Focuses on evaporites such as limestone, dolomite, gypsum, and halite, found in the rift and foreland basins of eastern France and northern Spain. By demonstrating that the early environment of the region encouraged the habitation and growth of many forms of life, the text challenges traditional assessments of these areas as harsh, arid and inhospitable to life. It argues that the same evaporitic environment which promoted an abundance of organisms might also preserve their organic remains - producing potentially large amounts of oil. Supplemented by a com prehensive review of both recent and classic research in sedimentology, this text should be of interest to researchers and professionals in oil geology, stratigraphy, paleontology, chemistry and physics.