The book on deposition, diagenesis, and weathering oforganic matter-rich sediments is a summary of seven years ofresearch work of the author at the Institute of Petroleumand Organic Geochemistry in J}lich. It contains acomparision of various depositional environments (lakes,deltas, seas)with respect to organic mattercharacteristics, a special chapter on the deposition of thePosidonia shale, a summary of organic matter maturation andrelated petroleum generation, and a chapter on the use ofmaturationparameters as calibration tools for numericalmodelling of temperature histories of sedimentary basins.Also, microscopic effects of petroleum generation and oil togas cracking are treated. The final chapters deal withcoalsas source rocks for oil and gas and with the effects ofweatheringon sediments which are rich in organic matter.