Carbonate Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy

Sedimentology and stratigraphy are neighboring yet distinctly separate entities within the earth sciences. Put in a nutshell, sedimentology searches for the common traits of sedimentary rocks regardless of age as it reconstructs environments and processes of deposition and erosion from the sediment record. Stratigraphy, by contrast, concentrates on changes with time, on measuring time and correlating coeval events. Sequence stratigraphy straddles the boundary between the two fields. It is a sedimentologic concept as it uses depositional anatomy to reconstruct environments and lateral facies change, and it is part of stratigraphy as it studies the vertical succession of sedimentary rocks and their succession and correlation. “Carbonate Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy” enhances our grasp of these interrelated concepts.

This expose, dedicated to carbonate rocks, approaches sequence stratigraphy from its sedimentologic background. Carbonate sedimentation, in contrast to siliciclastic sedimentation, is largely governed by chemistry and biota of the ocean and thus intimately tied to the ocean environment. Therefore, the presentation starts with essentials of physical and chemical oceanography and biology. It then proceeds to principles of marine carbonate production (and erosion) and the geometry of carbonate accumulations, using the concept of carbonate production systems, or factories, to illustrate the variations among carbonate rocks. “Carbonate Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy”provides invaluable insights into this facet.

Armed with the knowledge on production and accumulation, the text turns to carbonate facies; the sedimentologic part closes with an overview of the rhythms and events governing carbonate deposition in time and space. Chapters 6 through 8 deal with sequence stratigraphy. This part starts with an overview of the standard model of sequence stratigraphy and then develops carbonate sequence stratigraphy on the basis of processes and principles presented in the sedimentologic part, using the three major carbonate factories as a template for discussion.

The “Carbonate Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy” book attempts to make progress by combining different specialties and different lines of reasoning, and by searching for principles underlying the bewildering diversity of carbonate rocks. I think the expose provides enough general background, in introductory chapters and appendices, to be easily digestible for sedimentologists and stratigraphers as well as earth scientists at large. The text does appeal to the reader’s willingness to engage in scientific discussion, however. It is not a cook book presenting recipes.

The book of “Carbonate Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy” bears the name of a single author butmany have supported me in the endeavor. Gregor Eberli (University of Miami), Mitch Harris (Chevron, San Ramon), Adrian Immenhauser (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) and Rick Sarg (Exxon, Houston) reviewed the entire manuscript, Eberli and Harris did so as official reviewers for SEPM. Advice on special topics was offered by Giovanni Bertotti (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) on tectonics, Bruce Fouke (University of Illinois, Urbana) on sea cliffs, Henk Kooi (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam) on slope stability, and Georg Warrlich (Shell, Rijswijk) on computer modeling.