Laboratory Handbook of Carbonate Petrology

Abstract

Although I never had the op­por­tuni­ty to meet Professor Douglas James Shearman in person, his numerous pub­lications on the sedimentology of car­bonates and evaporites profoundly in­fluenced my understanding of the sub­ject.

During a summer internship at TOTAL-Compagnie Française des Pé­tro­les, I was fortunate to obtain a xer­ox copy of his Laboratory Handbook of Carbonate Petrology from an en­gi­neer who had previously attended one of Professor Shearman's seminars. Since 1983, this collection of doc­u­ments – enriched with pedagogical sketches of exceptional clarity – has ac­companied me throughout my pro­fes­sional trajectory: initially as a doc­tor­al candidate (until 1987), sub­se­quent­ly as an oil and gas exploration geo­logist (until 2004), and, more re­cent­ly, as a university professor (until 2025).

This first volume constitutes a light­­ly revised and digitized version of the original Laboratory Handbook of Car­bonate Petrology. Given that the source material dates from the early 1970s, a limited number of concepts and terminological expressions have been updated to reflect contemporary un­derstanding and usage. All such mod­i­fications are explicitly indicated in blue to ensure transparency.

A second volume, conceived as an at­las of photomicrographs, is cur­rent­ly in preparation and will complement this edition.