JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE (1998) 13 (1) 91–94 CCC 0267-8179/98/010091–04$17.50 1998 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Book reviews

Quaternary geology of theGeneva Bay (Lake Geneva,Switzerland): sedimentaryrecord, palaeoenvironmental andpalaeoclimatic reconstructionsince the last glacial cycleANDREA MOSCARIELLO

Publisher Section des Sciences de la Terre, Universite deGeneve, Suisse, 1996 Terre and Environment, Vol. 4 (xii +230 pp) FrS. 30 ISBN 2-940153-03-5

This is the fourth publication of a series established in 1995by the Department of Earth Sciences at the University ofGeneva to disseminate the results of successful PhD theses.Previous issues have included studies of the geochemistryof zinc–lead deposits in central Peru (Spangenberg, 1995),palaeomagnetic approaches to geodynamics of the Colomb-ian Andes (Risnes, 1995) and history of volcanic hazards inGuatemala (Basset, 1996). The production is A4 size withgood quality printing on heavy-weight paper, and copiescan be obtained from the above institution at 13 rue desMaraıchers, CH-1211 Geneve 4, Switzerland.

The study by Andrea Moscariello is based on six boreholecores obtained for geotechnical investigations associatedwith the proposal to build a bridge across the southern endof Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Investigations are recorded insix chapters (plus a preliminary chapter giving a resume ofthe results in French in accordance with the regulationsof the University of Geneva) dealing with: (i) sedimentaryprocesses and depositional environments; (ii) mineralogy andgeochemistry of the sediments; (iii) Late-glacial and earlyHolocene palaeoenvironments; (iv) Late Bronze Age lake-level changes and constraints on anthropogenic activities;(v) sedimentology and petrography of the Laacher See tephrasampled in the cores, and (vi) the stable isotopic compositionand significance of the Lake Geneva sediments. Appendicesat the end of the volume give physical and biological datacollected during the research. Like many other Europeanthesis structures, but unlike those in Britain, each chapter iscomplete within itself with an abstract, description andanalyses, discussion focused on the particular issue, con-clusions and references.

The results indicate a complex geological history with theearliest unit recognised being formed as subglacial fan grav-els during glacier advance at the Last Glacial Maximum(LGM). This unit is overlain and partially incorporated in

tills formed by lodgement, deformation and basal meltout,and these tills are overlain, in turn, by coarse-grained sub-and supraglacial outwash deposited during ice wastage. AnAMS age of 18 940 6 210 on a small wood fragment fromthese gravels gives a maximum age for the wastage of theglacier, and also implies (rather surprisingly) that there waswoodland in the glacier catchment during the maximum ofthe Last Glaciation. During, and immediately following icewastage, the sedimentation processes changed to ice-raftingand subaquatic mass-movement, followed by deposition offine-grained carbonates and clay minerals eroded from adjac-ent hillside slopes supplemented by silt-size grains trans-ported to the region as wind-blown dust.

Post-glacial sediments are dominated by a much highercomponent of calcite precipitates, the presence of diatomlaminae of Holocene age, and much lower sedimentationrates. Significant changes in lithofacies are associated withthe Late-glacial–Early Holocene transition, indicating aresponse of the Lake Geneva sedimentation system to cli-matically induced environmental changes within the catch-ment. A thin glass-shard-rich layer found just below theYounger Dryas sediments is associated with the LaacherSee eruption.

The work shows also that lake level changes associatedwith higher rainfall levels and increased storminess duringthe late Holocene influenced Late Bronze Age habitation,leading to the migration of the local communities from alake-shore site to higher ground.

The research represents a significant contribution to thegeological history of the southern end of Lake Geneva sincethe region was overridden by ice at the LGM. The methodsadopted include a full range of lithological and biologicaldescriptors, environmental indicators and climatic proxies,all of which appear to have been carried out to a very highstandard. The results are in line with our general understand-ing of environmental and climatic change for this regionover this period of time, and in this respect the work is ahigh quality regional biography, with a wider evaluation ofthe particular topic considered at the end of the particularchapter. This last characteristic is adequate, but I feel thatgreater significance would have been given to the study ifthe conclusions had been placed in a wider regional or evenhemispherical context, with appropriate analyses carried outand figures drawn to illustrate geographical variations andpatterns. With such information, the wider significance ofthis study would have been evaluated more readily.

JAMES ROSEDepartment of Geography

Royal HollowayUniversity of London

EghamSurrey TW20 0EX

England