Order Depositional Sequences Research Articles

Modalites sequentielles de la transgression aaleno-bajocienne sur le sud-est du Bassin parisien

Abstract Sedimentologic, biostratigraphic and diagenetic studies made on Middle Aalenian to Lowermost Bathonian deposits in 25 outcrops of the Burgundy High (southeastern Paris basin) lead to a sequence stratigraphy subdivision of the early Dogger record into 7 third order depositional sequences. These sequences make up a second-order transgressive phase whose lower limit is a tectonically enhanced unconformity (the Mid-Cimmerian unconformity), associated with a large scale uplift during the Upper Toarcian and the Lower Aalenian. In the largest outcrops, where the geometry of sedimentary bodies is observable at the hectometre to kilometre scale, the combination of diagenetic, biostratigraphical, spatial and sedimentologic studies is useful to understand the evolution of sediment distribution in the sequences. This approach also allows the measurement of sea level falls at the origin of the sequence boundaries. For example, we show that Lower Bajocian sequences end with decreases of accommodation space <10 m in amplitude, leading to temporary emergences of some reef complexes. Without interrupting the sedimentation on submarine peri-reef pediments during lowstands, these decreases of a few metres of accomodation space can be related to either tectono-eustatic events or thermo-eustatic events.

ABSTRACT: The areal control of building blocks of the third order depositional sequences in the Mahakam delta

ABSTRACT: The areal control of building blocks of the third order depositional sequences in the Mahakam delta

Abstract: Control of 3rd Order Depositional Sequences in Upper Triassic Carbonates (Southern Alps, Italy) by Extensional Tectonics 

Abstract: Control of 3rd Order Depositional Sequences in Upper Triassic Carbonates (Southern Alps, Italy) by Extensional Tectonics 

Essai de corrélations séquentielles au Barrémien-Aptien dans un système plateforme-bassin-plateforme le long d'un transect Danube-Gabrovo (Bulgarie du Centre-Nord)

Along a Danube-Gabrovo cross-section, from Central Fore Balkan to Moesian Platform, the Barremian-Aptian deposits are distributed within three distinct paleogeographic domains: a central terrigenous: basin (Pleven-Polski Trămbeš) and, laterally (N: Danube, S: Gabrovo) two carbonate-dominated platforms where “Urgonian” fades can be well-developed. This pattern is induced by synsedimentary extensional tectonics already active from the end of Jurassic times. The subdivision of the various series into eight 3 d order depositional sequences and the recent discovery of ammonites allow us to propose new and more reliable correlations between the traditional lithologic formations characterizing those three domains.

481 ファンデルタシステムがつくる第三オーダー堆積シーケンス : 北部フォッサマグナの上部中新〜鮮新統

481 ファンデルタシステムがつくる第三オーダー堆積シーケンス : 北部フォッサマグナの上部中新〜鮮新統

Recurring global sea-level changes recorded in shelf deposits near the G/M polarity transition, Wanganui Basin, New Zealand: Implications for redefining the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary

A well exposed 1 km-thick association of late Pliocene and early Pleistocene (ca. 2.6-1.7 Ma) strata in Wanganui Basin, New Zealand, contains a progradational stack of twenty, 5th order (41 ka duration) depositional sequences that accumulated in shelf to shoreface paleoenvironments in response to global glacioeustatic sea level fluctuations. The sequences are correlated with δ 18 O Isotope Stages 100-58, and each 41 ka glacial/interglacial stage couplet is represented by an individual sequence comprising transgressive (TST), highstand (HST) and regressive (RST) systems tracts that can be readily related to generic sequence stratigraphic models. In general, deposition of each of the sequences occurred during odd numbered (interglacial) isotope stages and the sequence boundaries developed during the maxima of even numbered (glacial) isotope stages. The key palaeomagnetic tiepoints used for pinning the isotope record to the section are the Gauss/Matuyama boundary (2.60 Ma in Stage 104) and the top of Olduvai Subchron (1.77 Ma in Stage 63). A deeply incised sequence boundary, with up to 30 m of relief, at the base of Te Rimu Sand, represents the first widespread subaerial exposure in Wanganui Basin during the Matuyama Chron; it is correlated with the high amplitude positive (glacial) δ 18 O shift in Isotope Stage 100, which is considered to mark the initiation of major northern hemisphere continental glaciations at ca. 2.52 Ma. The overlying Hautawa Shellbed, containing the subantarctic bivalve Chlamys delicatula , defines the base of the Nukumaruan Stage, and represents the earliest faunal evidence of climatic cooling in New Zealand Pliocene-Pleistocene marine sequences. The sequence boundary at the base of Hautawa Shellbed is correlated with Isotope Stage 98 (ca. 2.48 Ma). Traditionally, the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary in New Zealand was located at the base of Hautawa Shellbed, but Beu and Edwards (1984) showed that the boundary, as defined in the Vrica stratotype (astronomically calibrated age ca. 1.81 Ma), actually lies in the upper part of the Nukumaruan Stage. The Hautawa Shellbed, which lies closer to the Gauss/Matuyama palaeomagnetic transition (2.60 Ma), is therefore much older than the currently defined Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary. From a New Zealand perspective, a more logical position for the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary would be close to or just above the Gauss/Matuyama polarity transition. Such a position would take advantage of the boundaries proximity to a readily identifiable polarity reversal, and lie close to the time of initiation and development of major northern hemisphere ice sheets.

Correlation of Upper Carboniferous and Lower Permian (Desmoinesian-Wolfcampian) 4th Order (Milankovitch band) Depositional Sequences from the Midcontinent to the Eastern Shelf of the Midland Basin: A New Approach to High Resolution Stratigraphy: ABSTRACTS

Correlation of Upper Carboniferous and Lower Permian (Desmoinesian-Wolfcampian) 4th Order (Milankovitch band) Depositional Sequences from the Midcontinent to the Eastern Shelf of the Midland Basin: A New Approach to High Resolution Stratigraphy: ABSTRACTS

Sedimentary Facies Distribution of the Upper Cenozoic Fourth- Order Depositional Sequences and Basin-fill Process of the Niigata Back-Arc Sedimentary Basin, Central Japan: ABSTRACT

The Niigata back-arc basin, compartmentarized and characterized by steep slope, large sediment influx related to active island-arc and extremely large depositional rate higher than 200 cm/1,000 year, had been formed at a stroke with close relationship to Japan Sea opening in the Middle Miocene age. A large part of this basin has been filled with a thick 2nd-order tectono- sequence by present. Deposition of 3rd-order depositional sequences comprising 2nd-order tectono-sequence is interpreted to correspond with filling-up of subbasins. A lower 3rd-order depositional sequence distributes rather proximal part of the Niigata basin, and an upper one occupies distal part. Stacking pattern of the 3rd-order depositional sequences, therefore, demonstrates a large scale progradational configuration. Their component 4th-order depositional sequences, ranging several tens through hundreds meter in thickness, are suitably recognized on a set of seismic profiles. Those 4th-order depositional sequences consist of depositional systems like fan-delta, fluvial, delta, shelf, slope and basin floor on the basis of assemblages of the observed sedimentary facies and facies associations in many exploratory wells. Sedimentary facies distributions, as a conclusion, are interpreted to reflect faithfully 4th-order relative sea-level cycles in sedimentary basins in the active margin area like the Niigata back-arc sedimentary basin. 3rd-order sequences, composedmore » of those 4th-order sequences, fill subbasins progressively from proximal one to distal. In addition, process of basin evolution would correspond to 2nd-order tectonic event in the active margin basins.« less

High Resolution Biostratigraphic Analysis of Late Carboniferous-Lower Permian Fourth Order Depositional Sequences from the North American Midcontinent

High Resolution Biostratigraphic Analysis of Late Carboniferous-Lower Permian Fourth Order Depositional Sequences from the North American Midcontinent

High Resolution Sequence Stratigraphy of Miocene Deep-Water Clastic Outcrops, Taranaki Coast, New Zealand: ABSTRACT

Approximately 700m of deep water clastic deposits of Mt. Messenger Formation are superbly exposed along the Taranaki coast of North Island, New Zealand. Biostratigraphy indicates the interval was deposited during the time span 10.5-9.2m.y. in water depths grading upward from lower bathyal to middle-upper bathyal. This interval is considered part of a 3rd order depositional sequence deposited under conditions of fluctuating relative sea-level, concomitant with high sedimentation rates. Several 4th order depositional sequences, reflecting successive sea-level falls, are recognized within the interval. Sequence boundaries display a range of erosive morphologies from metre-wide canyons to scours several hundred metres across. All components of a generic lowstand systems tract--basin floor fan, channel-levee complex and progading complex--are present in logical and temporal order. They are repetitive through the interval, with the relatively shallower-water components becoming more prevalent upward. Basin floor fan lithologies are mainly m-thick, massive and convolute-bedded sandstones that alternate with cm- and dm-thick massive, horizontally-stratified and ripple-laminated sandstones and bioturbated mudstones. Channel-levee deposits consist of interleaving packages of thin-bedded, climbing-rippled and parallel-laminated sandstones and millstones; infrequent channels are filled with sandstones and mudstones, and sometimes lined with conglomerate. Thin beds of parallel to convoluted mudstone comprise prograding complex deposits. Similar lowstandmore » systems tracts can be recognized and correlated on subsurface seismic reflection profiles and wireline logs. Such correlation has been aided by a continuous outcrop gamma-ray fog obtained over most of the measured interval. In the adjacent Taranaki peninsula, basin floor fan and channel-levee deposits comprise hydrocarbon reservoir intervals. Outcrop and subsurface reservior sandstones exhibit similar permeabilities.« less

Giant Petroleum Accumulations in the Volgian-Neocomian Deposits of Western Siberia: A Complete Petroleum System Within a Second Order Depositional Sequence: ABSTRACT

Giant Petroleum Accumulations in the Volgian-Neocomian Deposits of Western Siberia: A Complete Petroleum System Within a Second Order Depositional Sequence: ABSTRACT

High and Low Frequency Sedimentary and Geochemical Cycles in the Upper Devonian Carbonate System of Western Canada: Implications for Outcrop to Subsurface Correlation: ABSTRACT

The integrated study of both shallow water carbonates and adjacent basinal sediments in a 2nd order depositional cycle established a genetic relationship between carbonate reservoir and source rock formation, which has immediate bearing on the predictability at an exploration and production level. The Upper Devonian (Frasnian) carbonate system in the Canadian Rocky Mountains has been subdivided in six 3rd order depositional sequences which are each characterised by (1) the geometrical style of the shallow water carbonates (retrograding, degrading and prograding), and (2) a specific geochemical signature of the basinal sediments (carbonate versus TOC relationship, and outcrop spectral gamma-ray logs). This implies a direct relationship between carbonate productivity (and thus reservoir geometries), clay supply and organic matter preservation, the exact expression of which is dictated by the position of the 3rd order sequence in the overall, 2nd order, transgressive/regressive cycle. These relationships have been found in two carbonate platforms (the Miette and Ancient Wall) 40 km apart, and in the subsurface Redwater reef 400 km to the east. All show the same number of 3rd order depositional sequences (6), a strong similarity in geometrical styles of the buildup margin, and the same position of the source rocks. During overall transgression amore » pulsed increase of the TOC content has been observed with highest values (up to 5%; super mature) in sequences 3 and 4. The concentration of the organic matter is mainly due to a diminishing carbonate supply and improved preservation conditions. At the 3rd order level highest TOC values occur during LST and TST due to a temporary shut off and/or low productivity level of the carbonate factory. The overall regression is again characterised by a dilution relationship, here the low TOC values reflect high sedimentation rate of both clays and carbonate.« less

シーケンス層序学 その可能性を求めて 背弧堆積盆地におけるシーケンス解析 新潟県蒲原地域の例

Sequence stratigraphy has been rapidly spreading in the world and causes various sort of debates because sequence stratigraphic interpretations related to mechanisms of deposition make possible three-dimensional estimation of facies distribution and worldwide correlation of strata. The “Exxon Model”, as a basin fill model, has been paid much attention because it displays the significance in the basic concept of sequence stratigraphy and possibilities of applications. The “Exxon Model” which has been constructed as a depositional model for passive margin basins represented by gentle subsidence and relatively stable deposition, however, might not always be applicable to some sedimentary basins without careful considerations for their tectonic and depositional settings.In the Niigata sedimentary basin, as a representative back-arc basin located on central Japan, hydrocarbon exploration for several decades has resulted in a large accumulation of subsurface geologic information. Three-dimensional studies for sequence stratigraphic framework within a back-arc tectonic setting, therefore, are available in this basin.As a result of this study, 12 third and fourth order depositional sequences, which are interpreted to have been formed by relative change of sea level, are now recognized. These depositional sequences are superimposed on a part of a second order depositional sequence considered as a tectonically controlled sequence. The features of fifth or sixth order depositional sequences are superimposed locally in the deposits of the Niigata sedimentary basin. The depositional history of the Niigata sedimentary basin can be divided into following 5 stages, based on the disclosed sequence stratigraphic framework of this basin.i) stage of sedimentary basin formationii) stage of turbidite deposition at basin flooriii) stage of slope progradationiv) stage of shelf extensionv) stage of delta progradation

Documentation and Recognition of Fourteen Third Order Depositional Sequences in the Late Miocene-Pliocene-Pleistocene Gulf of Mexico: ABSTRACT

Documentation and Recognition of Fourteen Third Order Depositional Sequences in the Late Miocene-Pliocene-Pleistocene Gulf of Mexico: ABSTRACT

シーケンス層序学 その可能性を求めて 石狩平野北部地域新第三系のシーケンス層序

A sequence stratigraphic study in conjunction with a quantitative basin subsidence analysis was undertaken in the northern part of Ishikari plain of Hokkaido to clarify the depositional history, recognize the tectonic influences and predict the sandstone reservoir distribution.An interpretation based on seismic data, well logs and biostratigraphic data indicates that the Miocene strata in the basin are composed of eight 3rd order depositional sequences which can be further subdivided into component systems tracts. In the Miocene depositional history of the basin, three stages of sedimentation are recognized by variations in the development of systems tracts and basin architecture.A quantitative basin subsidence analysis from well data indicates that each sequence boundary was resulted from a relative sea level fall and the stages of sedimentation were strongly influenced by the rate of total basin subsidence.Tectonic activity influenced the development of sequences and their component systems tracts by masking the sea level fall with periods of rapid subsidence, by exaggerating relative sea level fall and by shifts in sediment source direction as well as sediment accumulation rate as a result of regional uplift.This study indicates potentials of new stratigraphic types of plays in the basin by predicting sandstone reservoirs basinward, although the previous exploration activities have been focused on anticline-structural traps.

Ecophenotypic variation and phylogeny within the Erisocrinacea (Crinoidea): linkage of morphology, ecology, & sea - level in the Late Paleozoic

Cyclothems (fifth - order depositional sequences) are the fundamental stratigraphic motif of the Upper Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian of the North American mid - continent. Through this interval, sequences display an overall second order regression modulated by intermediate frequency sea-level fluctuations. Thus, shelfward incursions of offshore (basinal) facies are more extensive in the lower Upper Pennsylvanian, while merely shoaling facies characterize marine units of many higher sequences.Within basal Upper Pennsylvanian (Missourian) sequences, species of the Erisocrinacea are ubiquitous members of nearshore and offshore crinoid assemblages. However, the species Erisocrinus typus and Delocrinus subhemisphericus display significant ecophenotypic variation between facies: smaller mean and maximum size characterizes offshore/transgressive populations while larger size characterizes nearshore/regressive populations. It is proposed that these are hydrographically - controlled phenotypes: offshore, quiet bottom waters inhibit effective filtration, imposing a metabolic energy threshold beyond which larger morphologies are not viable while nearshore populations are able to assume larger body sizes.Shifting now to the Catacrinidae within the Erisocrinacea, as the frequency of interbasinal drowned shelf conditions waned through the Late Pennsylvanian, new species, inhabiting regressive facies, increased maximum body size and diversity for the family. Thus, lower Virgilian assemblages are highly variable in characteristic size, with smaller, ancestral D. subhemisphericus dominant in offshore facies while robust D. vulgatus, Pyndaxocrinus sp., and Arrectocrinus sp. dominate nearshore facies. Speciation may have involved the stabilization and subsequent diversification of the earlier nearshore phenotype.Through the remainder of the Virgilian and into the Early Permian, near the terminal late Early Permian regression, larger morphologies, represented by D. brownsvillensis, D. vastus, and A. abruptus, dominate midcontinent crinoid assemblages; smaller offshore species had been lost, thus increasing body size for the clade as a whole.Thus, it appears that the same parameters which controlled morphological expression at the fifth - order level (ecophenotypic variation) may also have acted at the second - order level (phylogenetic trend). The interrelationship between sub-cycle and super-cycle sea - level and metabolic viability is paramount to understanding potential morphologies for this clade. However, these factors may not have ultimately influenced clade diversity.

A new dinoflagellage cyst sequence biostratigraphic framework for the Miocene of the Baltimore Canyon Trough and adjacent Salisbury Embayment

Over the past two decades, extensive seismic mapping of the Baltimore Canyon Trough off New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia, has documented a succession of progradational Miocene stratigraphic sequences. Understanding the depositional timing of these sequences is critical in evaluating the role of eustasy in their development, but has until now been hampered by the lack of suitably high resolution biostratigraphic data. Attempts to produce an integrated Neogene basin history have previously been frustrated by an inability to directly correlate individual shelf-based seismic sequences, with regionally mapped onshore, unconformity-bound, stratigraphic units. This study addresses both problems using data comprising the stratigraphic distribution of dinoflagellate cysts in two composited outcrop and ten subsurface sections from the Salisbury Embayment and adjacent Baltimore Canyon Trough. The result is a detailed age model for the entire Miocene depositional history of the area. Onshore samples are from the type sections of the Chesapeake Group in Maryland and Virginia. Offshore COST B-2 & B-3, Exxon 684 & 902 and Mobil 500 wells are directly tied to the regional seismic grid.According to our model, the magnitude and timing of mapped sequences in the Baltimore Canyon Trough compare well with Miocene third order cycles of the Exxon Cycle Chart. With the exception of the 22 Ma sequence (Cycle 1.5 of Haq et al., 1988), all of the other postulated eustatically controlled sequences are potentially present in the study area. In addition, on the basis of seismic mapping and integrated biostratigraphy, our model predicts one additional lower Serravalian sequence between 15.5 Ma and 13.8 Ma, and two additional lower Tortonian sequences between 10.5 Ma and 8.2 Ma. The onshore expression of these sequences are, respectively, the Calvert Beach Member of the Calvert Formation and parts of the Little Cove Point Beds of the Saint Marys Formation. An important implication of the age model is that the entire Fairhaven Member and “beds 4-9” of the Plum Point Marl Member, of the Calvert Formation, are lower Miocene strata.These dinocyst data were not available when the Exxon model of Miocene eustatic cycles was developed and therefore represent a critical independent test of that model. This is particularly so because the tectonically quiescent, mature, divergent-margin setting of the basin limits the role of causative variables other than eustasy, in the development and architecture of third order depositional sequences. Our model should be further tested by detailed sedimentological and taphonomic field studies of the Chesapeake Group.

Tectonics, Eustasy, and Sequence Stratigraphy -- The Middle Pennsylvanian-Wolfcampian of the Permian basin

The depositional patterns of sedimentary rocks are controlled by the interaction of tectonics, eustasy, and sediment supply. Tectonics and eustasy combine to cause relative changes of sea level that control the accommodation space for sediments. Sediment supply controls how much of the accommodation space is filled. Tectonics has the greatest effect on accommodation. Long-term basin fill histories are interpreted as first-order tectonic events. Second-order tectonic events are initiated by increase in the rate of subsidence that progressively decay and may culminate in a period of uplift or structural growth. Three second-order tectonic events characterize the middle-late Paleozoic history of the Permian basin. These events occur over tens of millions of years and are (1) Givetian-Meramecian, (2) Chesterian-Desmoinesian, and (3) Missourian-Guadalupian. Sediment response to these tectonic events include initial backstepping carbonate platform deposition, followed by deepening and starvation of the basin areas resulting in black shale deposition. Eustasy controls the rate of relative sea level change and is the major controlling factor on the timing of stratigraphic discontinuities. The discontinuities bound sequences and subdivide them into systems tracts. The Middle Pennsylvanian-Wolfcampian of the Permian basin can be subdivided into 19-21 third-order sequences (1-5-m.y. duration) and include six Desmoinesian, four Missourian, fivemore » to six Virgilian, and four to five Wolfcampian cycles. The cyclothems of the mid-continent represent higher order depositional sequences that stack in an orderly fashion to comprise the systems tracts of the third-order sequences.« less