The complete course will consist of six to seven modules, each designed as a fully referenced set of standalone video chapters. We have structured it this way to ensure each module is relevant to senior undergraduates, postgraduate students, and industry professionals seeking to enhance their skills in carbonate geology.
You can decide what aspects you want to access as course pricing is modular, allowing interested students and professionals to enroll in each module for US $79.95 each or when the complete course is finalised (early 2027) the enrollment cost is US$449.95
Module 1: The biology and classification of carbonate sediments
Module 2: The Geological Spectrum: Present & past - Warm & cool
Module 3; Carbonate diagenesis
Module 4: Carbonate sequence stratigraphy
Module 5: Carbonate petrophysics
Module 6: Fracture development in carbonates
Module 7: Basic well log analysis in carbonates
This video chapter is part of Module 1, in the section dealing with classification of carbonates (4 video chapters in this sectionof Module 1). This introductory videodiscusses the classification and complexity of carbonate sediments compared to siliciclastic ones. It emphasises the biological origins, diversity, and textural complexity of carbonates, noting that their classification must account for biogenic origins and various stages of diagenesis. Unlike siliciclastic sediments, which are classified primarily by physical energy and mineralogical or textural maturity, carbonates require more nuanced criteria, given their biological formation and local sourcing.
This video (part 2 of 4 on classification of carbonate sediments) explains the two main classification systems for carbonate rocks—Folk's and Dunham's. It comes from our upcoming online course in Applied Carbonate Sedimentology. Folk's system focuses on the rock's detailed components (allochems and matrix/cement). It is best for ancient rocks using a microscope, while Dunham's system classifies rocks by depositional texture (mud-supported through grain-supported, while boundstones are explained in the next video - part 3). Dunham's is easy to apply in both modern and ancient rocks without requiring detailed mineral or petrographic analysis. Both systems help organise complex carbonate rock data but have different strengths and limitations, and users are cautioned to consider potential changes and alterations over time (diagenesis).
The video chapter from SaltWork's upcoming online course in Applied Carbonate Sedimentology focuses on classifying bio-cohesive rocks known as boundstones, as defined by Dunham (1962). He defined boundstones as carbonate rocks that exhibit clear evidence of syndepositional binding, typically constructed by framework organisms such as corals, coralline algae, and bryozoans, or by sediment-trapping organisms such as the cyanobacterial communities in stromatolites. Subsequently, Embry and Klovan (1971) refined Dunham's classification by adding the terms floatstone, rudstone, framestone, bafflestone, and bindstone. Later still, Insalaco (1998) added further refinements by classifying the various morphologies within the term framestone.
In this fourth and final video chapter on classifying carbonate sediment, I want to explore whether we can incorporate diagenesis into our various classifications. Most ancient carbonates contain a significant diagenetic component. Is it possible to include various diagenetic concepts and textures? (See Module 3 on carbonate diagenesis for details in the upcoming Applied Carbonate Sedimentology course)
This video chapter is part of Module 2, which covers the geological aspects of carbonate sediment production. In this introductory video, we begin exploring how carbonate platforms consistently exhibit common features across time, highlighting both similarities and differences between ancient and modern reef and reef mound systems. The video also introduces the concept of Phanerozoic cycles, which are linked to catastrophic events in Earth's history.
In this video chapter comes from module 2 covering geological aspects of carbonate sediment production.Microbes are the dominant life form on Earth - past and present. In terms of volumetrics, the microbes are present in far greater numbers and volumes than the various multicellular species.Many of these microbial structures, through their metabolisms and in their mucilage, create environments that favour carbonate precipitation. They tend to construct layered, laminated, peloidal precipitates.
In this video chapter comes from module 1 covering the biology of carbonate sediment production.
A modern shoal-rimmed carbonate platform is composed of shoalwater mosaics, with varying proportions of preserved lit framework builders, along with particulatre sediment producers and marine cement.
In terms of their biological responses, the keyword is lit, with light intensity controlling biological makeup of carbonate sediment producers.
This video chapter from Module 3: Carbonate Diagenesis examines the origin of acidic fluids that generate karst in the burial realm—distinct from the meteoric epigenetic karst covered elsewhere in the same module. It explores the acidic fluids necessary for karst formation at depths of hundreds of meters or more below the active meteoric zone. The complete course on carbonate sedimentology, comprissin 6 main modules, and more than 50 video chapters, will be available for purchase on our SaltWorks training website from mid-2025.
Watch the videoThis video serves as the introductory chapter for Module 5, which covers the formation and importance of fractures in subsurface carbonate aquifers and hydrocarbon reservoirs. It provides a structural overview of the essential concepts for the upcoming five video chapters in the fractured carbonate module, which will soon be available for purchase and viewing on our SaltWorks training website.
Watch the videoThis video serves as the introductory chapter for Module 1 and oofers an in-depth exploration of the evolving mineralogies in modern and ancient carbonate sediments
Watch the video