Modern and Ancient Carbonate Eolianites: Sedimentology, Sequence Stratigraphy and Diagensis

Carbonate eolianites had long been considered to be limited to the Quaternary, but a number of Mesozoic and Paleozoic examples have been documented in the past 15 years. Thus, an increased awareness of carbonate eolianites is required to properly interpret the rock record and to assess their spatial and temporal distribution. The papers of this volume will help geologists to: (1) recognize carbonate eolianites and understand their preservation potential - recognitional criteria for most carbonate environments are common knowledge, but this is less true for carbonate eolianites; (2) understand their sedimentologic and diagenetic variability - diagenesis of carbonate eolianites has important economic considerations. Whereas Quaternary eolian limestones are commonly porous, Paleozoic and Mesozoic examples are typically tight owing to compaction; (3) understand the Psilionichnus (marginal marine) and Scoyenia (nonmarine) Ichnofacies - carbonate eolianites are not devoid of trace fossils; (4) interpret them in a sequence stratigraphic framework - interpretations of relative sea level during eolian deposition can be difficult, as differences between transgressive, regressive, and deflation-sourced eolianites are subtle. Thus, the placement of sequence boundaries within interbedded eolian and subtidal carboante successsions is not entirely straightforward.

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