Open AccessCool‐Water Carbonates, SEPM Special Publication No. 56
Author(s) -
Hallock Pamela
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/eo079i001p00004-02
Subject(s) - sedimentary depositional environment , geology , reef , sedimentology , carbonate , paleozoic , paleontology , anticline , chalcedony , oceanography , calcite , materials science , tectonics , structural basin , metallurgy
Doesn't field work on modern carbonates mean scuba diving on spectacular coral reefs in gin‐clear water teeming with brightly colored fish? Not if you are one of the researchers that Jonathan Clarke of the Western Mining Corporation Ltd., in Preston, Victoria, Australia, assembled at a workshop in Geelong, Victoria, in January 1995. Their field work involves research cruises in high‐latitude oceans, where mal de mer and chilling winds are constant companions. Many braved 10‐m seas in modest‐sized research vessels to sample shelves stripped of fine sediments by storm waves whose effects can reach to depths exceeding 200 m. Noel James of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, carefully lays the groundwork for the book in a paper titled, “The Cool‐Water Carbonate Depositional Realm,” which will assuredly become a standard reading assignment in advanced undergraduate‐and graduate‐level courses in carbonate sedimentology. James skillfully shows how cool‐water carbonates are part of the greater carbonate depositional spectrum. By expanding recognition of the possible range of carbonate environments, sedimentologists expand their ability to understand and interpret ancient carbonates, particularly Paleozoic limestones that often show striking similarities to modern cool‐water sediments. James' paper is followed by nine papers on modern cool‐water carbonates, seven on Tertiary environments, and seven examples from Mesozoic and Paleozoic limestones