des - cribed. In the last two chapters (two pages each), the risk to h u m a n life and proper ty in connect ion with the occur- rence of ca tas t rophic sea waves is esti- ma ted , and new me thods whereby these risks can be minimized are described.

The text is concise and wel l -s t ructured, the figures are clear and pedagogical . The book incorporates oceanographic and coastal research, h u m a n geography as well as engineering aspects . All in all, th is provides an easily read and comprehensive text on the subject with m a n y interes t ing details, a l though quant i t a t ive descr ipt ions of the p h en o - m e n a have been omit ted.

Troels Aagaa rd , Copenhagen

Klug, H. (ed.): Ktiste u n d Meeresboden, Kieler Geogr. Schriften. Bd. 62, Kiel 1985.

This vo lume consis ts of a collection of papers presented at the annual mee t ing of the "Deutscher Arbeitskreis f[ir Geo- morphologie" and the "Arbeitskreis ftir Kfis ten- u n d Meeresgeographie", held in Kiel 1985. The t h e m e for the s y m p o s i u m was the geographical region as related to coastal and submar ine geomorphology, periglacial geomorphology and applied geomorphology. The first two papers are dealing with coastal geomorphology in antarc t ic viz. subarc t ic envi ronments , with the ma in emphas i s on description. In papers 3 through 7, s tudies on sea-level h is tory and tectonics are reported from as wide- ly differing localities as Spain, the Canary Islands, the Middle East , Sri Lanka and Namibia. The last five papers are dealing with as diverse themes as the relation be tween present coastal configuration and cl imate during the Quaternary; research me thods and m a p analysis in the W a d d e n Sea; morph o d y n a - mics and cliff erosion in the Baltic; evolution of Turkish rivers in the Midd- le Ages, and finally s tudies on the topography of s ea -moun t s . The qual i ty of photos and figures is generally good, a l though a bit variable. Fur the rmore , it would have been an ad- van tage h a d these been incorporated in the text pages. The main s t reng th of the book lies in its regional approach and the descrip- t ions of l i t t le-known localities, as the vast major i ty of studies dealing with the coastal env i ronment are being con- ducted in North America , Bri tain and Austral ia. Al though f ragmenta ry with small consis- tency in research objects and methods , ~he book adds to our knowledge of the World's coastlines, as well as it pre- sents new d a t a on sea-level f luctuat ions dur ing the Qua te rna ry and Holocene.

Troels Aagaard, Copenhagen