Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy of Carbonate Rocks

Description

W. Schlager, Vrije Universiteit/Earth and Life SciencesDe Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2002. p. 146.ISBN 90-806364-2-8This booklet supports a short course in carbonate sedimentology. It is meant as a teaching aid, not a replacement of the course. Anybody using it for self-study should be prepared to occasionally consult an introductory textbook, such as Füchtbauer & Richter (1988), Jones & Desrochers (1992), Tucker & Wright (1990), or Wright & Burchette (1996). The course is meant as an introduction to the study of carbonate rocks on the scale of outcrops to the scale of sedimentary basins. The large-scale anatomy of the rocks and the broad facies patterns are the leitmotif. The anatomy-approach is a logical first step if one is headed for the seismic interpretation of carbonate rocks. In fact, much of what has been selected for the course could also be included in a course on seismic sedimentology. However, it seems to me that the large-scale anatomy is also the favorite perspective of most field geologists in mountain belts. For them, outcrops replace seismic lines and palinspastic reconstructions rather than reservoir predictions may be the key task but their approach is in many ways akin to that of the basin analyst.ContentsIntroductionPrinciples of carbonate sedimentologyProduction, erosionGrowth potential and drowningGeometry of shoalwater carbonate accumulationsFacies patternsPrincipal controls Facies patterns – from ramp to rimmed platformStandard facies beltsEnvironmental messages from organismsRhythms and events in carbonate depositionAutocyclesMilankovitch cyclesOrganic evolutionChemical evolutionFundamentals of sequence stratigraphyImportant principles and definitions of sequence stratigraphyAccommodation and sediment supply - a dual control of stratigraphic sequencesCarbonate sequence stratigraphyCarbonate factories and the principle of depositional biasTropical carbonate sequence architecture and its controlFacies characteristics of carbonate systems tractsTypes of sequence boundariesThe sequence stratigraphy of gradual changeSea-level movements deduced from seismic imagesHighstand sheddingPeriplatform domain in sequence stratigraphyEcologic reef, geologic reef, seismic reefSequence stratigraphy of the cool-water and mud-mound factoriesMessagesReferences