An accessible and engaging introductory text for geology majors, the book covers both sedimentary rocks and stratigraphy. Sedimentary Geology utilizes important current research in tectonics and sedimentation and focuses on crucial geological principles. The book covers a wide range of topics, including trace fossils, mudrocks, diagentetic structures, and seismic stratigraphy. Contributions from chemistry, physics, and structure are drawn upon throughout the book.
New to this edition:
- Expanded coverage of petroleum geology and chemostratigraphy, a bit more emphasis on timely topics such as glacial sedimentation,the role of meteorite impacts on sedimentation, and the long-term secular greenhouse and icehouse states of our evolving planet.
- The addition of a comprehensive glossary of key terms from the text.
- There is a list of interesting web sites relevant to the study of sedimentary geology at the end of most chapters.
PREFACE
PART I: SEDIMENTARY PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS
1. Sedimentary Rocks: An Introduction
2. Weathering and Soils
3. Clastic Transport and Fluid Flow
4. Sedimentary Structures
PART II: SILICICLASTIC SEDIMENTS AND ENVIRONMENTS
5. Sandstones and Conglomerates
6. Mudrocks
7. Siliciclastic Diagenesis
8. Terrestrial Sedimentary Environments
9. Coastal Environments
10. Clastic Marine and Pelagic Environments
PART III: BIOGENIC, CHEMICAL, AND OTHER NONSILICICLASTIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
11. Carbonate Rocks
12. Carbonate Environments
13. Other Biogenic Sedimentary Rocks
14. Chemical and Nonepiclastic Sedimentary Rocks
PART IV: STRATIGRAPHY
15. Lithostratigraphy
16. Biostratigraphy / Controlling Factors: Evolution and Paleoecology
17. Geophysical and Chemostratigraphic Correlation
18. Geochronology and Chronostratigraphy
19. Sedimentary Rocks in Space and Time
Appendices
Glossary
Donald R. Prothero is Professor of Geology at Occidental College in Los Angeles and Lecturer in Geobiology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He earned a Ph.D. in geological sciences from Columbia University. Prothero is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of 22 books and over 200 scientific papers. He is on the editorial board of Skeptic magazine, and has served as an associate or technical editor for Geology, Paleobiology, and Journal of Paleontology. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the Paleontology Society, and the Linnaean Society of London, and has also received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Science Foundation. In 1991, he received the Schuchert Award from the Paleontology Society for the outstanding paleontologist under the age of 40. He has been featured on several television documentaries, including Paleoworld and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts.
Frederick L. Schwab is professor Emeritus in the Department of Geology at Washington and Lee University