Deepwater Sedimentary Systems: Science, Discovery and Applications helps readers identify, understand and interpret deepwater sedimentary systems at various scales - both onshore and offshore. This book describes the best practices in the integration of geology, geophysics, engineering, technology and economics used to inform smart business decisions in these diverse environments. It draws on technical results gained from deepwater exploration and production drilling campaigns and global field analog studies. With the multi-decadal resilience of deepwater exploration and production and the nature of its inherent uncertainty, this book serves as the essential reference for companies, consultancies, universities, governments and deepwater practitioners around the world seeking to understand deepwater systems and how to explore for and produce resources in these frontier environments. From an academic perspective, readers will use this book as the primer for understanding the processes, deposits and sedimentary environments in deep water - from deep oceans to deep lakes. This book provides conceptual approaches and state-of-the-art information on deepwater systems, as well as scenarios for the next 100 years of human-led exploration and development in deepwater, offshore environments. The students taught this material in today's classrooms will become the leaders of tomorrow in Earth's deepwater frontier. This book provides a broad foundation in deepwater sedimentary systems. What may take an individual dozens of academic and professional courses to achieve an understanding in these systems is provided here in one book.

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.

This book illustrates a wide geographic and stratigraphic range of the features and structures to be seen within the modern and preserved rock record which can be ascribed to the presence and/or influence of microbials mats; with an accent on the Precambrian record. It restricts to the siliciclastic rock record and equivalent modern settings. Much work by individuals and teams has been done on these features in the past decade but the general sedimentologist and geologist are not well informed or even aware of the range and importance of these structures. This book illustrates and fully describes all the relevant features, to accoutn for their genesis and to place their occurrence within a conceptual-process-related, and time-palaeoenvironmental context, as well considering their implications for sequence architecture.
* The first full compilation of microbial mat features/structures preserved in the sliciclastic rock record
* High quality, full color photographs fully support the text
* Modern and ancient examples connect the formative processes and utilization of mat-related features in the interpretation of sedimentary rocks

Principles of Sequence Stratigraphy provides an in-depth coverage and impartial assessment of all current ideas and models in the field of sequence stratigraphy. Even though widely popular among all groups interested in the analysis of sedimentary basin fills, both in academia and in the industry, sequence stratigraphy is yet a difficult undertaking due to an overwhelming jargon and the persistence of conflicting approaches as to how the sequence stratigraphic method should be applied to the rock record. This textbook examines the relationship between such conflicting approaches from the perspective of a unifying platform, demonstrating that sufficient common ground exists to eliminate terminology barriers and to facilitate communication between all practitioners of sequence stratigraphy.

This work is not only a review of past and current literature, but also includes key original viewpoints and is illustrated with new graphic material and numerous field examples of outcrop, core, well log and 3D seismic data in full colour. The book is addressed to anyone interested in understanding and applying the method of sequence stratigraphic analysis, from students to geologists, geophysicists and reservoir engineers. Sequence stratigraphy remains the most recent paradigm in the broad field of sedimentary geology, with tremendous potential to deciphering the record of global change and to improving the success of economic exploration.
* 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

In this book the editors strive to cover all primary (i.e. non-applied) topics in Precambrian geology in a non-partisan way, by using a large team of international authors to present their datasets and highly divergent viewpoints.

The chapters address: celestial origins of Earth and succeeding extraterrestrial impact events; generation of continental crust and the greenstone-granite debate; the interaction of mantle plumes and plate tectonics over Precambrian time; Precambrian volcanism, emphasising komatiite research; evolution and models for Earth's hydrosphere and atmosphere; evolution of life and its influence on Precambrian ocean chemistry and chemical sedimentation; sedimentation through Precambrian time; the application of sequence stratigraphy to the Precambrian rock record. Each topic is introduced and a non-partisan closing commentary provided at the end of each chapter. The final chapter blends the major geological events and rates at which important processes occurred into a synthesis, which postulates a number of "event clusters" in the Precambrian when significant changes occurred in many natural systems and geological environments.

Also available in paperback, ISBN: 0-444-51509-7