Applications of Palaeontology Techniques and Case Studies

About this book

Palaeontology, the scientific study of fossils, has developed from a descriptive science to an analytical science used to interpret relationships between earth and life history. Applications of Palaeontology provides a comprehensive and thematic treatment of applied palaeontology, covering the use of fossils in the ordering of rocks in time and in space, in biostratigraphy, palaeobiology and sequence stratigraphy.

Robert Wynn Jones presents a practical workflow for applied palaeontology, including sample acquisition, preparation and analysis, and interpretation and integration. He then presents numerous case studies that demonstrate the applicability and value of the subject to areas such as petroleum, mineral and coal exploration and exploitation, engineering geology and environmental science.

Contents

1. Work-flows in applied palaeontology
2. Biostratigraphy and allied disciplines, and stratigraphic time-scales
3. Palaeobiology
4. Sequence stratigraphy
5. Petroleum geology
6. Mineral exploration and exploitation
7. Coal geology and mining
8. Engineering geology
9. Environmental science
10. Other applications and case studies

References
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Robert Wynn Jones gained his BSc in geological sciences at the University of Birmingham in 1979 and his Ph.D. at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, in 1982. Since then, he has worked as a micropalaeontologist and biostratigrapher in the petroleum industry and has been a Principal Consultant Biostratigrapher at the BG Group since 2009. His industrial work involves analysis of micropalaeontological samples; interpretation of micro- and macro-palaeontological data; and integration of palaeontological interpretations into geological models for petroleum exploration and reservoir exploitation. He has worked on petroliferous sedimentary basins from all around the world and on rocks and fossils from wide ranges of ages and facies. Outside work, Dr Jones also maintains an active interest in academic research, especially in the study of foraminiferal taxonomy, palaeobiology, biostratigraphy and historical micropalaeontology. He has over 100 scientific publications to his name, including six books. He is a Scientific Associate in the Department of Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum in London.