Geology, the study of Earth, is one of the most visual sciences. If a geological problem can be imagined, it can be visualized in the mind’s eye of a geologist. Perhaps that’s why geology textbooks are so richly illustrated. Sometimes, the geology is an extraverted, splendid display of scenery, as captured in many of the photographs in this book. Other times, it is inferred from data, articulated through computer models, or brought to life through high-powered microscopes.  The camera is but one tool of a geologist.

A chronostratigraphic chart (Wheeler chart) was constructed of the Cenozoic strata of the northwest margin of the Gulf of Mexico basin (Texas coastal area). This sequence stratigraphic framework divides outcrop and subsurface lithostratigraphic units (members, formations, and groups) into 50 chronostratigraphic (sequence) and lithogenetic (depositional systems) packages. The framework links the outcrop with the more extensive subsurface stratigraphy.