The modern geological sciences are characterized by extraordinarily rapid progress, as well as by the development and application of numerous new and refined methods,most of them handling an enormous amount of data available from all the continents and oceans. Given this state of affairs, it seams inevitable that many students and professionals tend to become experts in relatively narrow fields and there by are in danger of losing a broad view of current knowledge. The abun dance of new bo...

Because of the biological origin of many siliceous deposits, their geochemical transformation in the marine environment, and their occurrence in many formations around the world, oceanographers, paleontologists, geologists, geochemists, and sedimentologists are working closely together to trace the evolution of such deposits. In this book, leading experts from all of these disciplines present new data on fine-grained deposits such as chert, primarily of the Tethys region but also of the Pa...

A Comprehensive review of modern stratigraphic methods. The stratigraphic record is the major repository of information about the geological history of Earth, a record stretching back for nearly 4 billion years. Stratigraphic studies fill out our planet’s plate-tectonic history with the details of paleogeography, past climates, and the record of evolution, and stratigraphy is at the heart of the effort to find and exploit fossil fuel resources. Modern stratigraphic methods are now able to ...

Magic of Minerals and Rocks, featuring 135 splendid color photographs, ranges from vast rock-landscapes recorded in Europe, America, Australia, and Iceland right down to finely detailed images of a few square millimeters. Close-ups of crystals, gems, and fossils are alternated with micro-images of the minute textures and patterns that emerge from thin, translucent sections of rocks and minerals. Literally, as well as figuratively Dirk Wiersma, the photographer, 'zooms in' ...

Barrier islands represent a complex coastal system that includes a number of different sedimentary depositional environments; nearshore zone, beach, dunes, washover fans, marshes, tidal flats, estuaries, lagoons, and tidal inlets. The morphodynamics of these fragile coastal systems provide a further complication to this coastal type. Although barrier islands comprise only 15% of the world's coastline, they have received a far greater proportion of attention from the scientific and engineer...

The book on deposition, diagenesis, and weathering of organic matter-rich sediments is a summary of seven years of research work of the author at the Institute of Petroleum and Organic Geochemistry in J}lich. It contains a comparision of various depositional environments (lakes, deltas, seas)with respect to organic matter characteristics, a special chapter on the deposition of the Posidonia shale, a summary of organic matter maturation and related petroleum generation, and a chapter on the...

This book teaches readers ground engineering principles and related mining and risk management practices associated with underground coal mining. It establishes the basic elements of risk management and the fundamental principles of ground behaviour and then applies these to the essential building blocks of any underground coal mining system, comprising excavations, pillars, and interactions between workings.Readers will also learn about types of ground support and reinforcement sy...

This book reveals the main trends of the formation of petroleum pools in major parts of North African basins. It deals with the regional geology of this important oil- and gas-producing area. Emphasis is laid on paleoenvironmental and provenance reconstructions, trap formation, diagenesis, compaction-decompaction equilibria in petroleum-bearing reservoirs and related fluid geodynamics and oil and gas generation and entrapment. Organic and mineral interaction is shown to be the main process in...

This contributed volume presents a multi-perspective collection of the latest research findings on oil and gas exploration and imparts insight that can greatly assist in understanding field behavior, design of test programs, and design of field operations. With this book, engineers also gain a powerful guide to the most commonly used numerical simulation methods that aid in reservoir modelling. In addition, the contributors explore development of technologies that allow for cost effective ...