Preface
The modem 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 searns inevitable that rnany students and professionals tend to become experts in relatively narrow fields and thereby are in danger
of losing a broad view of current knowledge. The abundance of new books and
symposium volumes testifies to this trend toward specialization. However, many
geologie processes are complex and result from the interaction of many, seemingly
unrelated, individual factors. This signifies that we still need generalists who have
the broad overview and are able to evaluate the great variety of factors and proces ses controlling a geologie system, such as a sedimentary basin. In addition, this
also means that cooperation with other disciplines in the natural sciences and engineering is increasingly important.
Modem text books providing this broad overview of the earth sciences are rare.
Some are written by several authors together to make sure that all topics are treated
properly. When individual authors write a book, they run the risk of creating a text
that is less balanced, because they cannot avoid indulging their own preferences
for specific topics and field examples. However, this disadvantage can be compensated for by the fact that just one author can produce a more concise and uniform
text and include appropriate cross references.
In this one-author book I have tried to put much information into a considerable
number of figures. Once the reader has acquired some basic knowledge and has
read the text, he should be able to recall it easily by looking at these composite illustrations, for example the various facies models demonstrating both the
depositional environment and the resulting vertical sequences. Many of these figures may be regarded as a kind of summary of the chapter in question; therefore, I
did not give written summaries at the end of each chapter as found in many other
textbooks.
This book addresses both qualitative and quantitative aspects of basin analysis,
including topics such as various flux rates, diagenesis, and fluid flow, in the context of plate tee tonics and sedimentary geology. Tectonic subsidence and uplift are
prerequisites for basin formation and terrigenous sediment supply, but sedimentary
processes in a basin are govemed by other factors, including water circulation and
recycling of nutrients, sediment transport, deposition, and redistribution. The sedimentary facies of a basin are largely controlled by the interrelationship between
subsidence, sedimentation rate, and relative sea level change. Basinal sediment
budgets are a topic which has been rarely treated in textbooks. Large-scale proces ses, facies associations, and especially sedimentary sequences are stressed in
the book, rather than srnall-scale sedimentary structures, texture, petrographie
characteristics, or detailed descriptions of biogenie sediment components and trace
fossils. The latter phenomena are sufficiently described in a number of modem
books. Finally, brief sections address the application of basic knowledge to exploration for hydrocarbons, coal, minerals, and deep groundwater.
This book is written for advanced students and professionals who require a
comparatively straightforward, elementary treatment of sedimentary basin proces ses and evolution. The reader should already be familiar with general geology
The modem 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 searns inevitable that rnany students and professionals tend to become experts in relatively narrow fields and thereby are in danger
of losing a broad view of current knowledge. The abundance of new books and
symposium volumes testifies to this trend toward specialization. However, many
geologie processes are complex and result from the interaction of many, seemingly
unrelated, individual factors. This signifies that we still need generalists who have
the broad overview and are able to evaluate the great variety of factors and proces ses controlling a geologie system, such as a sedimentary basin. In addition, this
also means that cooperation with other disciplines in the natural sciences and engineering is increasingly important.
Modem text books providing this broad overview of the earth sciences are rare.
Some are written by several authors together to make sure that all topics are treated
properly. When individual authors write a book, they run the risk of creating a text
that is less balanced, because they cannot avoid indulging their own preferences
for specific topics and field examples. However, this disadvantage can be compensated for by the fact that just one author can produce a more concise and uniform
text and include appropriate cross references.
In this one-author book I have tried to put much information into a considerable
number of figures. Once the reader has acquired some basic knowledge and has
read the text, he should be able to recall it easily by looking at these composite illustrations, for example the various facies models demonstrating both the
depositional environment and the resulting vertical sequences. Many of these figures may be regarded as a kind of summary of the chapter in question; therefore, I
did not give written summaries at the end of each chapter as found in many other
textbooks.
This book addresses both qualitative and quantitative aspects of basin analysis,
including topics such as various flux rates, diagenesis, and fluid flow, in the context of plate tee tonics and sedimentary geology. Tectonic subsidence and uplift are
prerequisites for basin formation and terrigenous sediment supply, but sedimentary
processes in a basin are govemed by other factors, including water circulation and
recycling of nutrients, sediment transport, deposition, and redistribution. The sedimentary facies of a basin are largely controlled by the interrelationship between
subsidence, sedimentation rate, and relative sea level change. Basinal sediment
budgets are a topic which has been rarely treated in textbooks. Large-scale proces ses, facies associations, and especially sedimentary sequences are stressed in
the book, rather than srnall-scale sedimentary structures, texture, petrographie
characteristics, or detailed descriptions of biogenie sediment components and trace
fossils. The latter phenomena are sufficiently described in a number of modem
books. Finally, brief sections address the application of basic knowledge to exploration for hydrocarbons, coal, minerals, and deep groundwater.
This book is written for advanced students and professionals who require a
comparatively straightforward, elementary treatment of sedimentary basin proces ses and evolution. The reader should already be familiar with general geology