Book excerpt: The contents of the book would include, among others of a more general and introductory nature, chapters dealing with:- bedding structures; within-layer and layer-surface structures; biological structures, chemical structures; ice-induced structures; wind- induced structures; earthquake-induced structures. Most other books available cover the wider field of sedimentary rocks and petrography and will have a chapter on some of the common sedimentary structures. A book on the sedimentary structures in modern sediments and in sedimentary rocks of the oil-bearing basins throughout China is new and unique.