The nine papers in this special issue of the AAPG Bulletin published in 2006 are dedicated to structurally controlled hydrothermal alteration of carbonate rocks and reservoirs.

This type of alteration covers the spectrum of carbonate-hosted sulfide ore deposits to hydrothermal dolomite to leached limestones, and in many cases has a major impact on reservoir type, geometry, quality, and distribution.

Hydrothermal dolomite (HTD) reservoirs have a long history of exploration and development in North America, extending from the earliest discoveries in the Ordovician Lima-Indiana and other trends of the northeastern United States (Hurley and Budros, 1990; Wickstrom et al., 1992) and continuing today with the Trenton-Black River play and other hosts in the Michigan and northern Appalachian basins of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada.

Cumulatively, the existing and expanding evidence indicates that many carbonate reservoirs on a global scale were either formed or modified (positively or negatively in terms of reservoir quality) by structurally controlled hydrothermal fluids flowing up episodically active faults.

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