Fluvial-Tidal Sedimentology provides information on the ‘Tidal-Fluvial Transition', the transition zone between river and tidal environments, and includes contributions that address some of the most fundamental research questions, including how the morphology of the tidal-fluvial transition zone evolves over short (days) and long (decadal) time periods and for different tidal and fluvial regimes, the structure of the river flow as it varies in its magnitude over tidal currents and how this changes at the mixing interface between fresh and saline water and at the turbidity maximum, the role of suspended sediment in controlling bathymetric change and bar growth and the role of fine-grained sediment (muds and flocs), whether it is possible to differentiate between ‘fluvial’ and ‘tidally’ influenced bedforms as preserved in bars and within the adjacent floodplain and what are the diagnostic sedimentary facies of tidal-fluvial deposits and how are these different from ‘pure’ fluvial and tidal deposits, amongst other topics. The book presents the latest research on the processes and deposits of the tidal-fluvial transition, documenting recent major field programs that have quantified the flow, sediment transport, and bed morphology in tidal-fluvial zones. It uses description of contemporary environments and ancient outcrop analogues to characterize the facies change through the tidal-fluvial transition.
This handbook is vital for understanding the origin of deep-water sandstones, emphasizing sandy-mass transport deposits (SMTDs) and bottom-current reworked sands (BCRSs) in petroleum reservoirs. This cutting-edge perspective, a pragmatic alternative to the conventional turbidite concepts, is crucial because the turbidite paradigm is built on a dubious foundation without empirical data on sandy turbidity currents in modern oceans. In the absence of evidence for sandy turbidity currents in natural environments, elegant theoretical models and experimental observations of turbidity currents are irrelevant substitutes for explaining the origin of sandy deposits as "turbidites." In documenting modern and ancient SMTDs (sandy slides, sandy slumps, and sandy debrites) and BCRSs (deposits of thermohaline [contour] currents, wind-driven currents, and tidal currents), the author describes and interprets core and outcrop (1:20 to 1:50 scale) from 35 case studies worldwide (which include 32 petroleum reservoirs), totaling more than 10,000 m in cumulative thickness, carried out during the past 36 years (1974-2010). The book dispels myths about the importance of sea level lowstand and provides much-needed clarity on the triggering of sediment failures by earthquakes, meteorite impacts, tsunamis, and cyclones with implications for the distribution of deep-water sandstone petroleum reservoirs.
For the past 3.8 billion years, the geochemistry of the Earth's surface - its atmosphere, waters and exposed crust - has been determined by the presence of biota. Photosynthetic organisms exposed the Earth's surface to oxygen, denitrifying bacteria have maintained the nitrogen concentration in Earth's atmosphere, and land plants have determined the rate of chemical weathering. Life determines the global biogeochemical cycles of the elements of biochemistry, especially C, N, P and S. Volume 8 traces the origin and impact of life on the geochemistry of the Earth's surface, with special emphasis on the current human impact on global biogeochemical cycles. Reprinted individual volume from the acclaimed Treatise on Geochemistry, (10 Volume Set, ISBN 0-08-043751-6, published in 2003)
This special volume stems from a symposium 'Granitic Systems - State of the Art and Future Avenues' that was held at the Department of Geology, University of Helsinki to mark the retirement of Professor Ilmari Haapala. The twenty articles in the volume cover a wide range of granite-related topics and focus on three general themes: tectonics and source regions, petrologic processes, and fractionated granites and pegmatites. Both original papers and reviews are included, and the volume will be acknowledged by anyone with a background in Earth Sciences ad a flavor for granitoid rocks.