Sequence stratigraphy of the Precambrian

Abstract

The method of sequence stratigraphy requires the application of the same workflow and principles irrespective of the age of strata under analysis. In that respect, its application to Precambrian successions is similar to the approach used for Phanerozoic case studies. Differences, however, are recorded in terms of the preservation potential and the amount of data available for analysis; the rates and intensities of the allogenic controls on sedimentation; the environmental conditions and related physical processes; and the evolution of competing groups of organisms and associated biogenic processes. The combined effect of these contrasting aspects accounts for differences in the architecture of depositional sequences, particularly with respect to the relative contributions of various systems tracts to the makeup of a sequence. The application of sequence stratigraphy to Precambrian basins has considerably enlarged the perspective on the fundamental principles governing the processes of sedimentary basin formation and the mechanisms controlling stratigraphic cyclicity in the rock record. These first-order principles are perhaps the most important contribution of Precambrian research to sequence stratigraphy. At the broader scale of Earth's geological history, the tectonic regimes governing the formation and evolution of sedimentary basins are shown to have been much more erratic in terms of nature and rates than originally inferred solely from the study of the Phanerozoic record. This provides important clues with respect to the criteria that should be involved in the hierarchy system of classification of stratigraphic sequences and bounding surfaces.