This concise volume offers one of the few modern treatments of stratigraphy and sedimentology, featuring the use of the stratigraphic code and an analysis of the history of geology in the development of stratigraphic principles. Covers important processes that form sedimentary rocks, explains the interpretation of rock sequences from outcrop scale to regional stratigraphic packages, and synthesizes rock and sedimentary structure classification schemes. Presents the basic tools for interpreting sedimentary structures using a process-approach to physical sedimentology, and reveals stratigraphic relationships not found in other texts. The text contains many illustrations, which provide compilations of standard classifications, hydrodynamic principles, and processes of sedimentation recast in an easily understandable format.
This fully revised and updated edition introduces the reader to sedimentology and stratigraphic principles, and provides tools for the interpretation of sediments and sedimentary rocks. The processes of formation, transport and deposition of sediment are considered and then applied to develop conceptual models for the full range of sedimentary environments, from deserts to deep seas and reefs to rivers. Different approaches to using stratigraphic principles to date and correlate strata are also considered, in order to provide a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of sedimentology and stratigraphy. The text and figures are designed to be accessible to anyone completely new to the subject, and all of the illustrative material is provided in an accompanying CD-ROM. High-resolution versions of these images can also be downloaded from the companion website for this book at: www.wiley.com/go/nicholssedimentology.
Principles of Sequence Stratigraphy, Second Edition presents principles to practical workflow that guide applications in a consistent manner that is independent of model, geological setting and the types and resolution of the data available. The book explains the points of agreement and difference between the various approaches to sequence stratigraphy, while also defining the common ground that affords the standard application of the method. This enables the practitioner to avoid nomenclatural and methodological confusions and apply sequence stratigraphy. The text is richly illustrated with hundreds of full-color diagrams and examples of outcrop, borehole and seismic data. The book's balanced approach helps students and professionals acquire a sound understanding of the concepts and methodology. It will appeal to geologists, geophysicists and engineers with interest in basin analysis, stratigraphy and sedimentology, as well as in all economic applications that concern the exploration and production of natural resources, including water, hydrocarbons, coal and sediment-hosted mineral deposits. - Updates the award-winning first edition in all aspects of sequence stratigraphy, from the underlying theory to the practical applications - Presents the standard approach to sequence stratigraphic methodology, nomenclature, and classification; the role of modeling in sequence stratigraphy, and the difference between modeling and methodology - Discusses the roles of scale and stratigraphic resolution in sequence stratigraphy, and the workflow that affords a consistent application of the method irrespective of the types of data available - Describes the three-dimensional nature of the stratigraphic architecture, and the variability of stratigraphic sequences with the tectonic setting, depositional setting, and the climatic regime - Illustrates all concepts with high-quality, full-color diagrams, outcrop photographs, and subsurface well data and seismic images
Aimed at advanced undergraduates but suitable also for graduate students and professionals, it covers processes of sedimentation, describes the characteristics of sedimentary rocks formed in major sedimentary environments, and discusses the fundamental principles of stratigraphy and basin analysis, including recent developments in the important fields of magnetostratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, isotope stratigraphy, and sea-level analysis. The book presents divergent views on controversial topics and is extensively referenced and up-to-date thus encouraging students to refer to recently published literature.
apparatus is generally not required for the making of My aim in this book is simple. It is to set out in a logical useful sedimentological experiments. Most of the equip way what I believe is the minimum that the senior undergraduate and beginning postgraduate student in ment needed for those I describe can be found in the kit the Earth sciences should nowadays know of general chen, bathroom or general laboratory , and the materials most often required - sand, clay and flow-marking physics, in order to be able to understand (rather than form merely a descriptive knowledge of) the smaller substances - are cheaply and widely available. As described, the experiments are for the most part purely scale mechanically formed features of detrital sedi ments. In a sense, this new book is a second edition of qualitative, but many can with only little modification my earlier Physical processes of sedimentation (1970), be made the subject of a rewarding quantitative exer which continues to attract readers and purchasers, inas cise. The reader is urged to tryout these experiments much as time has not caused me to change significantly and to think up additional ones. Experimentation the essence of my philosophy about the subject. Time should be as natural an activity and mode of enquiry for has, however, brought many welcome new practitioners a physical sedimentologist as the wielding of spade and hammer.
This laboratory manual contains a variety of practical exercises in physical stratigraphy and sedimentology. Although intended to follow the organization of the author's Basics of Physical Stratigraphy and Sedimentology, the book is flexible enough to be used with virtually any text or teaching approach. In each of the seven chapters, exercises are preceded by background material that discusses the theory and principles related to the topic, including numerous diagrams, charts, formulae and classification schemes. Topics include stratigraphic principles and correlation, texture and grain size analysis, sedimentary structures, and rock descriptions and stratigraphic columns. Varying in length and complexity, the exercises can be used with the limited rock and sediment collections at most colleges and universities.
Sedimentary rocks contain the most important archive of environmental change through earth history. They record changing climates, the movement of plates, and the rise and fall of sea-level on timescales of a few thousand to billions of years. This fully revised and updated edition introduces the reader to sedimentology and stratigraphic principles, and provides tools for the interpretation of sediments and sedimentary rocks. The processes of formation, transport and deposition of sediment are considered and then applied to develop conceptual models for the full range of sedimentary environments, from deserts to deep seas and reefs to rivers. Different approaches to using stratigraphic principles to date and correlate strata are also considered, in order to provide a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of sedimentology and stratigraphy. The text and figures are designed to be accessible to anyone completely new to the subject, and all of the illustrative material is provided in an accompanying CD-ROM. High-resolution versions of these images can also be downloaded from the companion website for this book at: www.wiley.com/go/nicholssedimentology.
Sediments and sedimentary rocks cover 70% of the Earth's surface, and make up a significant portion of the geological record. Understanding the processes (physical, chemical and biological) that lead to formation of sedimentary material is key in disciplines ranging from geology to environmental science to archaeology. But before interpretation must come observation and identification: Stow's Field Guide is a must-have for this distinctly visual process Professor Stow has culled his extensive research experience into a succinct guide designed for students and professionals in geophysics, geochemistry, paleontology, soil sciences, environmental sciences and more. Sections on field techniques and reader-friendly descriptions also make this guide accessible to amateur geologists. * More than 400 color photographs and diagrams * Extensive cross-referencing for ease of use in the field * Examples from more than 30 countries * Focus on economic applications
