This comprehensive and easily-used book is a successful attempt to present an overall picture of recent knowledge on the basics of carbonate sediments and rocks, from the mineralogy and composition, origin and processes of formation to the hydrogeological and other engineering properties, related hazards and mineral deposits. It is addressed to a wide group of earth scientists and practising engineers. Written in clear scientific and intelligible style, it is both comprehensive and readily useful and informative.
Carbonate sediments and rocks, taken alone, are interesting and important deposits to study in many aspects: they are the main ingredient in the production of hydraulic binders (different types of cement and lime); carbonate rocks are also widely used as building stones and aggregates; and the limestones and dolomites are host rocks for oil, gas and various ore deposits as well as bauxites and phosphorites. Therefore carbonate rocks are of valuable economic and engineering significance.
The manual includes concise information on the mineralogy, composition, origin and distribution of the main carbonate rocks and sediments. The description of the various marine and continental environments in which these sediments form is brief but thorough. They include beaches, tidal margins, shelves, lagoons, reefs, platform margins and slopes, and pelagic settings, as well as evaporite, calcrete, cave, lake and aeolian deposits. Here we can find both fundamental classifications of carbonate sediments and rocks, and a classification of their porosity. The author pays special attention to diagenesis (the processes by which unconsolidated sediment is ultimately transformed into rocks) and metamorphic alterations of the carbonates after their burial. The dolomites are considered in a separate chapter because they serve as repositories for a variety of economic materials. They act as hosts of metal deposits and hydrocarbons.
The manual contains basic information about the development of karst on limestones and dolomites, and a brief review of the general features of karst hydrology. An engineering outline of carbonate sediments and rocks and the physical roperties of limestones and dolomites are competently discussed. One can also find useful data about methods for the extraction of carbonate sediments and possibilities for their conservation. The hazards associated with construction in regions composed predominantly of carbonates and their influence on the occurrence of hydrocarbons and mineral deposits are presented by case histories and examples.
The book is well illustrated with appropriate figures: maps, schemes, cross-plots, cross-sections, schematic illustrations and models that help the reader in a simple and very understandable manner. There are sufficient colour photographs, thin-section and SEM photomicrographs of modern and fossil organisms, the main carbonate rock types, and some of the peculiarities of their textures and structures. A comprehensive list of references directs the reader to the most pertinent sources of information.
The main role of the manual is to act as a starting point and a basic reference tool for a broad circle of specialists (engineering geologists, hydrogeologists, sedimentologists, regional geologists, geotechnical engineers), as well as for advanced undergraduate and graduate students on various geology and civil engineering courses.
