Sedimentary Structures: (Fourth Edition)

Now enhanced with colour photographs and illustrations, this thoroughly revised fourth edition of Sedimentary Structures enhances its status as a major textbook in geology. Since its first publication in 1982, Sedimentary Structures has established and maintained itself as a pre-eminent resource that sets out a clear methodology and philosophy for understanding present-day sediments and sedimentary rocks as the product of dynamic processes. The fourth edition of this classic textbook introduces erosional, depositional and post-depositional sedimentary processes in an easily accessible way. It shows how sedimentary structures can be interpreted, across a wide range of scales, in terms of those processes. Sedimentary structures produced by erosion, deposition and post-depositional change are all clearly explained and related to the processes that formed them. Hydrodynamic and aerodynamic controls on the development of subaqueous and aeolian bedforms are discussed, as are the styles of deformation to which sediments can be subjected after deposition. Structures that characterize deposition caused by chemical and biologically influenced processes are explained and illustrated, along with the complex effects of chemical changes, and of animal and plant activity in modifying sediments after they have been deposited. The book ends with an introduction to the methods and principles of environmental interpretation, for which earlier chapters provide an invaluable basis. Sedimentary Structures is designed principally for use in undergraduate settings and will be invaluable to students reading geology, earth sciences, physical geography and environmental sciences throughout their degree studies. It will also appeal to enthusiastic students at colleges and schools, as well as to amateur geologists who want to gain an understanding of sedimentary processes and products. Furthermore, the book is also valuable as a reference for both academic researchers and industry professionals alike. The fourth edition covers all major recent developments in the subject. It is characterized by an abundance of informative illustrations and photographic examples, and introduces colour figures for the first time. This edition, the first prepared without the direct input of the late David Thompson, builds on a major re-write that paid particular attention to recent advances in the understanding of aeolian processes and bedforms, and in the interpretation of trace fossils. The introduction to environmental interpretation has been further developed to reflect recent advances in stratigraphic thinking, thereby enabling sedimentologists to more readily relate the occurrence of assemblages of sedimentary structures to likely environments of deposition. Sedimentary Structures emphasizes a practical, hands-on approach. It remains indispensable to those with a serious interest in the study of sedimentary structures, not only as fascinating features in themselves but also as key indicators in the reconstruction of past environments Cover Book Title Copyright Contents Preface Acknowledgements 1 Introduction to the study of sedimentary structures 1.1 The nature of this book 1.2 The wider geological context of sedimentary structures 1.3 Sedimentary structures and science Study techniques 2 Bedding 2.1 The nature of bedding 2.2 The significance of bedding Study techniques 3 Basic properties of fluids, flows and sediment 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Properties of low-viscosity fluids and flows 3.3 Waves 3.4 Properties of sediments moved by flows 3.5 Erosion 3.6 Modes of sediment transport 3.7 Sediment gravity flows 3.8 Pyroclastic density currents Study techniques 4 Erosional structures 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Sole marks 4.3 Small-scale structures on modern and ancient upper surfaces 4.4 Erosional features in vertical section Study techniques 5 Depositional structures in muds, mudstones and shales 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Structures and lamination Study techniques 6 Depositional structures of sands and sandstones 6.1 Aqueous ripples and cross lamination 6.2 Aqueous dunes, sandwaves, bars and cross bedding 6.3 Flat beds and parallel lamination 6.4 Undulating smooth surfaces and lamination 6.5 Hummocky and swaley cross stratification 6.6 Massive sand beds 6.7 Normally graded beds, inverse grading, the Bouma sequence and hybrid-event beds 6.8 Aeolian bedforms and lamination Study techniques 7 Depositional structures in gravels, conglomerates and breccias 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Classification 7.3 Morphology and general settings of gravel deposition 7.4 Textures, fabrics, and structures: their mode of formation 7.5 Processes of formation of mass properties and structures 7.6 Uses of structures Study techniques 8 Depositional structures of chemical and biological origin 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Chemical precipitation 8.3 Precipitation and binding of sediment by organisms 8.4 Early cementation 8.5 Other bedding phenomena in limestones Study techniques 9 Structures due to deformation and disturbance 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Physically induced soft-sediment deformation 9.3 Chemically induced disturbance 9.4 Biogenic sedimentary structures: trace fossils Study techniques 10 Assemblages of structures and environmental interpretation 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Mapping of modern environments 10.3 Measurement of sections in rock successions 10.4 Interpretation of vertical sequences in rocks 10.5 Key stratigraphic surfaces 10.6 Interpretation of lateral relationships in sedimentary rocks Study techniques Appendix 1 Directional data: collection, display, analysis and interpretation Appendix 2 Sampling and preserving unconsolidated sediments Appendix 3 Methods for studying present-day environments Appendix 4 Techniques for the study of trace fossils Appendix 5 Techniques for sedimentary logging Appendix 6 Key to common sedimentary lithologies and structures Bibliography Index Back Cover Completely revised new edition, in colour for the first time, of an established textbook in sedimentology.