Product Description

The book provides a synthesis of the methods used in microfacies analysis, the potential of microfacies in evaluating depositional environments and diagenetic history, and the application of microfacies data in the study of carbonate hydrocarbon reservoirs and the provenance of archaeological materials. The first part of the book (Microfacies Analysis) deals with field and laboratory methods; the description and significance of microfacies data; quantitative microfacies analysis; diagenetic processes and diagenetic products; common textural limestone classifications and specific classifications for reef limestones, non-marine carbonates, recrystallized limestones and mixed carbonate-siliciclastic rocks; biological controls of carbonate sedimentation; and fossils in thin section. The second part (Microfacies Interpretation) is focused on the methods of making of microfacies types; diagonsotic criteria of palaeoenvironmental conditons and processes; the importance of integrated facies analysis including mineralogical and geochemical data; the definition of depositional facies models, facies zones and standard microfacies types, and the recognition of depositional constraints influencing cyclic carbonates, reef limestones, cold-water carbonates, vent and seep carbonates and mixed carbonate-siliciclastic rocks. The last chapter deals with secular variations of facies features. The third part of the book (Practical Use of Microfacies) underlines the facies controls of reservoir and host rocks, the importance of microfacies and diagenesis for understanding technological properties of carbonate rocks and the destruction and conservation of carbonate objects, and discusses the potential of microfacies for archaeometrical studies. Nearly 230 instructive plates (30 in color)showing thin-section photographs with detailed explanations form a central part of the content.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #641179 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 976 pages

Review

From the reviews:

My general conclusion is: Flügel achieved a momentous job in newly summarising the huge volume of dispersed data of one type of geological phenomena as preserved in our billion-year (well, approximately!) old stratigraphic record – as evidenced alone by many of the author’s theoretical and practical comparative diagrams and tables. Dear reader, don’t be without this reference handbook, or mini-encyclopaedia! Every geological or Earth science company, college or university and research institute library ought to have a copy.
Karl Wolf
The Australian Geologist, Newsletter, No. 135, p.45-46, June 30, 2005

"Written for upper level undergraduates and graduates and can also be used in research, exploration and production of hydrocarbons and ores. … An appendix presents answers to exercises distributed throughout the text. … It is clear that this work is the result of lifelong research … . new aspects have been added, and up-to-date references and personal communications are used. … A remarkable feature of the book is the abundance of excellent quality illustrations and the lengthy and detailed plate captions." (T. J .A. Reijers, Journal of Sedimentary Research, February, 2005)

"Microfacies is regarded as the total of all sedimentological and paleontological data … . Excellently edited, with 330 figures and 151 plates of the highest quality … the book will be a precious item in a geologist’s collection. … The book is clearly structured and presented. … The book will be invaluable for geologists and geophysicists, both academic and those working in geologic prospection and industry. The wealth of figures is a good basis from which academic teachers can prepare their lectures for graduate students." (Marek Lewandowski, Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 163, 2006)

"This version is a much expanded, up-to-date and very clearly laid out reference work with a CD containing a massive reference list … . There should be copies in every university library and petrology teaching laboratory, oil company and service company and it should have a place on the shelves of every sedimentologist. It is a book the young sedimentologist will have to read methodically, and the experienced specialist can learn much from it." (Paul Wright, Geological Magazine, Vol. 143 (1), 2006)

Customer Reviews

Fundamental
An updated and complete guide in carbonate petrography for students and geologists. Fundamental base in carbonate interpretation with fantastic photos, descriptions and references. Well structured writing and presentation. Not to be missed!

Must Have for the Carbonate Sedimentologist
In the past thirty years, there have been quite a few books on sedimentology. My impression has been that the books covering or specializing in siliciclastic sedimentology have overshadowed those dealing with carbonates, both in volume and in useful content. There have been exceptions. The texts by James Lee Wilson (Carbonate Facies in Geologic History) and Robin Bathurst (Carbonate Sediments and Their Diagenesis) stand out as being particularly important and are considered "classics" in the field of carbonate sedimentology. The release of the new book by Eric Flugel has added a third volume to the trilogy. At nearly 1,000 pages, Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks... is literally a massive tome, well published and well edited, a true compendium of up-to-date knowledge of all things carbonate including an expansion and illustration of Flugel's own modification of earlier carbonate rock classification schemes by Folk and Dunham. Photographic illustrations are a mixture of colour and black-and-white with the majority in the latter format. No matter, the photos are superb! Colour may appear sparingly but when it does, it is always used to illustrate an important point or topic; likewise for the black-and-whites. One might expect the accompanying text to lag since the illustrations are so voluminous and well done. Not so. The text is equally voluminous, and more importantly, the text is well written, well documented, well illustrated, and supported by reference to photomicrographs and other figures. This book is the ideal reference work but has yet to make it to a place on my bookshelf because, upon arrival, it was immediately pressed into service by a graduate student of mine, helping him sort out several puzzling features in his thesis thin sections. Flugel's book is designed to be used and it will be. I intend to read the whole thing from cover to cover . . . when I can borrow it back from my grad student.