Facies models. Volume 4 / Фациальные модели. Том 4

Facies models are encapsulated summaries of sedimentation in a depositional environment. Since the initial formulation of this concept (Walker, 1979a), facies models have become the cornerstone of modern sedimentology, and will continue to be a vital starting point for whatever new areas of research develop in the future.
The originator of the concept, Roger Wali envisioned facies models as living entities that would evolve by a feedback process , through the continual incorporation of new information and insights from both modern environments and the deposits of their ancient counterparts (Walker, 1979b; see Chapter 2). This process is abundantly clear in this new edition, which is a legacy of Roger Walker's fundamental contribution to sedimentary geology. In the 19 years since the last edition of this book was published, the attention of the sedimentological community has shifted from the creation of facies models as an end in itself to a focus on  controls, that is, how external variables influence the operation of sedimentary environments. As a result, we now know much more about how changes in such variables as tectonic setting, relative sea level, climate, ocean-water chemistry, and the composition of the biosphere influence the nature of the sedimentary record of past depositional systems. These aspects are featured much more in this edition than ever before, continuing the trend, started in previous editions, which featured discussion of
the influence of sea-Ievel change.  <...>