Third-order Eustatic Cycles Research Articles

Facies and sequence analysis of Miocene open-shelf warm-temperate carbonates in Portimão (Lagos-Portimão Formation, Portugal)

The Lower–Middle Miocene Lagos-Portimao Formation at Portimao, southern Portugal, consists of three main heterozoan carbonate facies: mollusc-rich rudstone in a matrix of skeletal packstone/grainstone (MR), fine-to-medium skeletal packstone/grainstone (SPG), and quartz-rich skeletal packstone (QSP). These facies occur in different arrangements and indicate deposition on a wave-dominated open shelf with a well-established heterozoan fauna, most likely related to increased trophic resources where continent supply and upwelling contributed nutrients. These facies form belts inferred to have lain roughly parallel to the strike lines of the shelf, with the MR occupying the more landward, shallower areas and the SPG and QSP extending progressively offshore on the open shelf. Bryozoan abundance in the QSP facies indicates a deep setting on the middle/outer shelf, whereas the absence of rhodalgal components is attributed to a combination of temperature decrease and seafloor eutrophication during the late Langhian and Serravallian, coeval with the “Middle Miocene climatic cooling”. The large photosymbiont-bearing foraminifers and the absence of calcareous algae and zooxanthellate corals point to deposition under warm-temperate conditions. Two main orders of cyclicity are present. Small-scale sequences, 40–60 cm thick, may represent minor sea-level changes related to fifth-order sequences modulated by (~ 100-kyr) eccentricity forcing. Six large-scale sequences, 3–9 m in thickness, are recognized. Based on LAD and FAD of planktic foraminifers and the occurrence of two erosive surfaces related to major sea-level falls (Lang2/Ser1 and Ser4/Tor1), five Miocene sequences (Bu, L1, S1, S2, and S3) are correlated with third-order eustatic cycles.

Palynology and Chronostratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous in the Subsurface of the Barinas Area, Western Venezuela

Palynological and well-log analyses of Cretaceous strata from southeastern Venezuela allow the recognition of third-order eustatic cycles and are the basis for a chronostratigraphic framework with a datum approximately every 0.8 m.y. This definition permits the correlation of events in the local geologic evolution with regionally important sedimentological and tectonic events. An Early Cretaceous marine transgression reached areas north of the Andes before 113 Ma; however, according to our framework, the transgression extended into the Barinas area shortly after 98 Ma. An interval of relatively low sea level, from 95.5 Ma to 91.5 Ma, is represented by oil-bearing sandstones and dolomitic limestones. A second marine transgression reached the area at approximately 91.5 Ma and resulted in the deposition of organic-rich clastics that are correlatable with source rocks from areas to the north. A major hiatus (Santonian-Campanian) encompasses approximately 11 m.y. and probably is related to the emplacement of oceanic rocks in western Colombia. A younger major hiatus (Maastrichtian-Eocene) encompasses approximately 26 m.y. and probably is related to the emplacement of the Lara nappes in northern Venezuela. Two other minor intra-Turonian and intra-Maastrichtian hiatuses are recognized and encompass approximately 1.5 m.y. each.

Long-periodic variations in the earth's obliquity and their relation to third-order eustatic cycles and late Neogene glaciations

Abstract Evolutive spectra of four high-resolution climatic proxy records reveal that the spectral power in the obliquity frequency band increases during five well-defined intervals in the last 5.3 million years. These intervals correspond to periods of high-amplitude variations in the tilt (obliquity) of the Earth's axis, connected with a 1.2 myr cycle, and to sea-level lowstands of third-order eustatic cycles in the Haq et al. (1987) curve. This implies that the development of major Plio-Pleistocene glaciations proceeded episodically and that third-order cycles are glacio-eustatically controlled. In (at least) two of these intervals sinistrally-coiled neogloboquadrinids entered the Mediterranean at times of glacial periods. One interval starts around 2.8 Ma and is characterized by the first occurrence of N. atlantica (s). Another interval begins at the Plio-Pleistocene boundary around 1.8 Ma and is characterized by the common occurrence of sinistrally-coiled N. pachyderma. Also during the late Miocene third-order cycles correlate well with the 1.2 myr cycle of obliquity. A significant drop in the third-order eustatic curve starting at the Tortonian-Messinian boundary, for instance, coincides with a period of high-amplitude variations in the obliquity time series connected with the 1.2 myr cycle.

Sequence Stratigraphy of Mixed Carbonate-Siliciclastic Platforms Developed in A Tectonically Active Setting, Upper Cretaceous, Betic Continental Margin (Spain)

ABSTRACT The Late Cretaceous platforms in the Betic Continental Margin record a prolonged interval (30 m.y.) in which eustasy and tectonics operated simultaneously but with well-differentiated frequencies. This resulted in development of two types of unconformity-bounded units: sequence sets, which are tectonically controlled, and depositional sequences, which are the result of variations in relative sea level. Unconformities bounding sequence sets are the result of tectonic episodes that induced great changes in basin geometry and basin subsidence. They operated without apparent rhythmicity at intervals ranging from I to 12 m.y. Regional tectonics was related to variations in the intraplate stress regime associated with (1) the mid-Atlantic spreading, (2) the tectonic regime in the Africa-Iberia boundary, still poorly documented, (3) the opening of the Bay of Biscay between the Aptian and the early Campanian, and (4) the oblique convergence between Iberia and Europe in the Pyrenees, which started in the early Campanian. During periods of relative tectonic quiescence eustasy and subsidence controlled development of depositional sequences. These resulted from relative sea-level oscillations, most of them interpreted as third-order eustatic cycles. However, the correlation between our depositional sequences and the global cycles of the Exxon chart is not always easy, mainly because subsidence can mask or enhance the eustatic signal.

LATE JURASSIC-EARLY CRETACEOUS DEPOSITIONAL SYSTEMS OF THE DAMPIER SUB-BASIN-QUO VADIS?

A diminishing prospect inventory based on traditional structural targets, has placed increasing emphasis upon finding commercially viable stratigraphic traps. This is especially true in the Dampier Sub-basin where recent drilling has identified at least twelve depositional sequences within the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous succession. These sequences document a far more complex Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous sedimentary history than previously acknowledged using traditional litho-stratigraphic mapping techniques. Use of a chronostratigraphic framework to develop Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous systems tract models, reveals that several repetitive facies suites may be penetrated by the drill, depending on geographic location and frequency of lowstand events. These models have profound implications for prediction of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous submarine fan systems, their potential reservoir distribution, and sealing capacity for hydrocarbon entrapment.At least eight lowstand events have been recognised in the Oxfordian to Tithonian sequence alone, associated with both synrift crustal extension and/or related fluctuations in global-eustatic sea level. During these lowstand episodes, huge volumes of coarse clastics were transported by mass-flow into the Lewis Trough with sediment transport of some 5–40 km. The magnitude of shelf-margin tectonic instability, sediment supply, and relative sea level change, controlled the geometry of submarine fan complexes that developed within each lowstand depositional cycle. In general, earlier (Oxfordian) basin-floor sand cycles comprise mixed channel-fill and submarinefan lobe moundforms confined to the Lewis Trough. Following collapse of the Madeleine intra-basinal high in early Kimmeridgian times, these earlier channelised lobes were progressively replaced by more widespread, massive, detached, non-channelised basin floor lobes, which became dominant by end-Tithonian time. The Early Cretaceous succession comprises mainly transgressive-highstand shelf to slope sediments, heralding a change from synrift lowstand to post-rift highstand depositional cycles.Sequence boundaries identified in the Dampier Sub-basin demonstrate a remarkable synchroneity with the worldwide global-eustatic curve, suggesting that a symbiotic relationship may exist between major tectonic events and third-order eustatic cycles, at least within the synrift section of the Dampier Sub-basin.

Exxon global cycle chart: An event for every occasion?

The basic premise of the recent Exxon cycle chart, that there exists a globally correlatable suite of third-order eustatic cycles, remains unproven. Many of the tests of this premise are based on circular reasoning. The implied precision of the Exxon global cycle chart is not supportable, because it is greater than that of the best available chronostratigraphic techniques, such as those used to construct the global standard time scale. Correlations of new stratigraphic sections with the Exxon chart will almost always succeed, because there are so many Exxon sequence-boundary events from which to choose. This is demonstrated by the use of four synthetic sections constructed from tables of random numbers. A minimum of 77% successful correlations of random events with the Exxon chart was achieved. The existing cycle chart represents an amalgam of regional and local tectonic events and probably also includes unrecognized miscorrelations. It is of questionable value as an independent standard of geologic time.

Sequential Stratigraphy of Jurassic and Cretaceous in the Central Saudi Arabian Platform

Depositional sequences and system tracts in the Jurassic and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the Central Saudi Arabian platform have been established on the basis of precise lithofacies analysis, detailed sedimentologic interpretation, and accurate age determination by ammonites, nautoli, brachipods, echinoids, and nannoflora. A eustatic depositional model integrated with accepted worldwide sequential stratigraphic data is proposed, and appears to correlate fairly well with the 1988 global sea level chart by Haq and others, particularly for the Lower and Middle Jurassic and the Middle and Upper Cretaceous. Ages determined by accurate biostratigraphic data enable time correlations to be made with third-order eustatic cycles from Vail's 1988 global chart. Eustatic changes therefore appear to be the main factors of sedimentary control during the Jurassic and Cretaceous on the Arabian platform.

Stratigraphic Signatures of the Tectonic and Eustatic Effects During the Post-Rift History of the Tethyan Margin in the Southern Vercors (France): ABSTRACT

The stratigraphic record of the southern European peri-tethyan platforms displays numerous major transgressive/regressive facies cycles with a duration of more than 10 m.y. during Mesozoic time. In the sub-Alpine basin, southeastern France, shaly sediments dominate during transgressive phases, and calcareous sediments dominate during regressive phases. These major facies cycles relate to major tectonic events associated with the tethyan passive margin history. It appears that these major facies cycles are formed in time intervals bracketed by periods of significant increases in the rate of tectonic subsidence. They are interpreted as second-order tectonic events (the evolution of the sedimentary basin being of first order). At a smaller scale, depositional sequences with lowstand, transgressive and highstand systems tracts are recognizable within the major transgressive/regressive facies cycles. They are interpreted to be caused by third-order eustatic cycles. During periods of high rates of tectonic subsidence, the accommodation space increases on the shelf. Thick transgressive and highstand systems tracts develop. These thick shelfal sequences are characteristic of the transgressive phase of the major facies cycles. When the rate of tectonic subsidence decreases, the accommodation space on the shelf also decreases, which greatly enhances the effect of eustatic sea level falls. During the regressive phase of more » the major facies cycles, depositional sequences develop thick lowstand systems tracts in the basin and major subaerial exposure surfaces on the shelf. « less

Responses of a Deltaic System to Minor Relative Sea Level Variations (Middle Jurassic, Cleveland Basin, England): Consequences on the Reservoir Geometry: ABSTRACT

In the Middle Jurassic series of the Cleveland basin (England), an accurate three-dimensional reconstruction of depositional sequences from outcrops, cores, and wireline logs show that minor sea level variations control the evolution of a deltaic system. Because of low subsidence and sediment supply rates, rapid sea level rises induce several landward shifts of the shoreline, whereas minor sea level drops produce the incision of small paleovalleys. The deltaic series, 200 m thick at the basin depocenter, are subdivided into five depositional sequences. During the first two sequences, the sediment supply rate exceeds the relative sea level rate and the delta progrades. The delta aggrades during the third depositional sequence and retrogrades in the fourth depositional sequence when the relative sea level rise rate balances then exceeds the sediment supply rate. Finally, a relative sea level drop induces the incision of a paleovalley progressively infilled during the following sea level rise. Several orders of bathymetric cycles are deduced from detailed correlations of the unconformities and from the comparison of the vertical facies succession between low and high subsiding areas. The general evolution of the delta is related to a 5-m.y. bathymetric cycle due to a eustatic sea level rise and fall.more » Pne to 3-m.y. bathymetric cycles control the main aggradation patterns of the delta. These patterns are related to third-order eustatic cycles or to local tectonic events. Less than 0.5 m.y. bathymetric cycles are registrated by parasequences or minor depositional sequences which are correlated all over the basin. The controlling parameters of the sequences are discussed. Minor bathymetric cycles (0.2 m.y.) reflect small-scale sea level oscillations or autocyclic evolution of the sedimentary bodies. The authors focus on the reservoir geometry within each bathymetric cycle.« less

Carbonate Sequence Stratigraphy and Controls on Carbonate Platform Development--Case Study from Permian of West Texas-New Mexico: ABSTRACT

Integration of seismic stratigraphic concepts with detailed field studies and geohistory analysis provides powerful interpretation leverage for deciphering the complex geologic history of carbonate platform-basin areas. Changes in carbonate productivity as well as platform growth and the resultant facies distribution are controlled most importantly by changes in relative sea level. The structural history of the Permian basin during the Permian shows two subsidence cycles of 10-20 m.y. duration. These subsidence cycles were major factors in the long-term (106 - 107 m.y.) development of the Permian carbonate platforms. During periods of relatively rapid subsidence, aggradation was dominant; during periods of slow subsidence, major platform progradation occurred. Superimposed on the long-term tectonic cycles is a series of third-order eustatic cycles (0.5-3 m.y.), which controlled development of 27 depositional sequences. Each sequence is composed of three depositional systems tracts: (1) a lower basin-restricted wedge interpreted to have been deposited during a relative fall and lowstand of sea level, (2) a transgressive systems tract of variable thickness, and (3) an upper, relatively thick, aggradational-to-progradational carbonate platform system, which includes significant allochthonous deposition in the basin and is interpreted to have been deposited during a relative highstand in sea level. The lowstand systems tracts are composed dominantly of quartz sandstone, commonly intercalated with carbonate debris beds at the toe of the slope. S quence boundaries display erosional truncation (subaerial on platform or at platform margin, subaqueous on slope) and/or subaerial exposure. Erosion and debris deposition occurs both within and outside submarine-canyon feeder systems. Two highstand depositional styles are differentiated here: (1) a keep-up system, which represents a relatively rapid rate of accumulation able to keep pace with periodic rises in sea level and displays a mounded-oblique stratal geometry at the platform margin, and (2) a catch-up system, which represents a relatively slow rate of accumulation and displays a sigmoid profile at the platform margin. Individual strata units of the platform margin and slope area of the catch-up carbonate system have a much longer sea-floor residence time and display significantly greater amounts of early submarine cement. The underlying transgressive systems tract tends to have a keep-up or give-up (i.e., thin, drowned) depositional style. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1522------------

Tectono-Eustatic Controls on Carbonate Platform Development, Permian Basin Outcrop-Subsurface: ABSTRACT

Integration of seismic stratigraphic concepts, detailed field studies, and geohistory analysis provides powerful interpretation leverage for deciphering the geologic history of the Permian carbonate platform complexes. The structural history of the Permian basin during the Permian shows two subsidence cycles of 10 to 20 m.y. duration. These subsidence cycles played a major role in the long-term (millions to tens of millions of years) development of the Permian carbonate platforms. During periods of relatively rapid subsidence, aggradation was dominant; during times of slow subsidence, major basinward platform progradation occurred. Superimposed on the long-term tectonic cycles are a series of third-order eustatic cycles (0.5-3 m.y.) which controlled development of 23 depositional sequences. Each sequence is composed of three depositional systems tracts: (1) a lower basin-restricted wedge interpreted to have been deposited during a relative fall and lowstand of sea level; (2) a transgressive systems tract of variable thickness; and (3) an upper aggradational to progradational carbonate platform system interpreted to have been deposited during a relative highstand in sea level. The lowstand systems tracts are composed dominantly of quartz sandstone, commonly intercalated with carbonate debris beds at the toe-of-slope. Two highstand depositional styles are differentiated here: (1) a keep-up system which maintainsmore » pace with periodic rises in relative sea level and displays a mounded-oblique stratal geometry at the platform margin and (2) a catch-up system which represents a relatively slow rate of accumulation and displays a sigmoid profile at the platform margin. Sequence boundaries display erosional truncation (subaerial on shelf or at shelf edge; subaqueous on slope) and/or subaerial exposure.« less

An Attempt to Frame a Working Hypothesis of the Cause of Glacial Periods on an Atmospheric Basis (Continued)

Previous articleNext article FreeAn Attempt to Frame a Working Hypothesis of the Cause of Glacial Periods on an Atmospheric Basis (Continued)T. C. ChamberlinT. C. Chamberlin Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Geology Volume 7, Number 7Oct. - Nov., 1899 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/608483 Views: 169Total views on this site Citations: 13Citations are reported from Crossref PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article: Trace Gases Warm the Planet, (Jun 2015): 37–50.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118897362.ch4Robert G. Watts Are the Concentrations of Greenhouse Gases in the Atmosphere Increasing?, (Jan 2007): 25–35.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-79417-9_3P MARKWICK, P VALDES Palaeo-digital elevation models for use as boundary conditions in coupled ocean–atmosphere GCM experiments: a Maastrichtian (late Cretaceous) example, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 213, no.1-21-2 (Oct 2004): 37–63.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(04)00330-XL.J. Lourens, F.J. Hilgen Long-periodic variations in the earth's obliquity and their relation to third-order eustatic cycles and late Neogene glaciations, Quaternary International 40 (Jan 1997): 43–52.https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-6182(96)00060-2Y. Goddéris, L.M. François The Cenozoic evolution of the strontium and carbon cycles: relative importance of continental erosion and mantle exchanges, Chemical Geology 126, no.22 (Dec 1995): 169–190.https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2541(95)00117-3Judith Totman Parrish A brief discussion of the history, strengths and limitations of conceptual climate models for pre-Quaternary time, (Jan 1994): 55–58.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1254-3_7Alan J. Kaufman, Stein B. Jacobsen, Andrew H. Knoll The Vendian record of Sr and C isotopic variations in seawater: Implications for tectonics and paleoclimate, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 120, no.3-43-4 (Dec 1993): 409–430.https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(93)90254-7 A brief discussion of the history, strengths and limitations of conceptual climate models for pre-Quaternary time, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 341, no.12971297 (Jan 1997): 263–266.https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1993.0111A. Henderson-Sellers Modelling and monitoring ‘Greenhouse’ warming, Trends in Ecology & Evolution 5, no.99 (Sep 1990): 270–275.https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-5347(90)90079-SB.A. Kimball, S.B. Idso Increasing atmospheric CO2: effects on crop yield, water use and climate, Agricultural Water Management 7, no.1-31-3 (Sep 1983): 55–72.https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-3774(83)90075-6John J Walsh Death in the sea: Enigmatic phytoplankton losses, Progress in Oceanography 12, no.11 (Jan 1983): 1–86.https://doi.org/10.1016/0079-6611(83)90006-XMartin I. Hoffert Global distributions of atmospheric carbon dioxide in the fossil-fuel era: A projection, Atmospheric Environment (1967) 8, no.1212 (Dec 1974): 1225–1249.https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(74)90003-1Frank Leverett Problems of the Glacialist, Science 71, no.18291829 (Jan 1930): 47–57.https://doi.org/10.1126/science.71.1829.47