Geology and hydrogeology of carbonate islands / Геология и гидрогеология карбонатных островов

The purpose of this book is to provide a sampling of the geology and hydrogeology of carbonate islands. As discussed in this chapter, there are several different kinds of islands included in the survey. Among these are islands of atolls and other modern reefs, islands composed of uplifted reef deposits, islands composed of reefs stranded by earlier highstands of sea level, and islands composed of Quaternary eolianites. Also included are "composite islands" islands of "mixed geology" where underlying noncarbonate rocks are also exposed. Overall, the chapters cover about thirty islands and island groups in some detail (see Table 1-1).

The carbonates of the islands included in this book are Cenozoic in age. In a general way, the islands either formed as part of the present depositional environment or are, at least, still part of a modern carbonate setting; in general, the fact that the carbonate deposits are on islands is reflected in the formative geology. Islands composed of "ancient carbonates" that are more appropriately considered in conjunction with their neighboring continents are not included I islands such as Silba, which lies off the coast of Croatia and is composed of the upper Chalk (Bonacci and Margeta, 1991), and Gotland, which is in the Baltic Sea and is composed largely of Paleozoic limestones (Manten, 1971). Also excluded are large islands such as Puerto Rico and Jamaica. <...>