Editing Sedimentology (section)

== Recent developments ==

The longstanding understanding of how some [[mudstone]]s form has been challenged by geologists at [[Indiana University (Bloomington)]] and the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. The research, which appears in the December 14, 2007, edition of ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'', counters the prevailing view of geologists that mud only settles when water is slow-moving or still, instead showing that "muds will accumulate even when currents move swiftly." The research shows that some mudstones may have formed in fast-moving waters: "Mudstones can be deposited under more energetic conditions than widely assumed, requiring a reappraisal of many geologic records."<ref>Juergen Schieber, John Southard, and Kevin Thaisen, [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/318/5857/1760 "Accretion of Mudstone Beds from Migrating Floccule Ripples,"] ''Science'', 14 December 2007: 1760-1763.<br />See also [http://www.physorg.com/news116777974.html "As waters clear, scientists seek to end a muddy debate,"] at ''[[PhysOrg.com]]'' (accessed 27 December 2007).</ref>

Macquaker and Bohacs, in reviewing the research of Schieber et al., state that "these results call for critical reappraisal of all mudstones previously interpreted as having been continuously deposited under still waters. Such rocks are widely used to infer past climates, ocean conditions, and orbital variations."<ref>Joe H. S. Macquaker and Kevin M. Bohacs, [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/318/5857/1734 "Geology: On the Accumulation of Mud,"] ''Science'', 14 December 2007: 1734-1735.</ref>

Considerable recent research into [[mudstone]]s has been driven by the recent effort to commercially produce hydrocarbons from them as [[Unconventional (oil & gas) reservoir|unconventional]] reservoirs, in both the [[shale gas]] and [[tight oil]] (or Light Tight Oil) plays.<ref>Robert G. Loucks, Robert M. Reed, Stephen C. Ruppel, and Daniel M. Jarvie [http://www.wwgeochem.com/resources/Loucks+et+al+nanopore+paper.pdf "Morphology, Genesis, and Distribution of Nanometer-Scale Pores in Siliceous Mudstones of the Mississippian Barnett Shale"], Journal of Sedimentary Research, 2009, v. 79, 848-861.</ref>

Recent research by an Australian sedimentologist, [[Adriana Dutkiewicz|Dutkiewicz]], has described how geocirculation is related to global temperatures and climate change. The research described carbon and water circulation, and impacts of heat on current and future capacity of carbon capture by the ocean.  <ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-25 |title=Global warming speeds up currents in the ocean's abyss |url=https://samacharcentral.com/global-warming-speeds-up-currents-in-the-oceans-abyss/ |access-date=2022-04-16 |website=Samachar Central |language=en-US}}{{dead link|date=February 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>