Handbook of strata-bound and stratiform ore deposits. Part 1. Principles and general studies. Vol 1. Classifications and historical studies / Справочник по пластовым и стратиформным рудным месторождениям. Том 1. Классификации и исторические исследования

The investigation of stratiform/stratabound ore deposits associated with sediments and volcanics and ranging in age from Precambrian to Recent, has become a specialized branch within the wider scope of ore petrology. It is, by all means, not an entirely new field of endeavour and it has always had a place in economic geology, but an accelerated shift in both individualized and collective efforts in the study of the stratiform mineral accumulations has resulted in a large amount of dispersed data. Although during the past few years many publications were devoted to these ores, a more comprehensive summary of their specific aspects remained a challenge. Many phases of ore petrology are in a state of flux as new hypotheses and/or refinements of theories are to be expected, but the purely "building stages" or "accumulative/descriptive stages" have long been strongly supplemented by the at present so prominent "interpretive/genetic phase" in theoretical and applied geology. A synthesis stressing genetic concepts related to stratiform mineralization appeared to be an immediate necessity to enable an efficient dispersal of the presently held hypotheses and theories; in particular to establish if it were possible to combine singular geologic elements into one meaningful entity and reach useful conclusions. By so doing, it was hoped, not only would the summaries offer a collection of known and generally available information (otherwise widely distributed), but the constructive reviews would result in new concepts and new approaches through a critical examination of available data. This indeed, as it turned out, was the case, as is demonstrated by many of the chapters in the present multi-volume publication. The more than fifty contributions vary in both manner of approach and style of presentation, which is unavoidable even with the best of intentions on the part of the authors and the editor. Some chapters are based mainly on a summary and/or review of existing information; others offer some new ideas; whereas in some instances the syntheses of data have resulted in material that is predominantly based on discussions involving new — occasionally even unique — proposals. <...>