Applied Stratigraphy

Stratigraphy has come to be indispensable to nearly all branches of the earth sciences, assisting such endeavors as charting the course of evolution, understanding ancient ecosystems, and furnishing data pivotal to finding strategic mineral resources. This book focuses on traditional and innovative stratigraphy techniques and how these can be used to reconstruct the geological history of sedimentary basins and in solving manifold geological problems and phenomena.

Much has been written and debated about the various methodologies applied to modern stratigraphic analysis and the ever increasing complexity of terminologies. However, there exist numerous stratigraphic techniques that are reliant upon precise, quantitative, reproducible data, rather than qualitative interpretive stratigraphic methodologies. Such stratigraphic techniques are applied in an entirely pragmatic non-biased manner within the petroleum industry to provide enhanced stratigraphic understanding of petroleum systems. The petroleum industry is a key driver behind the development of new stratigraphic techniques and a major provider of new stratigraphic data, which has resulted in several of these new techniques having been developed as a requirement to the industry. Furthermore, because techniques, such as isotope chemostratigraphy, elemental chemostratigraphy, magnetic susceptibility stratigraphy, numerical biostratigraphy and heavy mineral stratigraphy are based around precise, quantified and reproducible analytical data, they provide an independent means to test the more interpretive stratigraphic methodologies. This volume attempts an overview of stratigraphic methodologies, but largely focuses on data-generative stratigraphic techniques such as chemostratigraphy, magnetic susceptibility stratigraphy, numerical biostratigraphy and heavy mineral stratigraphy. Where appropriate, each paper discusses data generation methods including sample preparation and analytical methods as well outlining data interpretation methods. This is followed by case histories that demonstrate how those data are used to resolve stratigraphic problems, commonly using material derived from petroleum basins around the World.

There are three types of rock—igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. Sedimentary rocks form from the weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition of older rocks. Applied Sedimentology describes the formation, transportation and deposition of sediment, and the post-depositional processes that change soft sediment into sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rocks include sandstones, limestones and mudstones. All the world's coal, most of its water and fossil fuels, and many mineral deposits occur in sedimentary rocks. Applied Sedimentology shows how the study of sediments aids the exploration for and exploitation of natural resources, including water, ores and hydrocarbons. * Completely revised edition; Like its precursor, it describes sediments from sand grains to sedimentary basins; Features up-to date account and critique of sequence and cyclostratigraphy * Extensively illustrated with photos and remotely sensed sea bed images describing sedimentary processes, products and depositional systems; Color plates illustrate sediment textures, lithologies, pore types, diagenetic textures, and carbonate and clastic sequence stratigraphic models * Emphasises the applications of sedimentology to the exploration for and exploitation of natural resources, including water, ores and hydrocarbons * Extensive references and up-to-date bibliography for further study

Stratigraphy allows us to establish and communicate the timings for the course of Earth history and provides the means to determine the duration and rates of Earth processes. Deciphering Earth’s History: the Practice of Stratigraphy focuses on how to apply the wide spectrum of stratigraphical techniques. It also explains how these techniques can be integrated and details their individual strengths and limitations. Chapters are laid out in a step-by-step style, guiding the reader through a recommended approach and explaining the factors to be considered. The methods are illustrated with flow charts, marginal top tips, checklists, worked examples and over 200 figures. Authors from academia, research centres and industry have contributed to ensure a wide range of perspectives are included. In addition to chapters on each of the stratigraphical techniques there is also material on accounting for stratigraphical incompleteness, constructing geological timescales, handling and archiving stratigraphical data and the application of stratigraphy to space exploration and other disciplines. This book is designed for a wide audience ranging from advanced level undergraduates to professional practitioners wishing to use other stratigraphical techniques or understand the advantages and weaknesses of particular techniques.

Principles of Sequence Stratigraphy provides an in-depth coverage and impartial assessment of all current ideas and models in the field of sequence stratigraphy. This textbook thoroughly develops fundamental concepts of sequence stratigraphy that links base-level changes to sedimentary deposits. It examines differing approaches to how the sequence stratigraphic method can be applied to the rock record, and reviews practical applications such as how petroleum geologists can target where to drill for oil. The book's balanced approach helps students acquire a common terminology and conceptual understanding that will be helpful later in their academic and professional careers, whether they pursue jobs as geologists, geophysicists, or reservoir engineers. This textbook offers theoretical guidelines of how the facies and time relationships are expected to be under specific circumstances such as subsidence patterns, sediment supply, topographic gradients, etc. It goes beyond the standard treatment of sequence stratigraphy by focusing on a more user-friendly and flexible method of analysis of the sedimentary rock record than other current methods. The text is richly illustrated with dozens of full color photographs and original illustrations of outcrop, core, well log, and 3D seismic data. There is a dedicated chapter on discussions and conclusions, along with an instructor site containing images from the book. Principles of Sequence Stratigraphy will appeal to researchers and professionals, as well as upper graduate and graduate students in stratigraphy, sedimentology, petroleum peology and engineering, economic geology, coal geology, seismic exploration, precambrian geology, and mining geology and engineering. * Offers theoretical guidelines of how the facies and time relationships are expected to be under specific circumstances such as subsidence patterns, sediment supply, topographic gradients, etc. * Contains numerous high-quality and full-color diagrams, photographs and illustrations, virtually on every aid in comprehension of the subject * Features a dedicated chapter on discussions and conclusions incorporating all previous chapters with references, basic principles and strategies * Provides an extensive list of references for further reading, as well as an author and subject index for quick information access

A Comprehensive review of modern stratigraphic methods. The stratigraphic record is the major repository of information about the geological history of Earth, a record stretching back for nearly 4 billion years. Stratigraphic studies fill out our planet’s plate-tectonic history with the details of paleogeography, past climates, and the record of evolution, and stratigraphy is at the heart of the effort to find and exploit fossil fuel resources. Modern stratigraphic methods are now able to provide insights into past geological events and processes on time scales with unprecedented accuracy and precision, and have added much to our understanding of global tectonic and climatic processes. It has taken 200 years and a modern revolution to bring all the necessary developments together to create the modern, dynamic science that this book sets out to describe. Stratigraphy now consists of a suite of integrated concepts and methods, several of which have considerable predictive and interpretive power. The new, integrated, dynamic science that Stratigraphy has become is now inseparable from what were its component parts, including sedimentology, chronostratigraphy, and the broader aspects of basin analysis.

Principles of Stratigraphy reafferms the vital importance of stratigraphy to the earth sciences, and introduces the undergraduate to its key elements in a lively and interesting fashion. First recent text devoted to stratigraphic principles and applications. Contains details of the latest stratigraphic techniques. Includes numerous case studies and real-world examples. An Instructor manual CD-ROM for this title is available. Please contact our Higher Education team at [email protected] for more information.