Sedimentary Rocks in the Field. A Colour Guide
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Author(s): D. A. V. Stow
Publisher: Manson Publishing
ISBN: 1874545693
Format: softback
319pp
Price: £19.95
Review Date: 19 April 2005
Review: This well-illustrated handbook provides a field guide to identifying and understanding sedimentary rocks. It illustrates the principal types and points out their special characteristics through a series of colour photographs and illustrations. It begins by defining the main types of sedimentary rock and goes on to describe field techniques including safety, equipment, field notebook records, making basic measurements, field sketches and logs, paleocurrent analysis, and stratigraphic procedure. A comprehensive summary is given of the main characteristics of sedimentary rocks including bedding, sedimentary structures, sediment texture and fabric, composition and colour, as well as guidance on how to recognise these features, and what to observe and measure. The main part of the book comprises chapters devoted to individual rock types: conglomerates; sandstones; mudrocks; carbonate rocks; cherts and siliceous sediments; phosphorites; coal and oil; evaporates ironstones; soils; paleosols and duricrusts; and volcaniclastic sediments. The last chapter explains how to interpret sediment facies and their features in terms of depositional environments.