Principles of Stratigraphy reaffirms the vital importance of stratigraphy to the earth sciences, and introduces the undergraduate to its key elements in a lively and interesting fashion.

In Part I the author outlines key concepts including the foundations of sedimentology and sedimentary environments. Part II elucidates the basic principles of stratigraphic analysis, while Part III shows how stratigraphy is used in understanding sedimentary basin evolution, the interplay between tectonics and sedimentation, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, paleoclimatology, and the geologic history of other planets. There is also a chapter devoted to "problem" periods in earth history, where both the strengths and limitations of stratigraphic methods are illustrated.