Carbonate Sedimentology

Carbonate rocks (limestones and dolomites) constitute a major partof the geological column and contain not only 60% of the world'sknown hydrocarbons but also host extensive mineral deposits. Thisbook represents the first major review of carbonate sedimentologysince the mid 1970's. It is aimed at the advanced undergraduate -postgraduate level and will also be of major interest to geologistsworking in the oil industry. Carbonate Sedimentology is designed to take the readerfrom the basic aspects of limestone recognition and classificationthrough to an appreciation of the most recent developments such aslarge scale facies modelling and isotope geochemistry. Novelaspects of the book include a detailed review of carbonatemineralogy, non-marine carbonate depositional environments and anin-depth look at carbonate deposition and diagenesis throughgeologic time. In addition, the reviews of individual depositionalsystems stress a process-based approach rather than one centered onsimple comparative sedimentology. The unique quality of this bookis that it contains integrated reviews of carbonate sedimentologyand diagenesis, within one volume.

Sedimentology and stratigraphy are neighbors yet distinctly separate entities within the earth sciences. Sedimentology searches for the common traits of sedimentary rocks regardless of age as it reconstructs environments and processes of deposition and erosion from the sediment record. Stratigraphy, by contrast, concentrates on changes with time, on measuring time and correlating coeval events. Sequence stratigraphy straddles the boundary between the two fields. This book, dedicated to carbonate rocks, approaches sequence stratigraphy from its sedimentologic background. This book attempts to communicate by combining different specialities and different lines of reasoning, and by searching for principles underlying the bewildering diversity of carbonate rocks. It provides enough general background, in introductory chapters and appendices, to be easily digestible for sedimentologists and stratigraphers as well as earth scientists at large.

This textbook provides an overview of the origin and preservation of carbonate sedimentary rocks. The focus is on limestones and dolostones and the sediments from which they are derived. The approach is general and universal and draws heavily on fundamental discoveries, arresting interpretations, and keystone syntheses that have been developed over the last five decades. The book is designed as a teaching tool for upper level undergraduate classes, a fundamental reference for graduate and research students, and a scholarly source of information for practicing professionals whose expertise lies outside this specialty. The approach is rigorous, with every chapter being designed as a separate lecture on a specific topic that is encased within a larger scheme. The text is profusely illustrated with all colour diagrams and images of rocks, subsurface cores, thin sections, modern sediments, and underwater seascapes. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/james/carbonaterocks

Sedimentology and stratigraphy are neighbors yet distinctly separate entities within the earth sciences. Sedimentology searches for the common traits of sedimentary rocks regardless of age as it reconstructs environments and processes of deposition and erosion from the sediment record. Stratigraphy, by contrast, concentrates on changes with time, on measuring time and correlating coeval events. Sequence stratigraphy straddles the boundary between the two fields. This book, dedicated to carbonate rocks, approaches sequence stratigraphy from its sedimentologic background. This book attempts to communicate by combining different specialities and different lines of reasoning, and by searching for principles underlying the bewildering diversity of carbonate rocks. It provides enough general background, in introductory chapters and appendices, to be easily digestible for sedimentologists and stratigraphers as well as earth scientists at large.

In the field of sedimentary research, ever increasing emphasis has been put on the investigations of carbonates and carbonate rocks during the past 30 years. It is thus quite natural that in Central Europe - where c1assical carbonate in vestigations have already been carried out 100 years ago - numerous scholars turned to the study of this sediment type. On the occasion of a visiting professorship of G. M. FRIEDMAN at the Labora torium für Sedimentforschung, Heidelberg University, a seminar on "Recent Developments of Carbonate Sedimentology in Central Europe" was held in July 1967. 90 persons involved in carbonate investigations participated, and 35 lectures were held. The present volume contains 30 papers summarizing the different subjects of the seminar. Of course these contributions only represent a small part of the work actually performed in the field of carbonate research in Central Europe. We believe, however, that they give a general survey of the work and the working methods employed in the different sectors of carbonate investigations. One of the purposes of the present symposium is to acquaint the English speaking countries with our recent results which usually - due to the language barrier - are not accessible to them.

In this text, the authors present current research in the study of the sedimentology, geographical distribution and economic importance of carbonates. The topics discussed in this compilation include the alternative procedures for the synthesis of linear carbonates from alcohol and carbon dioxide; functional polymers based on carbonates obtained from CO2; an experiment using soil micromorphology and image analysis for physical redistribution of calcium carbonate in soil pore systems; and the types of petroleum reservoirs in carbonate sediments of the Russian Basin.