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U.S. Department of Energy
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Ancient sedimentary environments and their subsurface diagnosis, third edition

Book ·
OSTI ID:5268348

All the worlds coal, most of its petroleum, and many ore deposits occur within sedimentary rocks (sandstones, limestones and shales). The distribution of these minerals is closely related to the sedimentary environment of the host rock. For example, an oil field trapped in an old beach sand will be elongated parallel to the basin margin, while a bed of coal within an abandoned river channel will trend into the basin. This book shows how to diagnose the depositional environments of sedimentary rocks and indicates how this knowledge may be applied to the search for petroleum, coal and sedimentary ore deposits. The first edition of this book appeared in 1970. It was primarily concerned with the interpretation of sedimentary environments from outcrop, from an aesthetic stance, with no thought of vulgar commercial application. The second edition (1977) reflected the author's experience in the oil industry and included sections on the use of geophysical well logs in subsurface facies analysis. In recent years the field that is loosely termed seismic stratigraphy developed, where sedimentary concepts are applied to the interpretation of seismic data. Today seismic surveys may delineate channels, deltas, reefs, submarine fans, and other deposits. The thrid edition contains sections on the seismic characteristics of the various sedimentary facies, and the sections on metalliferous sedimentary deposits and recent environments have been expanded.

OSTI ID:
5268348
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English