Publisher : Elsevier Science Ltd (December 1983)
ISBN : 978-0444421654
Number of Pages : 415
File Type : PDF
The fascination of petroleum geology lies both in its complexity and in its importance to society. There is still much that we do not understand; and there is much to learn if remaining undiscovered reserves of oil and gas are to be found economically. It is also good geology with a healthy practical component.
The great advances in geological thought and understanding in the 19th Century were based largely on the construction of coal mines, railways and canals. But this was almost two-dimensional geology of the land, bounded by the low-tide line. In the last 30 years or so, geology has moved offshore onto the continental shelves and ocean floors, largely under the stimulus of petroleum exploration, and with it has grown a great wealth of geological information.
In “Petroleum Geology: a Concise Study” (published by Elsevier in 1973, with the paperback edition in 1976) I attempted to focus on those elements of petroleum geology that seemed to be amenable to synthesis and to provide a broader understanding of some significant processes in petroleum geology. Since then, there has been an even more spectacular growth in the quality and quantity of geological information. We are still being buried under a mountain of empirical data.
This book is the child of the first. It was no longer possible, or even desirable, to follow the format of the first book, although I have no reason to wish to change the main conclusions in it. Once again, I have tried to present the subject in a way that will also interest the student who does not intend to follow a career in the petroleum industry. I hope also that, like its predecessor, this book will also interest those with some experience in the industry. My purpose here is to present a view of petroleum geology that may also contribute something to our understanding of wider aspects of geology. I have only paraphrased the works of others in essential outline. References to topics not considered here in detail are given at the end of each chapter, as are references to works that present a different view or interpretation. The reader is encouraged to delve into the literature because it is exciting.
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