Sedimentology of mud - Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists

Aims
a) Discuss our perceptions about the origins of “black shales”
b) Provide you with microtextural and compositional data
(optical and electron optical techniques) from thin sections of
some “classic black shales”. Supplement these data by
geochemical analyses. I will be “Shining light into dark
places!”
c) Review from where the sediment components in siliciclastic
mudstones are derived.
d) Review mechanisms likely responsible for sediment transport
and dispersal in these organic carbon-rich successions.
e) Discuss what happens to organic-carbon rich mudstones
shortly after they have been deposited.
f) Discuss the implications of these data for our existing “black
shale” depositional models - i.e. the effects of opening
Pandora’s Box.