The Geology of Stratigraphic Sequences

Contents Part I THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN CONCEPTS 1 HISTORICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 introduction 1.2 Methodologies in geology 1.2.2 The significance of sequence stratigraphy 1.2.3 Data and argument in Geology 1.2.4 The hermeneutic circle and the emergence of sequence stratigraphy 1.2.5 Paradigms and exemplars 1.3 The development of descriptive stratigraphy 1.3.1 The growth of modern concepts 1.3.2 Do stratigraphic units have "time" significance? 1.3.3 The development of modern chronostratigraphy 1.4 The continual search for a "pulse of the earth" 1.5 Problems and research trends: the current status 1.6 Current literature 1.7 Stratigraphic terminology 2 THE BASIC SEQUENCE MODEL 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Elements of the model 2.2.1 Accommodation and supply 2.2.2 Stratigraphic architecture 2.2.3 Depositional systems and systems tracts 2.3 Sequence models in clastic and carbonate settings 2.3.1 Marine clastic depositional systems and systems tracts 2.3.2 Nonmarine depositional systems 2.3.3 Carbonate depositional systems 2.3.3.1 Breaks in sedimentation in carbonate environments 2.3.3.2 Platform carbonates: catch-up versus keep-up 2.4 Sequence definitions Figures 3 OTHER METHODS FOR THE STRATIGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF CYCLES OF BASE-LEVEL CHANGE 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Facies cycles 3.3 Areas and volumes of stratigraphic units 3.4 Hypsometric curves 3.5 Backstripping 3.6 Sea-level estimation from paleoshorelines and other fixed points 3.7 Documentation of metre-scale cycles 3.8 Integrated tectonic-stratigraphic analysis Figures Part II THE STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK 4 The major types of stratigraphic cycle 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Sequence hierarchy 4.3 The supercontinent cycle 4.4 Cycles with episodicities of tens of millions of years 4.5 Cycles with million-year episodicities 4.6 Cycles with episodicities of less than one million years Tables Figures 5 CYCLES WITH EPISODICITIES OF TENS TO HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS 5.1 Climate, sedimentation and biogenesis 5.2 The supercontinent cycle 5.2.1 The tectonic-stratigraphic model 5.2.2 The Phanerozoic record 5.3 Cycles with episodicities of tens of millions of years 5.3.1 Regional to intercontinental correlations 5.3.2 Tectonostratigraphic sequences 5.4 Main conclusions Figures 6 CYCLES WITH MILLION-YEAR EPISODICITIES 6.1 Continental margins 6.1.1 Clastic platforms and margins 6.1.2 Carbonate cycles of platforms and craton margins 6.1.3 Mixed carbonate-clastic successions 6.2 Foreland basins 6.2.1 Foreland basin of the North American Western Interior 6.2.2 Other foreland basins 6.3 Arc-related basins 6.3.1 Forearc basins 6.3.2 Backarc basins 6.4 Cyclothems and mesothems 6.6 Conclusions Figures 7 CYCLES WITH EPISODICITIES OF LESS THAN ONE MILLION YEARS 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Neogene clastic cycles of continental margins 7.2.1 The Gulf Coast basin of the United States 7.2.2 Wanganui Basin, North Island, New Zealand 7.2.3 Other examples of Neogene high-frequency cycles 7.2.4 The deep-marine record 7.3 Pre-Neogene marine carbonate and clastic cycles 7.4 Late Paleozoic cyclothems 7.5 Lacustrine clastic and chemical rhythms 7.6 High-frequency cycles in foreland basins 7.7 Main conclusions Figures Part III MECHANISMS 8 SUMMARY OF SEQUENCE-GENERATING MECHANISMS Figures 9 LONG-TERM EUSTASY AND EPEIROGENY 9.1 Mantle processes and dynamic topography 9.2 Supercontinent cycles 9.3 Cycles with episodicities of tens of millions of years 9.3.1 Eustasy 9.3.2 Dynamic topography and epeirogeny 9.3.3 The origin of Sloss sequences 9.4 Main conclusions Figures 10 TECTONIC MECHANISMS 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Rifting and thermal evolution of divergent plate margins 10.2.1 Basic geophysical models and their implications for sea-level change 10.2.2 The origins of some tectonostratigraphic sequences 10.3 Tectonism on convergent plate margins and in collision zones 10.3.1 Magmatic arcs and subduction 10.3.2 Rates of uplift and subsidence on convergent margins 10.3.3 Tectonism versus eustasy in foreland basins 10.3.3.1 The North American Western Interior Basin; 10.3.3.2 The Appalachian foreland basin. 10.3.3.3 Pyrenean and Himalayan basins 10.4 Intraplate stress 10.4.1 The pattern of global stress 10.4.2 In-plane stress as a control of sequence architecture 10.4.3 In-plane stress and regional histories of sea-level change 10.5 Basement control 10.6 Sediment supply and the importance of big rivers 10.7 Environmental change 10.8 Main conclusions Figures 11 ORBITAL FORCING 11.1 Introduction 11.2 The nature of Milankovitch processes 11.2.1 Components of orbital forcing 11.2.2 Basic climatology 11.2.3 Variations with time in orbital periodicities 11.2.4 Isostasy and geoid changes 11.2.5 Nonglacial Milankovitch cyclicity 11.2.6 The nature of the cyclostratigraphic data base 11.3 The geologic record 11.3.1 The sensitivity of the earth to glaciation 11.3.2 The Cenozoic record 11.3.3 Glacioeustasy in the Mesozoic? 11.3.4 Late Paleozoic cyclothems 11.4 Distinguishing between orbital forcing and tectonic driving mechanisms 11.5 Main conclusions Figures Part IV CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY AND CORRELATION: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT STATUS OF "GLOBAL EUSTASY" 12 THE CONCEPT OF THE GLOBAL CYCLE CHART 12.1 From Vail to Haq 12.2 The two-paradigm problem 12.3 Defining and deconstructing global eustasy and complexity texts 12.4 Invisible colleges and the advancement of knowledge 12.5 The global-eustasy paradigm???a revolution in trouble? 12.6 Conclusions Figures 13 TIME IN SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 13.1 Introduction 13.1 Hierarchies of time and the completeness of the stratigraphic record 13.2 Main conclusions 14 CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY, CORRELATION, AND MODERN TESTS FOR GLOBAL EUSTASY 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Chronostratigraphic models and the testing of correlations 14.3 Chronostratigraphic meaning of unconformities 14.4 A correlation experiment 14.5 Testing for eustasy: the way forward 14.5.1 Introduction 14.5.2 The dating and correlation of stratigraphic events: potential sources of uncertainty 14.5.2.1 Identification of sequence boundaries 14.5.2.2 Chronostratigraphic meaning of unconformities 14.5.2.3 Determination of the biostratigraphic framework 14.5.2.4 The problem of incomplete biostratigraphic recovery. 14.5.2.5 Diachroneity of the biostratigraphic record. 14.5.3 The value of quantitative biostratigraphic methods 14.5.4 Assessment of relative biostratigraphic precision 14.5.5 Correlation of biozones with the global stage framework 14.5.6 Assignment of absolute ages and the importance of the modern time scale 14.6 Modern tests of the global eustasy paradigm 14.6.1 Cretaceous-Paleogene sequence stratigraphy of New Jersey 14.6.2 Other modern high-resolution studies of Cretaceous-Paleogene sequence stratigraphy 14.6.3 Sequence stratigraphy of the Neogene 14.6.4 The growing evidence for glacioeustasy in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic 14.7 Cyclostratigraphy and Astrochronology 14.7.1 Historical background of cyclostratigraphy 14.7.2 The building of a time scale 14.8 Main conclusions Tables Figures 15 FUTURE DIRECTIONS 15.1 Research methodology 15.2 Remaining questions 15.2.1 Future advances in cyclostratigraphy? 15.2.2 Tectonic mechanisms of sequence generation. 15.2.3 Orbital forcing 15.2.4 The codification of sequence nomenclature Figures.