A major reason for the lack of understanding of argillaceous rocks is that the key to understanding their history lies in their microfabric. Argillaceous Rock Atlas addresses this aspect by taking a systematic approach to the analysis of shale fabrics. This approach combines such techniques as scanning electron microscopy, x-radiography and thin-section petrography. Thus the book is amply illustrated with scanning electron and thin section photomicrographs and x-radiograms which show the salient features of shale at a variety of scales. A great portion of the book is devoted to case studies, supplemented by mineralogical and geochemical data, which demonstrate the utility of these techniques in the interpretation of depositional environments, diagenetic processes and possible economic significance of argillaceous rocks. Argillaceous Rock Atlas is a valuable and unique reference for students and researchers involved in the fields of sedimentology and stratigraphy, petrology, petroleum geology, hydrogeology and geochemistry.

Certain parts of this chapter have been taken directly from the publication Important geological properties of unconventional resource shales, by Roger M. Slatt, published in the fourth-quarter issue of the Central European Journal of Geosciences (2011). The journal’s permission to reproduce those parts of that paper here is gratefully acknowledged.

The forensic potential of geological and soil evidence has been recognized for more than a century, but recently these types of evidence are used much more widely as an investigative intelligence tool and as evidence in court. There is, however, still a poor understanding of the potential value and the limitations of geological and soil evidence am