Carbonate sediments and their diagenesis / Карбонатное осадкообразование и диагенез

A very large part of our understanding of carbonate sediments and rocks is derived from studies made with the microscope. Field work lays bare the gross relationships, but is apt to be hampered by the failure of many limestones to reveal themselves clearly in the hand specimen-a serious handicap in so complex a group of rocks. Geochemical and X-ray studies, though profoundly influential, suffer not only from the length of time between question and answer, but, above all, from their inability to take cognizance of the complex fabrics which are of such critical importance in this group of multicomponent rocks. The immediacy of the microscopical approach has sustained this method as the major research tool throughout the rapid expansion of carbonate studies since World War 11: the newer and more discerning classifications depend on it. The development of refined staining techniques, of replication, including the shadowing of acetate peels, combined with the use of the transmission and scanningelectron microscopes, have shown, along with the subtle methods of cathodoluminescence, that the microscope has a rich future <...>