• Corpus ID: 129661324

Classification of Carbonate Rocks According to Depositional Textures

@inproceedings{Dunham1962ClassificationOC,
  title={Classification of Carbonate Rocks According to Depositional Textures},
  author={Robert J. Dunham},
  year={1962}
}

• R. J. Dunham
• Published 1962
• Geology

Three textural features seem especially useful in classifying those carbonate rocks that retain their depositional texture (1) Presence or absence of carbonate mud, which differentiates muddy carbonate from grainstone; (2) abundance of grains, which allows muddy carbonates to be subdivided into mudstone, wackestone, and packstone; and (3) presence of signs of binding during deposition, which characterizes boundstone. The distinction between grain-support and mud-support differentiates packstone from wackestone--packstone is full of its particular mixture of grains, wackestone is not. Rocks retaining too little of their depositional texture to be classified are set aside as crystalline carbonates.