Sedimentary Environments and Facies [antikvár]

PrefaceThis book was conceived in late-1974 to provide a single comprehensive text, covering modern and ancient environments, suitable for advanced university students, research workers and professional geologists. To cover all environments and facies with the authority of an active researcher, we formed a group of authors who knew each other well and shared a common philosophical view. We could thus criticize, amend and integrate each others' contributions, while retaining our individual styles and responsibihty for each chapter.The names of the authors are listed in the Contents and we expect that reference made to a chapter will be according to the name of the individual author.As with all textbooks, our main problems have been the selection of material and the need to strike a balance between comprehensiveness and cost. Many chapters had to be reduced to half their original length and references pruned. The inevitable loss of data is balanced by a more selective and readable text.No textbook is solely the product of its authors. In this book we have incorporated the facts, ideas, philosophies and prejudices of many others; some are quoted and acknowledged; others have been absorbed by us over many years from teachers, colleagues, friends and students. The person who has been particularly influential on many of us has been Maurits de Raaf, formerly Professor of Sedimentology at the University of Utrecht. He has taught us to combine careful facies analysis and an examination of every detail in a rock with an unceasing search for sedimentary models, to doubt constantly any hypothesis we may be defending, and to beware of becoming dogmatic. This philosophy, we hope, will be followed by all who read this book and look at rocks.Many persons have read part of the book and it hasbenefited from their criticisms and suggestions. In particular thanks go to Ed S. Belt, Mike R. Leeder and Roger G. Walker for their comments on the early synopses and specimen chapters. For reading one or more individual chapters we extend thanks to D. Graham Bell, Ed S. Belt, C.G. Bennet, Bernard M. Besly, Geoffrey S. Boulton, Paul H. Bridges, John C. Crowell, Robert W. Dalrymple, Graham Evans, Alfred G. Fischer, Robert E. Garrison, Joseph H. Hartshorn, Alan P. Heward, Franklyn B. van Houten, Colin M. Jones, Mike R. Leeder, Alan Lees, Bruce K. Levell, 1. Nick McCave, Alayne Street, David B. Thompson, Roger Vernon, Roger G. Walker, N. Lewis Watts, E.L. Winterer and Andrew Wood. Carol J. Pudsey assisted with the compilation of the index and the final editing of the book. Responsibility, however, for omissions, lack of balance or for errors must remain with us.In addition we wish to thank those who typed drafts of individual chapters and in particular Valerie Miles and Kathy Webb who between them typed so many early drafts and the final manuscript.Special acknowledgement is made to the many authors, societies and publishers who permitted illustrations from their articles, journals and books to be used as the basis for our figures; in particular to the Geological Society of America, the Geological Society of London, the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the American Geophysical Union and Elsevier Publishing Company.Finally no book can be completed without the help and encouragement of wives and families or of girl friends who patiently put up with so many evenings 'on the book'.Oxford, June 1978Harold G. Reading