Prinsip Stratigrafi

Tugas ini ditujukan untuk memenuhi Uts matakuliah Prinsip stratigrafi

Disusun oleh :

Mahasinul Fathani 270110140008

Kelas B

Universitas Padjadjaran
Fakultas Teknik Geologi
2015

Table of contents

1. the history of the science of geology and stratigraphy development.........................3

1.1 development of geological sciences.....................................................................3
1.2 revolution geological sciences: plate tectonic and stratigraphic sequence..........8
2. stratigraphic elements: classification of rocks.............................................................45
2.1 Sedimentary rocks..................................................................................................45
2.2 Igneous rocks.........................................................................................................55
2.3 Metamorphic rocks................................................................................................70
3. traditional principles of stratigraphy..................................................................................83
3.1 superposition.........................................................................................................83
3.2 Original horizontality............................................................................................83
3.3 Lateral continuity..................................................................................................84
3.4 Cross-cutting.........................................................................................................84
3.5 Uniformitarism......................................................................................................84
3.6 Catatrophism.........................................................................................................86
3.7 Faunal succession..................................................................................................87
3.8 Strata identified by fossils.....................................................................................87
4. modification of the traditional concept to modern...........................................................89
4.1 Superposition vs Bedding concept........................................................................89
4.2 Lateral continuity vs Lateral termination..............................................................90
4.3 Original horizontality vs Clinoform......................................................................91
4.4 Vertical accumulation vs Lateral accumulation.....................................................92
4.5 Unconformity vs Stratal discontinuity..................................................................93
4.6 Cyclicity of strata vs stratigraphy classification....................................................93
4.7 Traditional vs. deposition sequence stratigraphy..................................................94
bibliography...........................................................................................................................95

1. the history of the science of geology and stratigraphy

development
1.1 development of geological sciences
But, for that matter, the entire subject of historical geology is one that had but the barest
beginning before our century. Until the paleontologist found out the key to the earth's
chronology, no one - not even Hutton - could have any definite idea as to the true story of the
earth's past. The only conspicuous attempt to classify the strata was that made by Werner, who
divided the rocks into three systems, based on their supposed order of deposition, and called
primary, transition, and secondary.
Though Werner's observations were confined to the small province of Saxony, he did not hesitate
to affirm that all over the world the succession of strata would be found the same as there, the
concentric layers, according to this conception, being arranged about the earth with the regularity
of layers on an onion. But in this Werner was as mistaken as in his theoretical explanation of the
origin of the "primary" rocks. It required but little observation to show that the exact succession
of strata is never precisely the same in any widely separated regions. Nevertheless, there was a
germ of truth in Werner's system. It contained the idea, however faultily interpreted, of a
chronological succession of strata; and it furnished a working outline for the observers who were
to make out the true story of geological development. But the correct interpretation of the
observed facts could only be made after the Huttonian view as to the origin of strata had gained
complete acceptance.
When William Smith, having found the true key to this story, attempted to apply it, the territory
with which he had to deal chanced to be one where the surface rocks are of that later series
which Werner termed secondary. He made numerous subdivisions within this system, based
mainly on the fossils. Meantime it was found that, judged by the fossils, the strata that
Brongniart and Cuvier studied near Paris were of a still more recent period (presumed at first to
be due to the latest deluge), which came to be spoken of as tertiary. It was in these beds, some of
which seemed to have been formed in fresh-water lakes, that many of the strange mammals
which Cuvier first described were found.
But the "transition" rocks, underlying the "secondary" system that Smith studied, were still
practically unexplored when, along in the thirties, they were taken in hand by Roderick Impey
Murchison, the reformed fox-hunter and ex-captain, who had turned geologist to such notable
advantage, and Adam Sedgwick, the brilliant Woodwardian professor at Cambridge.
Working together, these two friends classified the transition rocks into chronological groups,
since familiar to every one in the larger outlines as the Silurian system (age of invertebrates) and
the Devonian system (age of fishes) - names derived respectively from the country of the ancient
Silures, in Wales and Devonshire, England. It was subsequently discovered that these systems of

strata, which crop out from beneath newer rocks in restricted areas in Britain, are spread out into
broad, undisturbed sheets over thousands of miles in continental Europe and in America. Later
on Murchison studied them in Russia, and described them, conjointly with Verneuil and Von
Kerserling, in a ponderous and classical work. In America they were studied by Hall, Newberry,
Whitney, Dana, Whitfield, and other pioneer geologists, who all but anticipated their English
contemporaries.
The rocks that are of still older formation than those studied by Murchison and Sedgwick
(corresponding in location to the "primary" rocks of Werner's conception) are the surface feature
of vast areas in Canada, and were first prominently studied there by William I. Logan, of the
Canadian Government Survey, as early as 1846, and later on by Sir William Dawson. These
rocks - comprising the Laurentian system - were formerly supposed to represent parts of the
original crust of the earth, formed on first cooling from a molten state; but they are now more
generally regarded as once-stratified deposits metamorphosed by the action of heat.
Whether "primitive" or metamorphic, however, these Canadian rocks, and analogous ones
beneath the fossiliferous strata of other countries, are the oldest portions of the earth's crust of
which geology has any present knowledge. Mountains of this formation, as the Adirondacks and
the Storm King range, overlooking the Hudson near West Point, are the patriarchs of their kind,
beside which Alleghanies and Sierra Nevadas are recent upstarts, and Rockies, Alps, and Andes
are mere parvenus of yesterday.
The Laurentian rocks were at first spoken of as representing "Azoic" time; but in 1846 Dawson
found a formation deep in their midst which was believed to b e the fossil relic of a very low
form of life, and after that it became customary to speak of the system as "Eozoic." Still more
recently the title of Dawson's supposed fossil to rank as such has been questioned, and Dana's
suggestion that the early rocks be termed merely Archman has met with general favor.
Murchison and Sedgwick's Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous groups (the ages of
invertebrates, of fishes, and of coal plants, respectively) are together spoken of as representing
Paleozoic time. William Smith's system of strata, next above these, once called "secondary,"
represents Mesozoic time, or the age of reptiles. Still higher, or more recent, are Cuvier and
Brongniart's tertiary rocks, representing the age of mammals. Lastly, the most recent formations,
dating back, however, to a period far enough from recent in any but a geological sense, are
classed as quaternary, representing the age of man.
It must not be supposed, however, that the successive "ages" of the geologist are shut off from
one another in any such arbitrary way as this verbal classification might seem to suggest. In point
of fact, these "ages" have no better warrant for existence than have the "centuries" and the
"weeks" of every-day computation. They are convenient, and they may even stand for local
divisions in the strata, but they are bounded by no actual gaps in the sweep of terrestrial events.

Moreover, it must be understood that the "ages" of different continents, though described under
the same name, are not necessarily of exact contemporaneity. There is no sure test available by
which it could be shown that the Devonian age, for instance, as outlined in the strata of Europe,
did not begin millions of years earlier or later than the period whose records are said to represent
the Devonian age in America. In attempting to decide such details as this, mineralogical data fail
us utterly. Even in rocks of adjoining regions identity of structure is no proof of
contemporaneous origin; for the veritable substance of the rock of one age is ground up to build
the rocks of subsequent ages. Furthermore, in seas where conditions change but little the same
form of rock may be made age after age. It is believed that chalk-beds still forming in some of
our present seas may form one continuous mass dating back to earliest geologic ages. On the
other hand, rocks different in character maybe formed at the same time in regions not far apart say a sandstone along shore, a coral limestone farther seaward, and a chalk-bed beyond. This
continuous stratum, broken in the process of upheaval, might seem the record of three different
epochs.
Paleontology, of course, supplies far better chronological tests, but even these have their
limitations. There has been no time since rocks now in existence were formed, if ever, when the
earth had a uniform climate and a single undiversified fauna over its entire land surface, as the
early paleontologists supposed. Speaking broadly, the same general stages have attended the
evolution of organic forms everywhere, but there is nothing to show that equal periods of time
witnessed corresponding changes in diverse regions, but quite the contrary. To cite but a single
illustration, the marsupial order, which is the dominant mammalian type of the living fauna of
Australia to-day, existed in Europe and died out there in the tertiary age. Hence a future geologist
might think the Australia of to-day contemporaneous with a period in Europe which in reality
antedated it by perhaps millions of years.
All these puzzling features unite to render the subject of historical geology anything but the
simple matter the fathers of the science esteemed it. No one would now attempt to trace the exact
sequence of formation of all the mountains of the globe, as Elie de Beaumont did a half-century
ago. Even within the limits of a single continent, the geologist must proceed with much caution
in attempting to chronicle the order in which its various parts rose from the matrix of the sea. The
key to this story is found in the identification of the strata that are the surface feature in each
territory. If Devonian rocks are at the surface in any given region, for example, it would appear
that this region became a land surface in the Devonian age, or just afterwards. But a moment's
consideration shows that there is an element of uncertainty about this, due to the steady
denudation that all land surfaces undergo. The Devonian rocks may lie at the surface simply
because the thousands of feet of carboniferous strata that once lay above them have been worn
away. All that the cautious geologist dare assert, therefore, is that the region in question did not
become permanent land surface earlier than the Devonian age.
But to know even this is much - sufficient, indeed, to establish the chronological order of
elevation, if not its exact period, for all parts of any continent that have been geologically

explored - understanding always that there must be no scrupling about a latitude of a few
millions or perhaps tens of millions of years here and there.
Regarding our own continent, for example, we learn through the researches of a multitude of
workers that in the early day it was a mere archipelago. Its chief island - the backbone of the
future continent - was a great V-shaped area surrounding what is now Hudson Bay, an area built
tip, perhaps, through denudation of a yet more ancient polar continent, whose existence is only
conjectured. To the southeast an island that is now the Adirondack Mountains, and another that is
now the Jersey Highlands rose above the waste of waters, and far to the south stretched probably
a line of islands now represented by the Blue Ridge Mountains. Far off to the westward another
line of islands foreshadowed our present Pacific border. A few minor islands in the interior
completed the archipelago.
From this bare skeleton the continent grew, partly by the deposit of sediment from the
denudation of the original islands (which once towered miles, perhaps, where now they rise
thousands of feet), but largely also by the deposit of organic remains, especially in the interior
sea, which teemed with life. In the Silurian ages, invertebrates - brachiopods and crinoids and
cephalopods - were the dominant types. But very early - no one knows just when - there came
fishes of many strange forms, some of the early ones enclosed in turtle-like shells. Later yet,
large spaces within the interior sea having risen to the surface, great marshes or forests of strange
types of vegetation grew and deposited their remains to form coal-beds. Many times over such
forests were formed, only to be destroyed by the oscillations of the land surface. All told, the
strata of this Paleozoic period aggregate several miles in thickness, and the time consumed in
their formation stands to all later time up to the present, according to Professor Dana's estimate,
as three to one.
Towards the close of this Paleozoic era the Appalachian Mountains were slowly upheaved in
great convoluted folds, some of them probably reaching three or four miles above the sea-level,
though the tooth of time has since gnawed them down to comparatively puny limits. The
continental areas thus enlarged were peopled during the ensuing Mesozoic time with multitudes
of strange reptiles, many of them gigantic in size. The waters, too, still teeming with
invertebrates and fishes, had their quota of reptilian monsters; and in the air were flying reptiles,
some of which measured twenty- five feet from tip to tip of their batlike wings. During this era
the Sierra Nevada Mountains rose. Near the eastern border of the forming continent the strata
were perhaps now too thick and stiff to bend into mountain folds, for they were rent into great
fissures, letting out floods of molten lava, remnants of which are still in evidence after ages of
denudation, as the Palisades along the Hudson, and such elevations as Mount Holyoke in western
Massachusetts.
Still there remained a vast interior sea, which later on, in the tertiary age, was to be divided by
the slow uprising of the land, which only yesterday - that is to say, a million, or three or five or

ten million, years ago - became the Rocky Mountains. High and erect these young mountains
stand to this day, their sharp angles and rocky contours vouching for their youth, in strange
contrast with the shrunken forms of the old Adirondacks, Green Mountains, and Appalachians,
whose lowered heads and rounded shoulders attest the weight of ages. In the vast lakes which
still remained on either side of the Rocky range, tertiary strata were slowly formed to the
ultimate depth of two or three miles, enclosing here and there those vertebrate remains which
were to be exposed again to view by denudation when the land rose still higher, and then, in our
own time, to tell so wonderful a story to the paleontologist.
Finally, the interior seas were filled, and the shore lines of the continent assumed nearly their
present outline.
Then came the long winter of the glacial epoch - perhaps of a succession of glacial epochs. The
ice sheet extended southward to about the fortieth parallel, driving some animals before it, and
destroying those that were unable to migrate. At its fulness, the great ice mass lay almost a mile
in depth over New England, as attested by the scratched and polished rock surfaces and
deposited erratics in the White Mountains. Such a mass presses down with a weight of about one
hundred and twenty-five tons to the square foot, according to Dr. Croll's estimate. It crushed and
ground everything beneath it more or less, and in some regions planed off hilly surfaces into
prairies. Creeping slowly forward, it carried all manner of debris with it. When it melted away its
terminal moraine built up the nucleus of the land masses now known as Long Island and Staten
Island; other of its deposits formed the "drumlins" about Boston famous as Bunker and Breed's
hills; and it left a long, irregular line of ridges of "till" or bowlder clay and scattered erratics clear
across the country at about the latitude of New York city.
As the ice sheet slowly receded it left minor moraines all along its course. Sometimes its deposits
dammed up river courses or inequalities in the surface, to form the lakes which everywhere
abound over Northern territories. Some glacialists even hold the view first suggested by Ramsey,
of the British Geological Survey, that the great glacial sheets scooped out the basins of many
lakes, including the system that feeds the St. Lawrence. At all events, it left traces of its presence
all along the line of its retreat, and its remnants exist to this day as mountain glaciers and the
polar ice cap. Indeed, we live on the border of the last glacial epoch, for with the closing of this
period the long geologic past merges into the present.

1.2 revolution geological sciences: plate tectonic and stratigraphic

sequence
1.2.1 Plate tectonic (Alfred Wegener,1924)
Alfred Wegener, a German geophysicist and meteorologist, was not satisfied by this
explanation. His ideas drew on the widely recognized fact that Africa and South America
appeared to fit together like jigsaw puzzle pieces. He collected paleoclimate data, or information
about what the climate was like in the geologic past as recorded in rocks, from the continents on
both sides of the Atlantic (Figure 1). He recognized that belts of coal, which forms in tropical
regions, crossed from North America in Europe and Asia, far north of the modern tropics. He
also found evidence that an ice sheet had once advanced from southern Africa and India (see
Figure 1), a phenomenon that was impossible to explain in the modern arrangement of the
continents.

Figure 1: Wegeners map of paleoclimate data from his 1915 publication, showing the
continents joined together and the bands of similar rock types that crossed the oceans (Wegener,
1924).
To explain these data, Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift in his book The Origins
of the Continents and the Oceans, published in German in 1915 and in English in 1924
(Wegener, 1924). His theory stated that all of the continents had originally been joined together
during the time period called the Carboniferous (now known to be about 300-360 million years
ago) in a supercontinent calledPangaea (see Figure 2 for his depiction). By the Eocene (about 50
million years ago), when new fossilspecies were present that were not as widely distributed, the
continents as we know them today had broken apart and were far enough apart that species could
not easily migrate from one to the other (see Figure 3 for his depiction).

Figure 2: Wegeners depiction of Pangaea (Wegener, 1924). The dotted areas would have been
warm, shallow seas. Wegener provided the present-day outlines and the rivers for the purpose of
identification only.

Figure 3: Additional images from Wegeners publication, showing how the continents drifted
through time (Wegener, 1924).

Driving the drift

When Wegener's book was translated into English, French, Spanish, and Russian in 1924, he was
widely ridiculed for his suggestion that the continents had moved. One of the main problems
with his theorywas that he did not propose a driving mechanism for the motion of the continents.
What was the forcethat moved the continents? Where did it come from? How much force was
needed to move a continent?
The driving mechanism, an important key to the continental drift theory, lay out of reach until
the 1960s. Wegener had made his claims based on data from the continents, but the oceans cover
70 percent of Earth's surface a vast area hidden from his view under kilometers of water. But
the first and second World Wars brought major technical and scientific developments that
allowed scientists to (1) map the ocean floor and (2) measure the magnetism of seafloor rocks in
detail. These two sets of data provided geologists with additional evidence for the process of
continental drift.

Continental Drift and Plate-Tectonics Theory

Source: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey
According to the theory of continental drift, the world was made up of a single continent through
most of geologic time. That continent eventually separated and drifted apart, forming into the
seven continents we have today. The first comprehensive theory of continental drift was
suggested by the German meteorologist Alfred Wegener in 1912. The hypothesis asserts that the
continents consist of lighter rocks that rest on heavier crustal materialsimilar to the manner in
which icebergs float on water. Wegener contended that the relative positions of the continents are
not rigidly fixed but are slowly movingat a rate of about one yard per century.
According to the generally accepted plate-tectonics theory, scientists believe that Earth's surface
is broken into a number of shifting slabs or plates, which average about 50 miles in thickness.
These plates move relative to one another above a hotter, deeper, more mobile zone at average
rates as great as a few inches per year. Most of the world's active volcanoes are located along or
near the boundaries between shifting plates and are called plate-boundary volcanoes.
The peripheral areas of the Pacific Ocean Basin, containing the boundaries of several plates, are
dotted with many active volcanoes that form the so-called Ring of Fire. The Ring provides
excellent examples of plate-boundary volcanoes, including Mount St. Helens.

However, some active volcanoes are not associated with plate boundaries, and many of these socalled intra-plate volcanoes form roughly linear chains in the interior of some oceanic plates. The
Hawaiian Islands provide perhaps the best example of an intra-plate volcanic chain, developed
by the northwest-moving Pacific plate passing over an inferred hot spot that initiates the
magma-generation and volcano-formation process.

Plate-Tectonics TheoryThe Lithosphere Plates of Earth

This figure shows the boundaries of lithosphere plates that are active at present. The double
lines indicate zones of spreading from which plates are moving apart. The lines with barbs
show zones of underthrusting (subduction), where one plate is sliding beneath another. The
barbs on the lines indicate the overriding plate. The single line defines a strike-slip fault
along which plates are sliding horizontally past one another. The stippled areas indicate a
part of a continent, exclusive of that along a plate boundary, which is undergoing active
extensional, compressional, or strike-slip faulting.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey.

1.2.2 Sequence stratigrahpy

Preamble
Stratigraphy is the science of understanding the variations in the successively layered character
of rocks and their composition. These rocks may be sedimentary, volcanic, metamorphic or
igneous. The layering of sedimentary rocks is expressed as sets of simple to complex
sedimentary geometries, and a wide variety of different sedimentary facies. Sequence
stratigraphy, a branch of sedimentarystratigraphy, deals with the order, or sequence, in which
depositionally related stratalsuccessions (time-rock) units were laid down in the available space
oraccommodation. The chronostratigraphy of sedimentary rocks tracks changes their character
through geologic time. These changes may be shown in graphical form as either geologic cross
sections and/or as chronostratigraphic correlation charts or Wheeler (1958, & 1964) diagrams.
This is distinct from their geochronology or geologic age. The discipline of sequence
stratigraphy provides a tool used interpret the depositional origin and predict the heterogeneity,
extent and character of thelithofacies. This tool combines:

The framework of major depositional and erosional surfaces bounding

these successions of strata

The geometry that successive contemporaneous strata have following

their accumulation

This framework is most commonly interpreted to have been generated during changes in relative
sea level when surfaces formed during the associated deposition and erosion. These surfaces, and
the geometries of the sediments they envelope, are combined to interpret the depositional setting
of clastic and carbonate sediments sediments, be they continental, marginal

marine, basin margins and down-slope settings of basins. The interpretation is better, and
predictions of local and regionalstratigraphy more accurate, when the sequence
stratigraphic framework integrates accommodation successions with understanding of:

Steno's Laws of sediment accumulation

Walther's Law of the vertical and lateral equivalence of sediments

The chronology of the succession of strata forming the geologic section

Sedimentary structures

The major problem with sequence stratigraphy is that the definition, terminology and
interpretation of the surfaces of sequence stratigraphy is complex and often contentious (Neal &
Abrue, 2009). Terminology often involves conceptual depositional models, sea level, and/or age
duration, mixing interpretation with observation, applying different genetic names to the
same surfaces or deposits that depend on the model employed. In the hope of circumnavigating
this, the site places a heavy dependence on the explanation of terminology linked pop-up boxes
whose contents is intended to clarify the understanding and use of this discipline ofstratigraphy.
In the hope of circumnavigating this, the site places a heavy dependence on the explanation
of terminology linked pop-up boxes whose contents is intended to clarify the understanding and
use
of
this
discipline
of stratigraphy.
Bounding
Surfaces of
Sequence
Stratigraphy
The key to using sequence stratigraphy as a tool for interpreting the sedimentary section are the
major bounding and subdividing surfaces (see the banner image above). These surfaces are
commonly generated by the changes in relative sea level. From the moment the oceans were first
generated, their water volume and distribution across the globe has varied. This would have
resulted in transgressions that caused the shore and the near-shore being flooded so transgressive
surfaces (TS) formed. When the rate of sea level rise reached its most rapid change, the rate of
sediment accumulating seaward of the shore slowed while from the onset of the Phanerozoic the
pelagic and benthic organic matter continued to accumulate. These organics sequestered
radioactive elements in the water column. The result is that from the Phanerozoic on the
sediments have a strong radioactive signal on gamma logs with matching condensed sections of
fossils that accumulated on a surface or in a thin zone which is known as the maximum flooding
surface (mfs). In contrast, a drop in sea level may cause the shore and the near-shore to be
eroded, forming sequence boundaries (SB).
The Protocol Of Sequence Stratigraphic Analysis
Once interpretative analysis has identified the subdividing surfaces listed above, the successions
of layered stratal geometries of discrete contemporaneous sediment filling the accommodation
are examined. These stratal geometries of accommodation successions commonly either:

Prograde and aggrade (PA)

Retrograde (R)

Aggrade to prograde to degrade (APD)

The characteristic geometries of accommodation successions are interpreted to differentiate the

systems tracts and sequences listed below. First the interpreter reverses the order of deposition by
back-stripping the contemporaneous stratal geometries from youngest to oldest, These are then
reassembled in the order of successive accumulation. This reassembly uses the template of
subdividing surfaces, lithofacies geometry, and fauna to interpret the evolving character of
depositional setting and build conceptual models. Reassembly tracks the evolution of the
sedimentary system, its hydrodynamic setting, andaccommodation (see Basin Clastic Sequence
Hierarchies for such a reassembly).
The back-stripping and analysis is aided by a variety of contemporaneous
elements subdivided by the surfaces and their hierarchy from low frequency to
high frequency. These include:

Sequences

Systems tract

Parasequences and/or cycles

Bedsets

Beds

As these sediments are reassembled, the genetic character of the sequences, systems tracts,
parasequences, and beds will be seen as products of changes in accommodation. A limit to this
analytical strategy is often the extent of ones understanding of the inferred depositional setting.
The advantage of the strategy is it considers new questions, leading to more realistic
interpretations and enhanced predictions of lithofacies heterogeneity's. Thus the sequence
stratigraphic framework is used to analyze and explain how sedimentary rocks acquire their
layered character, lithology, texture, faunal associations and other properties. These properties in
turn can be used to explain how the mechanisms of sediment accumulation, erosion and interrelated processes produced the current configuration of these rocks.
The sequence stratigraphic approach recommended on this web site for the interpretation of
sedimentary rocks contrasts with:

Lithostratigraphic analysis which maps lithofacies independent of subdividing external

and internal boundaries

Allostratigraphic analysis that identifies and includes as time markers bounding

discontinuities including erosion surfaces, marine flooding surfaces, and markers that
include tuffs, tempestites, and/or turbiditeboundaries etc., but considers these as
independent of any model of base level change

Analyses based on sequence stratigraphy apply allostratigraphic models to interpret the

depositional origin of these sedimentary strata but in contrast assumes, though this is not always
stated, an implicit connection of the contermporaneous strata torelative sea level or base
level change.

Niels Steno and Johannes Walther

Steno and Walther's contributions to sedimentary interpretation and so sequence
stratigraphy were profound. Steno established the order and the way sediments were laid down.
His principle of superposition recognized that older sedimentary layers underlie the newer layers.
His principle of original horizontality recorded how sediments are deposited to fill a basal
irregular surface enclosed above by a smooth surface. His principle of lateral continuity proposed
contemporaneous layers of sediment are continuous till they pinch out, or a barrier prevents their
further spread during deposition, or subsequent abrupt changes in the landscape break up the
sediment layers. Walther then recognized that as depositional settings change their lateral
position and fill accommodation, so the sedimentary facies of adjacent depositional settings
succeed one another as a vertical sequence.
Stacking Patterns and Geometries
To establish the depositional setting of the sedimentary section, sequence stratigraphy uses the
geometric arrangement of sedimentary fill, particularly the vertical succession of sedimentary
facies geometries and their enveloping surfaces known as stacking satterns. The geometries and
so stacking patterns of un-cemented carbonates and clastics are similar. This is because both
respond to changes in base level, both can be subdivided by similar surfaces and both respond to
wave and current movement similarly and may be transported.
Never the less major differences in the sequence stratigraphy of the two sediments exist. All
clastics are transported to their depositional resting place while carbonates are produced and
accumulate "in situ". Rates of carbonate production are linked to photosynthesis, so are depth
dependent with rates greatest close to the air/sea interface. This means that carbonate facies and
their fabrics are often used as indicators of sea level position. Additionally rates of carbonate
accumulation often have a biochemical and physicochemical origin that is influenced by the
chemistry of the water from which they are precipitated. Stacking patterns of both sediments are
expressed by geometric bodies that may be:

Unconfined by topography

Confined within eroded topography.

Stacking patterns for both clastics and carbonates that are the product of physical
accommodation vary between:

Unconfined sheets that:

o Prograde (step seaward) as
o Retrograde (step landward)
o Aggrade (build vertically)

Unconfined prograding carbonate sheets that are the product of physical

accommodation are further subdivided below into:
o Low angle ramps of fine shallow-water carbonate that in deeper-water pass to
gravels
o Homoclinal ramps of fine shallow-water carbonate
o Distally steepened ramps of shallow-water grain-dominated carbonate

Unconfined carbonate platform sheet geometries formed with ecological

accommodation form
o Flat-topped open shelves with moderate shallow-water ecological
accommodation
o Reef-rimmed platform with highest shallow-water ecological accommodation
o Massive steep to cliffed margins with maximum shallow-waterecological
accommodation

Confined bodies represented by fill of Incised topography include

Subaerial incised valleys

Submarine incised valleys

Channel fill and stacking of confining valleys, unconfined lobes and sheets may be expressed as:

Organized bodies

Disorganized bodies

Multi-storied

Amalgamated

Other
Stratigraphic
Tools
Utilized
with Sequence
Stratigraphy
Prediction and interpretation improves not only when sequence stratigraphy is coupled to the
Laws of Steno and Walther but when tied to indicators of deposition and time. Indicators of
depositional setting include:

Ichnofacies and fossils

Sedimentary structures

Volcanics

Storm layers or tempestites

Sequence stratigraphic boundaries

Chronostratigraphic markers include:

Fossils

Magneto-stratigraphic

Radioactive markers or gamma ray log signalRadioactive markers or gamma ray log
signal

Radiometric markers

Terminology
Though the linkage between the sequence stratigraphy and the other sub-disciplines of
stratigraphy can be fuzzy these links are important to prediction and interpretation. A key
problem to strengthing theses links is not only that the terminology of sequence stratigraphy
carries connotations related to the interpretation of the surfaces used to interpret the stratigraphic
section but also a consideration of sedimentology and chronostratigraphy. How the terminology
is defined and used and/or fits preconceived classifications is tied to the character of the data and
stratigraphic techniques used. In the end it is up to the user to consider their data, and the goals
of their interpretations. They should be able to explain their choice of terms and then make their
interpretation!

Use of the Over Simplification of time as it relates to sequence stratigraphy

As is explained in the pages that follow, using the above approach geologists infer the processes
responsible for that sedimentary rock and so interpret its origin. The sedimentary layering of a
stratigraphic section has a vast array of dimensional hierarchies. These range from units
millimeters thick that might be formed over seconds to thousands of feet thick and formed of
millions of years. As much of the literature related to these surfaces indicates, it should be
recognized that whatever the dimension of a layer is and whatever the time involved in its
deposition, each layer is assumed to be contemporaneous though it is bounded by surfaces that
transgress time (Wheeler, (1958); Middleton, (1973); Vail et al (1977); Galloway, (1989);
Catuneanu, et al, (1998); Schwarzacher, (2000); Catuneanu, (2002); Embry, (2002); Cross, and
Lessenger, (submitted)). This means an interpretation of the depositional setting for a section cut
by these diachronous surfaces contravenes Walther's Law. Most interpreters accept and take into
consideration that the layered units bounded by these surfaces formed at different times, and
recognize that the subdividing surfaces are of a higher order frequency than the time envelope of
the parasequence being considered. In other words the situation is simplified when the surfaces
are taken to represent instances in time between which assumed to be contemporaneous
sediments accumulated continuously over some unit of time. Thus the surfaces of the layers
transgress time and the sediments filling between these surfaces also transgress time while being
continuously reworked through a series of geological events.

Figure - Hierarchy of sedimentary structures:

A - Flaser structures from an intertidal flat setting in which the individual
components probably accumulated over minutes but the whole section may
represent tidal cycles over months (Bar Scale - 2 cm)
B - Cross bedded Ordovician carbonates from a beach or nearshore shallow
shoal setting that probably represent accumulation and reworking over
several years

C - Flat bedded Mississippian downslope siliciclastic fan deposits; each bed

of which may have accumulated over a period of hours, though the whole
section encompasses potentially hundreds of thousands of years (bar scale 1m)
Thus it should be recognized that in sedimentary interpretation the application ofSteno's
principles and Walther's Law provide powerful and useful simplifications that assume the
sediments packaged by surfaces accumulated within discrete moments of time, and are
considered contemperaneous. If one thinks about this, these simplifications don't contravene
logic (which is literally Fuzzy) and aid in the interpretation of the sedimentary section. The
above discussion provides a general introduction to the subdivision of the sedimentary section by
the surfaces listed above and their relationship to base level change. For for a more complete and
thorough discussion of this topic you should read Catuneanu (2002).
Introduction to the Web Site
This Web Site explains:
1. How to make sequence stratigraphic interpretations of sedimentary sections:

Subdivide of these sections into sequences, parasequences&/or their

associated systems tracts

Determine their depositional setting

Characterize and predict of the extent of their lithofacies, particularly when

associated with hydrocarbon reservoirs, and aquifers.

2. The use of:

2-D and 3-D seismic sections

o Well log data
o Outcrops
to identify and correlate surfaces of:

Erosion and non-deposition (sequence boundaries [SB])

Transgressive surfaces [TS]

Maximum flooding surfaces [mfs]

3. How the above surfaces have time significance and establish:

a relative time framework for the sedimentary succession

the inter-relationship of the depositional settings and their lateral correlation

a compartmentalization of hydrocarbon reservoirs

In summary this web site explains how "Sequence Stratigraphy" can be used to study
sedimentary rock relationships within a time-stratigraphic framework of repetitive, genetically
related contemporaneous strata bounded by surfaces of erosion or non-deposition, or
their correlative
conformity
(Posamentier et al., 1988; Van Wagoner et al., 1988).
Sequence stratigraphy of depositional systems
This site provides an overview of both modern and ancient depositional systems in terms of their
sequence stratigraphy and their character. These systems include:

Clastic Systems
o Marine: Barrier island Coasts; Deltaic systems; deepwater fans; Deepwater
basins
o Continental: Glacial; Aeolian; Alluvial Fans; Braided Streams; Coarse and fine
grained fluvial systems; Lacustrian

carbonate Systems: Inner carbonate shelf; Outer carbonate Shelf and Margins;
Deepwater carbonates

Using the sidebar menu you can select topics in sequence stratigraphy and access exercises
related to this. You should be able to learn how to subdivide the sedimentary section into
packages defined by bounding unconformities and internal surfaces. You will be able to see
how sequences, parasequences and their associated systems tracts are the products of changes
in relative sea level and rates of sedimentation. The various forms of sequence stratigraphic
analyses outlined include the use of seismic cross-sections, well logs and outcrop studies of
sedimentary rocks to infer changes of relative sea level and rates of sedimentation. You will be
shown how to construct chronostratigrapic diagrams and also be show how to predict facies
geometries and build depositional models using a variety of techniques!
The sequence is divided by surfaces systems tracts. Each systems tract is represented by a
collection of the sediments of the associated sedimentarydepositional systems that were active
during the different phases of base levelchange. Thus systems tract sediments can be considered
as sedimentary units that were deposited synchronously and can be mapped as being enclosed by
continuoussurfaces that extend from sub-aerial and to sub-aqueous settings.

The systems tracts defined in order of deposition to form the ideal sequence are:

Early phase lowstand systems tract

Late phase lowstand systems tract

Transgressive systems tract

Highstand systems tract

Early phase lowstand systems tract is associated with:

Falling stage of relative sea level induced by eustasy falling rapidly and/or tectonic
uplift outpacing the rate of change in sea level position

Fluvial incision up dip with formation of an unconformity or sequence boundary and

the focus of sediment input at the shoreline

Forced regressions induced by the lack of accommodation producingstacking

patterns of downward stepping prograding clinoforms over thecondensed
section formed during the previous transgressive andhighstand systems tracts

Slope instability caused by the rapid deposition of sediment from the fluvial systems

Basin floor fans formed from sediment transported from the shelf margin when this
fails under the weight of the rapid sediment accumulationassociated with the forced
regression

Shelf margin and slope fans form when rates of sedimentation slows and slope
instability is reduced so sediment is not displaced so far downslope

Onlap of sediments onto the prograding clinoforms below the shelf break

The lower boundaries of the early phase lowstand systems tract are the
updip unconformity and the top of the downdip condensed section. Thesesurfaces form
by different mechanisms and have different time significance

The top of the downdip condensed section immediately underlies thedownlapping

prograding clinoforms of the forced regression

The top of the early phase lowstand systems tract in theory is marked by an
initial onlap onto the often eroded surface of the prograding clinoforms of the forced
regression

Late phase lowstand systems tract is associated with:

A slow relative sea level rise is induced when eustasy begins to rise slowly and/or
tectonic uplift slows

Sediment is now outpaced by an increase in accommodation and in response the

sediment begins to onlap onto the basin margin

River profiles stabilize

Valleys backfill

Prograding lowstand clinoforms form and are capped by topset layers thatonlap,
aggrade, become thicker upward and landward

Transgressive systems tract is associated with:

A rapid relative sea level rise above the shelf margin occurs when eustasybegins to rise
rapidly, exceeding the effects of any tectonic uplift

Condensed sequences are often composed of sediment layers rich in the tests of fauna
that are no longer masked by sediment accumulationbecause sedimentation rates are
very slow in response to the greater area of sea floor exposed to sedimentation

Ravinement erosion surface formed when the transgressing sea reworks either the
prior sequence boundary or the sediments that may have collected during the forced
regression that may have followed the generation of that sequence boundary.

Maximum flooding surface forms when the last fine-grained widespread transgressive
sediment collects before the high stand builds out over it.

Highstand systems tract is associated with:

Slow rise of relative sea level followed by a slow fall; essentially a still stand of base
level when the slower rate eustatic change balances that of tectonic motion

Sediment outpacing loss of accommodation

River profiles stabilize

River valleys are dispersed laterally in a position landward of the shelf margin.

Prograding highstand clinoforms develop capped by aggrading topsets that become

thinner upward.

Stratigraphic framework and sedimentary systems

Figure: Information from detailed geological analysis populates a sequence stratigraphic framework so
leading to accurate interpretations of depositional setting and predictions of lithofacies geometries in
unknown portions of a basin.

Introduction
Lyells premise in 1830, 1832 & 1833 that the present is the key to the past is fundamental
to sequence stratigraphy's recognition that the sedimentary record of the earths crust is the
product of uniform and common physical processes that interacted with sediments as they
accumulated. This means that the processes responsible for known portions of a geological
section can be determined by careful description and analysis focused on component lithofacies,
fabric and geometry. The origins of these sediments are then be interpreted by comparison with
observations of similar features in modern sedimentary systems and their processes, results of
flume experiments, computer simulations that re-create the fabrics and geometries seen in the
field and laboratory, and the body of known geological information geologists have amassed in
the geological literature. These interpretations are then integrated with the sequence stratigraphic
framework of erosional and depositional surfaces that enclose and subdivide the section. This
template extends the interpretation of the depositional setting and predictions oflithofacies
geometries away from the known areas. It also aids prediction of sedimentary rocks likely to
contain both hydrocarbon and water resources and what their characteristic fabrics might be.

Figure: A sequence stratigraphic framework leads to interpretations of depositional setting and

predictions of lithofacies geometries.
This portion of the web site is based on the geologic literature, in particular Catuneanu, et al,
(2011) and its summary of a collective understanding of sequence stratigraphy. This section
defines and explains the origins of:

The sequence stratigraphic framework of enveloping erosional anddepositional

surface boundaries

The physical processes that generated the gross sediment geometric end members:
o Sequences
o Systems tracts
o Parasequences.

The relationship of the different depositional systems, with their different genetically related
stratigraphic elements is then described in terms of the above sequencestratigraphic geometric
end members. Further consideration is given to the stratalstacking patterns of
different depositional systems combined to define trends in geometric character and systems
tracts. The text explains how the framework of the elements of each depositional setting has
common hierarchies that enable reconstruction of the sedimentary section and the prediction
of lithofacies and paleogeography away from control points. The sources of information in this
text are referenced, though if inadvertent omissions occur, it is likely the information was
thought to be axiomatic.
Bounding surfaces and architectural elements
The interpretation of the depositional setting of sedimentary strata is enhanced through
understanding the origin of the character of the bounding surfaces to the sedimentary geometries
of the component lithofacies. The bounding erosional anddepositional surfaces of sedimentary
geometries have hierarchical order. For instance partings with a high frequency include those of
that subdivide shales, whilebedding planes, the features commonly used to interpret the origin of
the sedimentary section, are of lower frequency. In contrast lower frequency bounding
surfaces include unconformities (Hutton, 1788), whose stratigraphic importance increases where
they subdivide sedimentary rocks of varying ages.
Brookfield (1977) was among the first known geologists to apply hierarchical order to
surface boundaries subdividing sedimentary rocks, using his perspective of surfacesidentified by
Stokes (1968) in aeolian sediments. Brookfield (1977) identified:

First order boundaries that cut across underlying aeolian sediments when the migration
of draa dunes occurred.

Second order surfaces related to migration of transverse dunes,

Third order boundaries that enclose groups of laminae interpreted to be the products of
local events within the depositional cycle.

Allen (1983) describing fluviatile systems extended this by recognizing that bounding
surfaces may be non- erosional or erosional. Using this he identified four surfaces:

Concordant -non-erosional (normal bedding)

Discordant- non-erosional reactivation surface

Concordant - erosional

Discordant - erosional contacts

Studying braided streams, Allen (1983) used these surfaces to associate at least eight geometric
shapes with specific lithologies and fabrics that he named "architectural elements. Miall (1985)
utilized this concept of depositionalarchitectural elements to further classify and communicate
information on the character and origins other fluvial depositional systems.

The application of the concepts of architectural elements is now widely used for
most depositional systems. For example Pickering et al (1998) subdivided deeper water
sedimentary bodies, recognizing a hierarchy of enveloping boundaries that genetically related
discrete stratigraphic architectural elements", "bodies", or "units" or groups. Others,
including Sprague et al 2008, used a top-down hierarchical classification of "architectural
elements" for deep-water settings that starts at a sedimentary basin scale. Sub-divided downward
these form a series of broad elements includes the larger stacked channel complexes, in turn
subdivided ever downward to an ultimate subdivision of laminae or even the individual sand
grain. This top down classification is used to provide a framework of the basin to its interrelated
broader larger scale "architectural elements" and their tie to the smaller scale "architectural
elements". This can be inverted from small to large equally effectively.

A sequence stratigraphic analysis will iteratively use mixes and matches of a top down
classification with a bottom-up classification. This interactive approach uses the general to guide
an understanding of the specific and vice versa.
Below are further examples of the hierarchical architectures of different sedimentary systems.
Click on the thumb nail and right click the shadow box image to see full size image! This will
work on most of the images on site.

Beach Barrier
System

Deep Water
System

CarbonateSystems

Figure: Sequence stratigraphic framework of Permian Section exposed in Guadalupe Mountains

(Tinker, 1998)
Surfaces or Boundaries of the Sequence Stratigraphic Framework
As indicated sequence stratigraphy uses a framework of surfaces or boundaries that define
"sequences", "systems tracts", and parasequences. These boundariesinclude:

Sequence Boundary (SB)

The sequence boundary (SB) envelopes a sequence extending down dip to a correlative
conformity (Figure ) (Mitchum, 1977). This surface demarks the boundary between
a highstand systems tract (HST) andfalling stage systems tract (FSST) (Catuneanu, et
al, 2011).

Basal surface of falling stage systems tract (FSST)

This was defined by Hunt and Tucker (1992) as the surface that underlies the marine
sedimentary wedge that builds seaward during a forced regression of the shoreline.
This basal surface of falling stage systems tract (FSST) (Plint and Nummedal, 2000) is
also known as the early lowstand systems tract (ELST) (Posamentier and Allen, 1999)
and overlies the transgressive systems tract (Catuneanu, et al, 2011).

Transgressive surface (TS)

This surface is the first significant marine-flooding surface in a sequence. In most

siliciclastic and some carbonate successions it occurs when the rate of creation
of accommodation space is greater than the rate of sediment supply. Transgressive

surface (TS) lies over the Lowstand System Tract (LST) and beneath the transgressive
systems tract (TST) (Catuneanu, et al, 2011).

Maximum flooding surface (mfs)

Seismically an mfs is often expressed as a downlap surface and is a zone where slow
rates of deposition result in thin and fine grained pelagic-hemipelagic
sediments forming a condensed section (Mitchum, 1977). The mfs marks the bounding
surface between coarsening and/or fining upward cycles. This commonly widespread
zone is often characterized by the presence of radioactive and often organic
rich shales, glauconite, hardgrounds and is composed of thin bedded concentrations of
fauna (condensed sections) with high abundance and diversity. This surface marks the
time of maximum flooding or transgression of the shelf and lies beneath the highstand
systems tract (Catuneanu, et al, 2011).

The subdividing "surfaces" of the sequence stratigraphic framework that envelopes and encloses
discrete geometric bodies of sediment establishes their order ofaccumulation from oldest to
youngest. Interpretation is conducted by dis-assembling (backstripped) sedimentary bodies and
then reassembling them in order in which they formed. The depositional setting is determined
through the iterative reassembly and a consideration of the origin of the subdividing surfaces,
geometry, lithofaciesand fauna and evolving character. Each stratal unit is defined and
identified only by physical relationships of the strata, including lateral continuity and geometry
of thesurfaces bounding the units, vertical stacking patterns, and lateral geometry of
thestrata within the units"(Van Wagoner et al., 1990).
In addition the process of interpreting the origins of these surfaces, the depositional setting and
gross sedimentary geometry of the rocks enclosed within the sequence stratigraphic
framework involves Niels Stenos Laws of Superposition and Walther's Law. The latter proposes
that a vertical succession of sedimentary facies likely accumulated in adjacent depositional
settings whether within a parasequence, system tract or a sequence. Paradoxically
the surfaces used to subdivide stratigraphic sections are diachronous but in the process of

interpretation this is oversimplified and the diachronous character of the surfaces is essentially
ignored. For instance Holbrook and Bhattacharya (2012) indicate sub-aerial unconformities in
fluvial systems meet these criteria but suggest these boundaries can still be used to bound
systems despite intense diachroneity. The results of the use of the sequencestratigraphic
methodology is that interpretation of depositional setting and a prediction of gross sedimentary
geometry are confirmed in the field and with subsurface data.

Without exception all these surfaces, and in many cases the zones inferred to contain them and
the sediment they enclose, transgress time, in other words arediachronous and in some cases may
not even have the regional extent proposed for them, and so may be miss-correlated. Also
the sequence stratigraphic surfaceshave become largely conceptual surfaces imposed upon
tangible rocks (Helland-Hansen, and Martinsen, 1996; Catuneanu, 2006; Embry et al., 2007;
Miall, 2004; Holbrook and Bhattacharya, 2012). For instance Holbrook and Bhattacharya (2012)
point out that the subaerial unconformity is more often than not is a conceptual surface and is
assumed to be an approximate time barrier that includes the defining traits of originating as a
subaerial erosional surface preserved as an unconformitythat separates younger from
older strata with significant hiatus.
As a result all the sequence stratigraphic surfaces, (SB, BSTSST, TS, and mfs) often
violate Walther's Law, since they record shifts in facies deposition
duringtransgression and regression and/or rates of change of accommodation, particularly
at basin margins and along strike (Catuneanu, 2006). It is argued here that while most of
these sequence surfaces do not exactly fit their defining characteristics they can be mapped and
bound enclosing facies that accumulated over a generally short time. The conceptual character of
a surface is likely to be more so with increasing hierarchical rank (Catuneanu, et al, 2011).
Despite these caveats sequencestratigraphic surfaces are useful for general "fuzzy" oversimple

correlation. As interpretive tools they are commonly used and are often referred to in the
stratigraphic literature. To conclude the definition of these surfaces is oversimplified and form
discrete boundaries that can be traced beyond the scale of a single valley or comparable
local depositional system, and used to make accurate facies predictions.
Contention arises from the nomenclature of each of the sequence stratigraphic surfaces and the
bodies they contain. This argument is based not so much on the constantly changing
nomenclature as the developing understanding of sedimentary systems and their interpretation.
However it is unfortunate that, though changes in nomenclature are well intentioned, these
changes often add further to the confusion to a scientific methodology already weighed down
with complex multi-word and multi-syllable terminology.
Sequence Stratigraphic Units
The gross sediment geometric end members are represented by sequences,systems tracts,
and parasequences are a hierarchy of stratigraphic packages or units of similar
sediment strata whose geometries are of increasingly higher frequency, and are related to
changes in the space or accommodation available for sediment fill; accommodation driven by
changes in eustasy and tectonics (Jervey, 1988). It is shown how the geometric hierarchy is
expressed in these packages by the subdividing and enveloping surfaces found in sedimentary
sections. These bodies and their lithofacies are keys to determining and interpreting the
depositional setting of the sedimentary sections that contain these bodies. It is contended that
ifdepositional systems are described in terms of the geometric hierarchy of theirlithofacies and
elements this leads to a better understanding of the depositional origins of similar sedimentary
bodies in the rock record.

Figure: accommodation is "the space available for potential sediment accumulation" driven
by relative sea level (Jervey, 1998). Curray, (1964), Posamentier & Allen, (1999), Coe et al
(2002), and Catuneanu (2002) suggest rates of sedimentation are a co-equal control
of accommodation.
Sequence
The sequences of the sedimentary record are generated by cycles of change
inaccommodation and/or sediment supply that also form similar sequencestratigraphic
surfaces through geologic time. cycles may be symmetrical or asymmetrical, and may or may not
contain the systems tracts of a fully developedsequence. A function of scale, sequences and
their bounding surfaces may have different hierarchical orders recording a series of
geological events, and processes in sedimentary rocks that form a relatively conformable
succession of genetically related strata. Their upper surfaces and bases are bounded by
unconformities and their correlative conformities (Vail, et al., 1977). A sequence is formed by a
succession of genetically linked deposition systems (systems tracts) interpreted to have
accumulated between eustatic-fall inflection points (Posamentier, et al., 1988). The sequences
and enclosed system tracts are subdivided and/or bounded by a variety of "key" surfaces that
bound or envelop them. As described above these include sequence boundaries (SB), the
basal surfaces of falling stage systems tracts (BSFSST), transgressive surfaces (TS) and

a maximum flooding surfaces (mfs). These erosional and depositional surfaces mark changes in
depositional regime or "thresholds" across that boundary.

Sloss et al., (1949, and 1963) originally defined a 'sequence' as an unconformity- bounded
stratigraphic unit. Mitchum (1977) modified this to define a sequence as a relatively
conformable succession of genetically related strata bounded by unconformities or
their correlative conformities.
Through the 80's and 90's sequences were defined from several perspectives Catuneanu (2011):

Depositional sequences, bounded by subaerial unconformities and their marine

correlative conformities (e. g., Vail 1987; Posamentier et al. 1988; Van Wagoner et al.
1988, 1990; Vail et al. 1991; Hunt and Tucker 1992)

Genetic stratigraphic sequences, bounded by maximum flooding surfaces (Galloway

1989)

Transgressive-Regressive (T-R) sequences, also referred to as T-Rcycles, bounded

by maximum regressive surfaces (Johnson and Murphy 1984; Johnson et al. 1985). The
T-R sequence was subsequently redefined by Embry and Johannessen (1992) as a unit
bounded by composite surfaces that include the subaerial unconformity and the marine
portion of the maximum regressive surface.

Catuneanu (2009 and 2011) felt that the various types of sequence should be encompassed by the
definition. They redefined a sequence as a succession ofstrata deposited during a full cycle of
change in accommodation or sediment supply. The definition is generic, model-independent,
and embraces the sequences listed above that may develop at any spatial or temporal scale. The
requirement that asequence coincide with a full stratigraphic cycle means that a sequence can be
distinguished from component systems tracts. Existing sequence stratigraphic schemes
incorporate a full cycle of change in accommodation or sediment supply with a beginning and
the end of one cycle manifest by the same kind of event. This is the onset of a relative sea-level
fall; the end of relative sea-level fall; the end ofregression; or the end of transgression. In
contrast, the boundaries of any systems tract correspond to different 'events within a relative sealevel cycle. The definition of a sequence is updated to be the fundamental statal unit of sequence
stratigraphy(Catuneanu et al., 2011). As with Vail, et al., (1977) they see this as represented by a
relatively conformable succession of genetically related strata bounded bysurfaces but extend
this to correspond to a full cycle of base-level changes orshoreline shifts depending on
the sequence model being employed.

The Posamentier et al.'s 1988 original interpretation was that sediments accumulated during the
falling stage of sea level cycle and this was where thesequence boundary should fall. Hunt &
Tucker, (1992), 1995) discuss the role of forced-regressions and where the sequence
boundary should be placed with respect to sea level position. Hunt believes that the position of
the sequence boundaryshould be placed at the lowest position reached by sea level. A number of
geologists support this contention. One of these is Pomar (1991) who recognizes that within the
Late Miocene reefal platform of Mallorca, the sequence boundary and the downlap surface are
both coeval and formed during the falling stage of sea level. Bothsurfaces bound
the offlapping systems tract and merge landward in the erosion surface and, basinward, in the
condensed interval. Note the correlative conformityon the top of the basin floor fan as suggested
by Vail, 1987, versus the Hunt and Tucker, 1992 & 1995, models.
Systems tracts
A systems tract is a subdivision of a sequence independent of spatial and temporal scales

representing a linkage of contemporaneous depositional systems (Brown and Fisher, 1977). It

consists of a relatively conformable succession of genetically related strata bounded by
conformable or unconformable sequence stratigraphic surfaces with an internal architecture that
varies from a succession of facies that include high-frequency cycles driven by orbital forcing to
a parasequence set or a set of higher frequency cycles. Systems tracts are interpreted on the basis
of stratalstacking patterns, position within the sequence, and types of bounding surface (Van
Wagoner et al., 1987, 1988, 1990; Posamentier et al. 1988; Van Wagoner 1995; Posamentier and
Allen 1999). Systems tracts may be either shoreline-related, where their origin can be linked to
particular types of shoreline trajectory, or shoreline-independent, where a genetic link to
coeval shorelines cannot be determined (Catuneanu, 2011).

Shoreline-Related Systems Tracts

Shoreline-related systems tracts are depositional systems that are often tied toshoreline
trajectory, be this a forced regression, normal regression, or transgression, and are commonly
interpreted to form during specific phases of the relative sea-levelcycle (Posamentier et al. 1988;
Hunt and Tucker 1992; Posamentier and Allen 1999; Catuneanu 2006; Catuneanu et al. 2009;
Catuneanu et al. 2011). These systems tracts may have different scales, and are defined by

distinct stratal stacking patterns(Figure). Forced regressive deposits include 'early lowstand,
'late highstand, 'forced-regressive wedge', and 'falling-stage'. Normal regressive deposits
include 'late lowstand and 'lowstand, 'early highstand and 'highstand systems
tracts.Transgressive systems tract is composed of regressive stratal stacking patternscomprise.
Five of these systems tracts are described below.

Falling-Stage systems tract (FSST)

The FSST is formed by forced regressive deposits that accumulated after the onset of a relative
sea-level fall and before the start of the next relative sea-level rise. The FSST lies directly on
the sequence boundary sensu Posamentier and Allen (1999) and is capped by the
overlying lowstand systems tract (LST) sediments. Hunt and Tucker (1992) differ with this
placing the sequence boundary above the FSST, where this boundary marks the termination of
one cycle of deposition and the start of another. Depending on the gradient of the depositional
profile, the rate of sediment supply, and the rate of relative sea-level fall, a variety of 'attached' or
'detached'parasequence stacking patterns can be produced (Posamentier and Morris, 2000).
Catuneanu (2011) explain that the terminology applied to this systems tract varies from 'forced
regressive wedge' (Hunt and Tucker 1992) to 'falling sea-level' (Nummedal 1992) and 'fallingstage' (Ainsworth 1994). The simpler 'falling-stage' has been generally adopted by more recent
work (e. g., Plint and Nummedal 2000; Catuneanu 2006). This systems tract has also been
termed the early lowstand systems tract (Posamentier et al. 1988; Posamentier and Allen, 1999).
The fall inrelative sea level is evidenced by the erosion of the subaerially exposed sediment
surface updip of the coastline at the end of forced regression, and the formation of
adiachronous subaerial unconformity that caps the highstand systems tract (HST). The

subaerial unconformity may be onlapped by fluvial deposits that belong to the lowstand or
the transgressive systems tracts. The subaerial unconformity may also be reworked by a timetransgressive marine ravinement surface overlain by a sediment lag.
Lowstand Systems Tract (LST)
The LST is formed by sediments that accumulate after the onset of relative sea-level rise,
during normal regression, on top of the FSST corresponding to an updip
subaerial unconformity. stacking patterns of clinoforms may forestep, and aggrade, particularly
in siliciclastic systems, thicken downdip, with a topset of fluvial, coastal plain and/or delta plain
deposits. LST sediments often fill or partially infill incised valleys that were cut into the
underlying HST and other earlier deposits, during theforced regression. This systems tract has
also been termed the late lowstand systems tract (Posamentier et al. 1988; Posamentier and Allen
1999) or the Lowstand Prograding Wedge systems tract (Hunt and Tucker 1992). In earlier
papers the 'shelf-margin systems tract' was recognized as the lowermost systems tract associated
with a 'type 2 'sequence boundary (Posamentier et al. 1988). With the abandonment of the
distinction between types 1 and 2 sequence boundaries, this term is now redundant (Posamentier
and Allen 1999; Catuneanu 2006); these deposits are now considered to be part of the LST.
Transgressive Systems Tract (TST)
The TST is formed by sediments that accumulated from the onset of transgressionuntil the time
of maximum transgression of the coast, just prior to the renewedregression of the HST. The TST
lies directly on the maximum regressive surfaceformed at the end of regression (also termed
a transgressive surface). Atransgressive systems tract is overlain by the maximum flooding
surface (MFS) formed when marine sediments reach their most landward position. stacking
patterns exhibit backstepping, onlapping, retrogradational clinoforms that, particularly in
siliciclastic systems, thicken landward. In cases where there is a high sediment supply
the parasequences may be aggradational.
Highstand Systems Tract (HST)
The HST includes the progradational deposits that form when sedimentaccumulation rates
exceed the rate of increase in accommodation during the late stages of relative sea-level rise (Fig.
2). The HST lies directly on the mfs formed when marine sediments reached their most landward
position. This systems tract is capped by the subaerial unconformity and its correlative
conformity sensu Posamentier and Allen (1999). stacking patterns exhibit prograding and
aggradingclinoforms that commonly thin downdip, capped by a topset of fluvial, coastal
plainand/or delta plain deposits.
Regressive System Tract (RST)
The RST lies above a TST and is overlain by the initial transgressive surface of the overlying
TST. The complete sequence is known as a Transgressive-Regressive (T-R) sequence (Johnson
and Murphy 1984; Embry and Johannessen 1992). The sediments of this systems tract include
the HST, FSST and LST systems tracts defined above. There are cases where the data available
are not sufficient to differentiate between HST, FSST and HST systems tracts. In such cases the
usage of the regressive systems tract is justified. However, where permitted by data, the
differentiation between the three types of regressive deposits (highstand, falling-stage, lowstand)

is recommended because they refer to different stratal stacking patterns; are characterized by
different sediment dispersal patterns within the basin; and consequently are associated with
different petroleum plays. The last aspect relates to one of the most significant applications
of sequence stratigraphy, which is to increase the resolution of stratigraphic frameworks that can
optimize petroleum exploration and production development.
Shoreline-Independent Systems Tracts
Shoreline-independent systems tracts are stratigraphic units that form the subdivisions
of sequences in areas where sedimentation processes are unrelated toshoreline shifts.
These systems tracts are defined by specific stratal stacking patterns that can be recognized and
correlated regionally, without reference toshoreline trajectories (Figs. 912). In upstreamcontrolled fluvial settings, fluvialaccommodation may change independently of changes
in accommodation at the nearest shoreline and create sequences and component low- and highaccommodation systems tracts (e. g., Shanley and McCabe 1994; Boyd et al. 2000).
Shoreline- independent systems tracts may also be mapped in deep-water settings controlled by
sub-basin tectonism (e. g., Fiduk et al. 1999), but no nomenclature has been proposed for these
situations. The timing of shore-line-independent sequences and systems tracts is commonly
offset relative to that of shoreline-controlledsequence stratigraphic units and bounding
surfaces (e. g., Blum and Tornqvist 2000).
Parasequence
A relatively conformable succession of genetically related beds or bedsets (within aparasequence
set) bounded by marine flooding surfaces or their correlative surfaces(Van Wagoner, 1985).
Patterns of the stacking of parasequence sets are used in conjunction with boundaries and their
position within a sequence to define systems tracts (Van Wagoner et al., 1988). Thus
a parasequence is commonly identified and separated from other parasequences by flooding
surfaces and is often characterized by a cycle of sediment that either coarsens or fines upward.
Thus the flooding surfaces are usually identified by abrupt and correlatable changes of the grain
size of the sediments on either side of that flooding surface.

This change in grain size is often caused by the abrupt changes in energy that are associated with
the waves or currents of the sea transgressing across the sediment interface. These abrupt
changes in grain size that bound a parasequence can be identified in well logs, outcrop and
seismic and used to identify a parasequencecycle. Examples of these grain size changes can be
seen in the parasequences of tidal flats, beaches, and deltas.
A parasequence in its original definition (Van Wagoner et al. 1988, 1990) is an upwardshallowing succession of facies bounded by marine flooding surfaces. Amarine flooding
surface is a lithological discontinuity across which there is an abrupt shift of facies that
commonly indicates an abrupt increase in water depth. The concept was originally defined, and
is commonly applied, within the context of siliciclastic coastal to shallow-water settings,
where parasequences correspond to individual prograding sediment bodies.

In carbonate settings, a parasequence corresponds to a succession of facies commonly containing

a lag deposit or thin deepening interval followed by a thicker shallowing-upward part, as for
example in peritidal cycles. In contrast to sequences and systems tracts, which may potentially
be mapped across an entire sedimentarybasin from fluvial into the deep-water
setting, parasequences are geographically restricted to the coastal to shallow-water areas
where marine flooding surfaces may form (Posamentier and Allen 1999). In the case
of carbonate settings, peritidalcycles can in some cases be correlated into slope and basinal facies
(e. g., Tinker 1998, Chen and Tucker, 2003).

Figure: Hierarchy of cyclicity. Each stratigraphic element is a component of the subsequent

lower-order element. Specific interpretations from McKittrick Canyon were used to construct
the sequence stratigraphic framework from Tinker (1998).
For this reason, it has been proposed that a parasequence be expanded to include all regional
meter-scale cycles, whether or not they are bounded by flooding surfaces (Spence and Tucker
2007; Tucker and Garland 2010). However, following the principle that a sequence stratigraphic
unit is defined by specific bounding surfaces, many practitioners favor restricting the concept
of parasequence to a unit bounded by marine flooding surfaces, in agreement with the original
definition of Van Wagoner et al. (1988, and 1990).
Scale and stacking patterns
As seen above in the diagram from Tinker (1998) parasequences are commonly nested within
larger scale (higher rank) sequences and systems tracts. However, scale is not sufficient to

differentiate parasequences from sequences. For example,high-frequency sequences controlled

by orbital forcing may develop at scales comparable to, or even smaller than, those of
many parasequences (e. g., Strasser et al. 1999; Fielding et al. 2008; Tucker et al. 2009). As such,
even cycles as thin as a meter can sometimes be referred to as sequences and be described and
interpreted in terms of sequence stratigraphic surfaces and systems tracts (e. g., Posamentier et
al. 1992a; Strasser et al. 1999; Tucker et al. 2009).
We recommend the use of the sequence stratigraphic methodology to the analysis of any small,
meter-scale cycles, as long as they display depositional trends that afford the recognition
of systems tracts and diagnostic bounding surfaces.Parasequences consist of normal regressive,
transgressive and forced regressive types of deposit, and display various stacking patterns.
Parasequences may be stacked in an upstepping succession, in which case they consist of normal
regressive and transgressive deposits that accumulate during a period of
positive accommodation in response to variations in the rates ofaccommodation and/or sediment
supply. Upstepping parasequences may either be forestepping or backstepping (see the figure
below).

Parasequences may also be stacked in a downstepping succession, in which case they consist
primarily of forced regressive deposits that accumulate during a period of overall
negative accommodation. However, negative accommodation does not occur during the time of
formation of the parasequence boundary. The pattern of stacking of parasequences defines longer
term normal regressions, forced regressions or transgressions, which correspond to shorelinerelated systems tracts of higher hierarchical rank
Parasequence set
This is often formed by a succession of genetically related parasequences that have a distinctive
stacking pattern that in many cases is bounded by major marine-flooding surfaces and their
correlative surfaces (AAPG Methods in Exploration 7, 1990). These include aggradational
parasequence sets, progradational parasequence sets, and retrogradational parasequence sets.
Patterns of the stacking of parasequence sets are used in conjunction with boundaries and their
position within a sequence to define systems tracts (Van Wagoner et al., 1988).

Figure: High frequency clastic parasequence sets from the Bookcliffs. Note hierarchy
ofsedimentary structures and associated seaward to landward depositional systems (after Coe et
al, 2003).
a) Upper foreshore planar-cross bedded sandstone of wave swash zone overlying trough-cross
stratified sandstone zone of breaking waves.
b) Burrowed sandstone of the middle shorface.
c) Offshore transition zone.
d) Upper foreshore planar-cross bedded sandstone of wave swash zone.
e) Upper shoreface sandstone of wave swash zone to offshore transition zone between
storm wave base & fairweather base.

2. stratigraphic elements: classification of rocks

2.1 Sedimentary Rocks
Rivers, oceans, winds, and rain runoff all have the ability to carry the particles washed off of
eroding rocks. Such material, called detritus, consists of fragments of rocks and minerals. When
the energy of the transporting current is not strong enough to carry these particles, the particles
drop out in the process of sedimentation. This type of sedimentary deposition is referred to
as clastic sedimentation. Another type of sedimentary deposition occurs when material is
dissolved in water, and chemically precipitates from the water. This type of sedimentation is
referred to as chemical sedimentation. A third process can occur, wherein living organisms
extract ions dissolved in water to make such things as shells and bones. This type of
sedimentation is called biochemical sedimentation. The accumulation of plant matter, such as
at the bottom of a swamp, is referred to as organic sedimentation. Thus, there are 4 major
types of sedimentary rocks: Clastic Sedimentary Rocks, Chemical Sedimentary
Rocks,Biochemical Sedimentary Rocks, and Organic Sedimentary Rocks.
Clastic Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks

The formation of a clastic sediment and sedimentary rocks involves five processes:
1. Weathering - The first step is transforming solid rock into smaller fragments or
dissolved ions by physical and chemical weathering as discussed in the last lecture.
2. Erosion - Erosion is actually many process which act together to lower the surface of
the earth. In terms of producing sediment, erosion begins the transpiration process by
moving the weathered products from their original location. This can take place by
gravity (mass wasting events like landslides or rock falls), by running water. by wind, or
by moving ice. Erosion overlaps with transpiration.
3. Transportation - Sediment can be transported by sliding down slopes, being picked up
by the wind, or by being carried by running water in streams, rivers, or ocean currents.
The distance the sediment is transported and the energy of the transporting medium all
leave clues in the final sediment that tell us something about the mode of transportation.

4. Deposition - Sediment is deposited when the energy of the transporting medium

becomes too low to continue the transport process. In other words, if the velocity of the
transporting medium becomes too low to transport sediment, the sediment will fall out
and become deposited. The final sediment thus reflects the energy of the transporting

medium.
5. Lithification (Diagenesis) - Lithification is the process that turns sediment into rock.
The first stage of the process is compaction. Compaction occurs as the weight of the
overlying material increases. Compaction forces the grains closer together, reducing
pore space and eliminating some of the contained water. Some of this water may carry
mineral components in solution, and these constituents may later precipitate as new
minerals in the pore spaces. This causes cementation, which will then start to bind the
individual particles together.
Classification - Clastic sedimentary particles and sedimentary rocks are classified in terms of
grain size and shape, among other factors.
Name of
Particle

Size Range

Loose
Sediment

Consolidated Rock

Boulder

>256 mm

Gravel

Cobble

64 - 256 mm

Gravel

Pebble

2 - 64 mm

Gravel

Sand

1/16 - 2mm

Sand

Silt

1/256 - 1/16 mm Silt

Siltstone

Clay

<1/256 mm

Claystone, mudstone, and shale

Clay

Conglomerate or Breccia (depends on

rounding)
Sandstone

In general, the coarser sediment gets left behind by the transportation process. Thus, coarse
sediment is usually found closer to its source and fine grained sediment is found farther from
the source.
Textures of Clastic Sedimentary Rocks
When sediment is transported and deposited, it leaves clues to the mode of transport and
deposition. For example, if the mode of transport is by sliding down a slope, the deposits that
result are generally chaotic in nature, and show a wide variety of particle sizes. Grain size and
the interrelationship between grains gives the resulting sediment texture. Thus, we can use the
texture of the resulting deposits to give us clues to the mode of transport and deposition.
Sorting - The degree of uniformity of grain size. Particles become sorted on the basis of density,
because of the energy of the transporting medium. High energy currents can carry larger
fragments. As the energy decreases, heavier particles are deposited and lighter fragments
continue to be transported. This results in sorting due to density.

If the particles have the same density, then the

heavier particles will also be larger, so the sorting
will take place on the basis of size. We can
classify this size sorting on a relative basis - well
sorted to poorly sorted. Sorting gives clues to the
energy conditions of the transporting medium
from which the sediment was deposited.
Examples
o Beach deposits and wind blown deposits generally show good sorting because
the energy of the transporting medium is usually constant.
o Stream deposits are usually poorly sorted because the energy (velocity) in a
stream varies with position in the stream and time.
Rounding - During the
transportation process, grains may
be reduced in size due to abrasion.
Random abrasion results in the
eventual rounding off of the sharp
corners and edges of grains. Thus,
rounding of grains gives us clues to
the amount of time a sediment has
been in the transportation cycle.
Rounding is classified on relative
terms as well.
Sediment Maturity
Sediment Maturity refers to the length of time that the sediment has been in the sedimentary
cycle. Texturally mature sediment is sediment that is well rounded, (as rounding increases with
transport distance and time) and well sorted (as sorting gets better as larger clasts are left behind
and smaller clasts are carried away. Because the weathering processes continues during
sediment transport, mineral grains that are unstable near the surface become less common as the
distance of transport or time in the cycle increases. Thus compositionally mature sediment is
composed of only the most stable minerals.
For example a poorly sediment containing glassy angular volcanic fragments, olivine crystals
and plagioclase is texturally immature because the fragments are angular, indicating they have
not been transported very far and the sediment is poorly sorted, indicating that little time has
been involved in separating larger fragments from smaller fragments. It is compositionally
immature because it contains unstable glass along with minerals that are not very stable near the

surface - olivine and plagioclase.

On the other hand a well sorted beach sand consisting mainly of well rounded quartz grains is
texturally mature because the grains are rounded, indicating a long time in the transportation
cycle, and the sediment is well sorted, also indicative of the long time required to separate the
coarser grained material and finer grained material from the sand. The beach sand is
compositionally mature because it is made up only of quartz which is very stable at the earth's
surface.
Types of Clastic Sedimentary Rocks
We next look at various clastic sedimentary rocks that result from lithification of sediment.
Conglomerates and Breccias
Conglomerate and Breccia are rocks that contain an abundance of coarse grained clasts
(pebbles, cobbles, or boulders). In a conglomerate, the coarse grained clasts are well rounded,
indicating that they spent considerable time in the transportation process and were ultimately
deposited in a high energy environment capable of carrying the large clasts. In a breccia, the
coarse grained clasts are very angular, indicating the the clasts spent little time in the
transportation cycle.
Sandstones
A Sandstone is made of sand-sized particles and forms in many different depositional settings.
Texture and composition permit historic interpretation of the transport and depositional cycle
and sometimes allows determination of the source. Quartz is, by far, the dominant mineral in
sandstones. Still there are other varieties. A Quartz arenite is nearly 100% quartz grains. An
Arkose contains abundant feldspar. In a lithic sandstone, the grains are mostly small rock
fragments. A Wacke is a sandstone that contains more than 15% mud (silt and clay sized
grains).. Sandstones are one of the most common types of sedimentary rocks.
Mudrocks
Mudrocks are made of fine grained clasts (silt and clay sized) . A siltstone is one variety that
consists of silt-sized fragments. A shale is composed of clay sized particles and is a rock that
tends to break into thin flat fragments (See figure 7.6e in your text). A mudstone is similar to a
shale, but does not break into thin flat fragments. Organic-rich shales are the source of
petroleum.
Fine grained clastics are deposited in non-agitated water, calm water, where there is little energy
to continue to transport the small grains. Thus mudrocks form in deep water ocean basins and
lakes.

Biochemical and Organic Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks

Biochemical and Organic sediments and sedimentary rocks are those derived from living
organisms. When the organism dies, the remains can accumulate to become sediment or
sedimentary rock. Among the types of rock produced by this process are:
Biochemical Limestone - calcite (CaCO3) is precipitated by organisms usually to form a shell or
other skeletal structure. Accumulation of these skeletal remains results in a limestone.
Sometimes the fossilized remains of the organism are preserved in the rock, other times
recrystallization during lithification has destroyed the remains. Limestones are very common
sedimentary rocks.
Biochemical Chert - Tiny silica secreting planktonic organism like Radiolaria and Diatoms can
accumulate on the sea floor and recrystallize during lithification to form biochemical chert. The
recrystallization results in a hard rock that is usually seen as thin beds (see figure 7.8a in your
test).
Diatomite - When diatoms accumulate and do not undergo recrystallization, they form a white
rock called diatomite as seen in the White Cliffs of Dover (see figure 7.22b in your text).
Coal - Coal is an organic rock made from organic carbon that is the remains of fossil plant
matter. It accumulates in lush tropical wetland settings and requires deposition in absence of
Oxygen. It is high in carbon and can easily be burned to obtain energy.

Chemical Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks

Dissolved ions released into water by the weathering process are carried in streams or
groundwater. Eventually these dissolved ions end in up in the ocean, explaining why sea water
is salty. When water evaporates or the concentration of the ions get too high as a result of some
other process, the ions recombine by chemical precipitation to form minerals that can
accumulate to become chemical sediments and chemical sedimentary rocks. Among these are:
Evaporites - formed by evaporation of sea water or lake water. Produces halite (salt) and
gypsum deposits by chemical precipitation as concentration of solids increases due to water loss
by evaporation. This can occur in lakes that have no outlets (like the Great Salt Lake) or
restricted ocean basins, like has happened in the Mediterranean Sea or the Gulf of Mexico in the
past.
Travertine - Groundwater containing dissolve Calcium and bicarbonate ions can precipitate
calcite to form a chemically precipitated limestone, called travertine. This can occur in lakes,

hot springs, and caves.

Dolostones - Limestone that have been chemically modified by Mg-rich fluids flowing through
the rock are converted to dolostones. CaCO3 is recrystallized to a new mineral dolomite
CaMg(CO3)2.
Chemical Cherts - Groundwater flowing through rock can precipitate SiO2 to replace minerals
that were present. This produces a non-biogenic chert. There are many varsities of such chert
that are given different names depending on their attributes, For example:
Flint Black or gray from organic matter.
Jasper Red or yellow from Fe oxides.
Petrified wood Wood grain preserved by silica.
Agate Concentrically layered rings

Sedimentary Structures
As mentioned previously, all stages of the sedimentary cycle leave clues to processes that were
operating in the past. Perhaps the most easily observable clues are structures left by the
depositional process. We here discuss sedimentary structures and the information that can be
obtained from these structures.
Stratification and Bedding
Because sediment is deposited in low lying areas that often extend over wide areas, successive
depositional events produce layers called bedding or stratification that is usually the most
evident feature of sedimentary rocks. The layering can be due to differences in color of the
material, differences in grain size, or differences in mineral content or chemical
composition. All of these differences can be related to differences in the environment present
during the depositional events. (see figure 7.12 in your text).
A series of beds are referred to as strata. A sequence of strata that is sufficiently unique to be
recognized on a regional scale is termed a formation. A formation is the fundamental geologic
mapping unit. (See figure 7.13 in your text).

Rhythmic Layering - Alternating parallel layers having different properties. Sometimes

caused by seasonal changes in deposition (Varves). i.e. lake deposits wherein coarse
sediment is deposited in summer months and fine sediment is deposited in the winter
when the surface of the lake is frozen.

Cross Bedding - Sets of beds that are inclined relative to

one another. The beds are inclined in the direction that
the wind or water was moving at the time of deposition.
Boundaries between sets of cross beds usually represent
an erosional surface. Very common in beach deposits,
sand dunes, and river deposited sediment.

Graded Bedding - As current velocity decreases, first the larger or more

dense particles are deposited followed by smaller particles. This results in
bedding showing a decrease in grain size from the bottom of the bed to the
top of the bed. Sediment added as a pulse of turbid water. As pulse wanes,
water loses velocity and sediments settle. Coarsest material settles first,
medium next, then fine. Multiple graded-bed sequences called turbidites
(see figure 7.16 in your text).

Non-sorted Sediment - Sediment showing a mixture of grain sizes results from such
things as rockfalls, debris flows, mudflows, and deposition from melting ice.

Ripple Marks Water flowing

over loose
sediment creates
bedforms by
moving sediment
with the flow.

Bedforms are linked to flow velocity and sediment size. Ripples are characteristic of shallow
water deposition and can also be caused by wind. blowing over the surface. Sand dunes are
similar, but on a larger scale. Ripples are commonly preserved in sedimentary rocks.
Asymmetric ripples (as shown above) indicate flow direction,with the steep slope on the down current direction. Ripples persevered in ancient rocks can also be indicators of up/down
direction in the original sediment.
Symmetric ripples form as a result of constant wave energy oscillating back and forth.

Mudcracks - result from the drying out of wet sediment

at the surface of the Earth. The cracks form due to
shrinkage of the sediment as it dries. When present in
rock, they indicate that the surface was exposed at the
earth's surface and then rapidly buried.

Sole Marks - Flutes are troughs eroded in soft sediment that can become filled with
mud. Both the flutes and the resulting casts (called flute casts) can be preserved in rock.

Raindrop Marks - pits (or tiny craters) created by falling rain. If present, this suggests
that the sediment was exposed to the surface of the Earth just prior to burial.

Fossils - Remains of once living organisms. Probably the most important indicator of
the environment of deposition.

o Different species usually inhabit specific environments.

o Because life has evolved - fossils give clues to relative age of the sediment.
o Can also be important indicators of past climates.

Rock Color
o Sulfides along with buried organic matter give rocks a dark color. Indicates
deposition in a reducing environment.
o Deposition in oxidizing environment produces red colored iron oxides and is
often indicative of deposition in a non-marine environment. Such red colored
rocks are often referred to as red beds.

Sedimentary Environments
If we look at various environments now present on Earth, we can find characteristics in the
sediment that are unique to each environment. If we find those same characteristics in
sedimentary rocks, it allows us to interpret the environment of the past. Each environment has
its own energy regime and sediment delivery, transport and depositional conditions that are
reflected in the sediment deposited.
Sedimentary Environments can be divided into the following

Terrestrial (Non-marine) environments

o Glacial
o Alluvial fans
o Sand Dunes
o Mountain Streams
o Lakes
o Rivers

Marine environments
o Deltas

o Coastal Beaches
o Shallow Marine Clastics
o Shallow Marine Carbonates
o Deep Marine
We will cover most of these environments in more detail later in the course.
For now familiarize yourself with each of these by reading pages 220 to 227 in your text.
Transgressions and Regressions
Throughout geologic history sea level has risen and fallen by as much as a few hundred meters
many times. These changes are the result of changes earth's climate or changes in the shape of
the sea floor as a result of tectonics.
When sea level rises, the coast migrates inland. This is called a Transgression. Beach sand gets
buried by marine sediments and the sea floor subsides due to the weight of the sediment. During
a transgression, the beach sand forms an extensive layer, but does not all have the same age.
When sea level falls, the coast migrates seaward. This is called a Regression. The sedimentary
sequence then repeats itself in a vertical sense as the sedimentary environment migrates back
and forth. See figure 7.24 in your text.
Diagenesis
LIthification of sediment into sedimentary rocks takes place after the sediment has been
deposited and buried. The processes by which the sediment becomes lithified into a hard
sedimentary rock is called diagenesis and includes all physical, chemical and biological
processes that act on the sediment. The first step in diagenesis is the compaction of the
sediment and loss of water as a result of the weight of the overlying sediment. Compaction and
burial may cause recrystallization of the minerals to make the rock even harder. Fluids flowing
through the rock and organisms may precipitate new minerals in the pore spaces between grains
to form a cement that holds the sediment together. Common cements include quartz, calcite,
and hematite.
Other conditions present during diagenesis, such as the presence of absence of free oxygen may
cause other alterations to the original sediment. In an environment where there is excess oxygen
(Oxidizing Environment) organic remains will be converted to carbon dioxide and water. Iron
will change from Fe2+ to Fe3+, and will change the color of the sediment to a deep red (rust)
color. In an environment where there is a depletion of oxygen (Reducing Environment),
organic material may be transformed to solid carbon in the form of coal, or may be converted to
hydrocarbons, the source of petroleum.
Diagenesis is also a response to increasing the temperature and pressure as sediment gets buried

deeper. As temperature increases beyond about 200oC, we enter the realm of metamorphism,
the subject of our next discussion.

2.2 Magma and Igneous Rocks

Igneous Rocks are formed by crystallization from a liquid, or magma. They include two types

Volcanic or extrusive igneous rocks form when the magma cools and crystallizes on the
surface of the Earth

Intrusive or plutonic igneous rocks wherein the magma crystallizes at depth in the
Earth.

Magma is a mixture of liquid rock, crystals, and gas. Characterized by a wide range of chemical
compositions, with high temperature, and properties of a liquid.
Magmas are less dense than surrounding rocks, and will therefore move upward. If magma
makes it to the surface it will erupt and later crystallize to form an extrusive or volcanic rock. If
it crystallizes before it reaches the surface it will form an igneous rock at depth called
aplutonic or intrusive igneous rock.

Types of Magma
Chemical composition of magma is controlled by the abundance of elements in the Earth. Si, Al,
Fe, Ca, Mg, K, Na, H, and O make up 99.9%. Since oxygen is so abundant, chemical analyses
are usually given in terms of oxides. SiO2 is the most abundant oxide.
1. Mafic or Basaltic-- SiO2 45-55 wt%, high in Fe, Mg, Ca, low in K, Na
2. Intermediate or Andesitic-- SiO2 55-65 wt%, intermediate. in Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, K
3. Felsic or Rhyolitic-- SiO2 65-75%, low in Fe, Mg, Ca, high in K, Na.
Gases - At depth in the Earth nearly all magmas contain gas. Gas gives magmas their explosive
character, because the gas expands as pressure is reduced.

Mostly H2O with some CO2

Minor amounts of Sulfur, Cl , and F

Felsic magmas usually have higher gas contents than mafic magmas.

Temperature of Magmas

Mafic/Basaltic - 1000-1200oC

Intermediate/Andesitic - 800-1000oC

Felsic/Rhyolitic - 650-800oC.

Viscosity of Magmas
Viscosity is the resistance to flow (opposite of fluidity). Depends on composition,
temperature, & gas content.

Higher SiO2 content magmas have higher viscosity than lower SiO2 content magmas

Lower Temperature magmas have higher viscosity than higher temperature magmas.

Summary Table
Magma
Type
Mafic or
Basaltic

Solidified
Volcanic
Rock
Basalt

Intermediate
Andesite
or Andesitic

Felsic or
Rhyolitic

Rhyolite

Solidified
Plutonic
Rock

Chemical
Composition

Temperature

Viscosity

Gas Content

Gabbro

45-55 SiO2 %,
high in Fe, Mg, 1000 - 1200 oC Low
Ca, low in K, Na

Diorite

55-65 SiO2 %,
intermediate in
800 - 1000 oC
Fe, Mg, Ca, Na,
K

Intermediate Intermediate

Granite

65-75 SiO2 %,
low in Fe, Mg,
Ca, high in K,
Na

High

650 - 800 oC

Low

High

Origin of Magma
As we have seen the only part of the earth that is liquid is the outer core. But the core is not
likely to be the source of magmas because it does not have the right chemical composition. The
outer core is mostly Iron, but magmas are silicate liquids. Thus magmas DO NOT COME
FROM THE MOLTEN OUTER CORE OF THE EARTH. Thus, since the rest of the earth
is solid, in order for magmas to form, some part of the earth must get hot enough to melt the
rocks present. We know that temperature increases with depth in the earth along thegeothermal
gradient. The earth is hot inside due to heat left over from the original accretion process, due to
heat released by sinking of materials to form the core, and due to heat released by the decay of
radioactive elements in the earth. Under normal conditions, the geothermal gradient is not high
enough to melt rocks, and thus with the exception of the outer core, most of the Earth is solid.
Thus, magmas form only under special circumstances. To understand this we must first look at
how rocks and mineral melt.
As pressure increases in the Earth, the melting temperature changes as well. For pure minerals,
there are two general cases.

For a pure dry (no H2O or

CO2present) mineral, the melting
temperate increases with
increasing pressure.

For a mineral with H2O or

CO2present, the melting
temperature first decreases with
increasing pressure

Since rocks mixtures of minerals, they behave somewhat differently. Unlike minerals, rocks do
not melt at a single temperature, but instead melt over a range of temperatures. Thus, it is
possible to have partial melts from which the liquid portion might be extracted to form magma.
The two general cases are:

Melting of dry rocks is similar to

melting of dry minerals, melting
temperatures increase with
increasing pressure, except there is a
range of temperature over which
there exists a partial melt. The
degree of partial melting can range
from 0 to 100%

Melting of rocks containing water or

carbon dioxide is similar to melting
of wet minerals, melting
temperatures initially decrease with
increasing pressure, except there is a
range of temperature over which
there exists a partial melt.

Three ways to Generate Magmas

From the above we can conclude that in order to generate a magma in the solid part of the earth
either the geothermal gradient must be raised in some way or the melting temperature of the
rocks must be lowered in some way.
The geothermal gradient can be raised by upwelling of hot material from below either by uprise
solid material (decompression melting) or by intrusion of magma (heat transfer). Lowering the
melting temperature can be achieved by adding water or Carbon Dioxide (flux melting).

Decompression Melting Under normal conditions the

temperature in the Earth,
shown by the geothermal
gradient, is lower than the
beginning of melting of the
mantle. Thus in order for
the mantle to melt there has
to be a mechanism to raise
the geothermal gradient.
Once such mechanism is
convection, wherein hot
mantle material rises to
lower pressure or depth,
carrying its heat with it.
If the raised geothermal gradient becomes higher than the initial melting temperature at any
pressure, then a partial melt will form. Liquid from this partial melt can be separated from the
remaining crystals because, in general, liquids have a lower density than solids. Basaltic
magmas appear to originate in this way.
Upwelling mantle appears to occur beneath oceanic ridges, at hot spots, and beneath continental
rift valleys. Thus, generation of magma in these three environments is likely caused by
decompression melting.

Transfer of Heat- When magmas that were generated by some other mechanism intrude into
cold crust, they bring with them heat. Upon solidification they lose this heat and transfer it to
the surrounding crust. Repeated intrusions can transfer enough heat to increase the local
geothermal gradient and cause melting of the surrounding rock to generate new magmas.

Transfer of heat by this mechanism may be responsible for generating some magmas in
continental rift valleys, hot spots, and subduction related environments.

Flux Melting - As we saw above, if water or carbon dioxide are added to rock, the melting
temperature is lowered. If the addition of water or carbon dioxide takes place deep in the earth
where the temperature is already high, the lowering of melting temperature could cause the rock
to partially melt to generate magma. One place where water could be introduced is at
subduction zones. Here, water present in the pore spaces of the subducting sea floor or water
present in minerals like hornblende, biotite, or clay minerals would be released by the rising
temperature and then move in to the overlying mantle. Introduction of this water in the mantle
would then lower the melting temperature of the mantle to generate partial melts, which could
then separate from the solid mantle and rise toward the surface.

Chemical Variability of Magmas

The chemical composition of magma can vary depending on the rock that initially melts (the
source rock), and process that occur during partial melting and transport.
Initial Composition of Magma
The initial composition of the magma is dictated by the composition of the source rock and the
degree of partial melting. In general, melting of a mantle source (garnet peridotite) results in
mafic/basaltic magmas. Melting of crustal sources yields more siliceous magmas.
In general more siliceous magmas form by low degrees of partial melting. As the degree of
partial melting increases, less siliceous compositions can be generated. So, melting a mafic
source thus yields a felsic or intermediate magma. Melting of ultramafic (peridotite source)
yields a basaltic magma.
Magmatic Differentiation
But, processes that operate during transportation toward the surface or during storage in the
crust can alter the chemical composition of the magma. These processes are referred to

asmagmatic differentiation and include assimilation, mixing, and fractional crystallization.

Assimilation - As magma passes through cooler rock on its way to the surface it may partially
melt the surrounding rock and incorporate this melt into the magma. Because small amounts of
partial melting result in siliceous liquid compositions, addition of this melt to the magma will
make it more siliceous.
Mixing - If two magmas with different compositions happen to come in contact with one
another, they could mix together. The mixed magma will have a composition somewhere
between that of the original two magma compositions. Evidence for mixing is often preserved
in the resulting rocks.
Fractional Crystallization - When magma crystallizes it does so over a range of temperature.
Each mineral begins to crystallize at a different temperature, and if these minerals are somehow
removed from the liquid, the liquid composition will change. The processes is called magmatic
differentiation by Fractional Crystallization.
Because mafic minerals like olivine and pyroxene crystallize first, the process results in
removing Mg, Fe, and Ca, and enriching the liquid in silica. Thus crystal fractionation can
change a mafic magma into a felsic magma.
Crystals can be removed by a variety of processes. If the crystals are more dense than the liquid,
they may sink. If they are less dense than the liquid they will float. If liquid is squeezed out by
pressure, then crystals will be left behind. Removal of crystals can thus change the composition
of the liquid portion of the magma. Let me illustrate this using a very simple case.
Imagine a liquid containing 5 molecules of MgO and 5 molecules of SiO2. Initially the
composition of this magma is expressed as 50% SiO2 and 50% MgO. i.e.

Now let's imagine I remove 1 MgO molecule by putting it into a crystal and removing the
crystal from the magma. Now what are the percentages of each molecule in the liquid?

If we continue the process one more time by removing one more MgO molecule

Thus, composition of liquid can be changed.

Bowen's Reaction Series
Bowen found by experiment that the order in which minerals crystallize from a basaltic magma
depends on temperature. As a basaltic magma is cooled Olivine and Ca-rich plagioclase
crystallize first. Upon further cooling, Olivine reacts with the liquid to produce pyroxene and
Ca-rich plagioclase react with the liquid to produce less Ca-rich plagioclase. But, if the olivine
and Ca-rich plagioclase are removed from the liquid by crystal fractionation, then the remaining
liquid will be more SiO2 rich. If the process continues, an original basaltic magma can change
to first an andesite magma then a rhyolite magma with falling temperature

Igneous Environments and Igneous Rocks

The environment in which magma completely solidifies to form a rock determines:
1. The type of rock

2. The appearance of the rock as seen in its texture

3. The type of rock body.
In general there are two environments to consider:
The intrusive or plutonic environment is below the surface of the earth. This environment is
characterized by higher temperatures which result in slow cooling of the magma. Intrusive or
plutonic igneous rocks form here.
Where magma erupts on the surface of the earth, temperatures are lower and cooling of the
magma takes place much more rapidly. This is the extrusive or volcanic environment and
results in extrusive or volcanic igneous rocks.
Extrusive Environments
When magmas reach the surface of the Earth they erupt from a vent called a volcano. They may
erupt explosively or non-explosively.

Non-explosive eruptions are favored by low gas content and low viscosity magmas
(basaltic to andesitic magmas and sometimes rhyolitic magma).
o Usually begin with fire fountains due to release of dissolved gases
o Produce lava flows on surface
o Produce Pillow lavas if erupted beneath water

Explosive eruptions are favored by high gas content and high viscosity (andesitic to
rhyolitic magmas).
o Expansion of gas bubbles is resisted by high viscosity of magma - results in
building of pressure
o High pressure in gas bubbles causes the bubbles to burst when reaching the low
pressure at the Earth's surface.
o Bursting of bubbles fragments the magma into pyroclasts and tephra (ash).
o Cloud of gas and tephra rises above volcano to produce an eruption column that

can rise up to 45 km into the atmosphere.

Tephra that falls from the eruption column
produces a tephra fall deposit.

If eruption column collapses a pyroclastic

flow may occur, wherein gas and tephra rush
down the flanks of the volcano at high speed.
This is the most dangerous type of volcanic
eruption. The deposits that are produced are
called ignimbrites.

Intrusive Environments
Magma that cools at depth form bodies of rocks called intrusive bodies or plutonic bodies called
plutons, from Greek god of the underworld - Pluto. When magma intrudes it usually affects the
surrounding rock and is also affected by the surrounding rock. It may metamorphose the
surrounding rocks or cause hydrothermal alteration. The magma itself may also cool rapidly
near the contact with the surrounding rock and thus show a chilled margin next to the contact.

It may also incorporate pieces of the surrounding

rocks without melting them. These incorporated
pieces are called xenoliths (foreign rocks).
Magma intrudes by injection into fractures in the rock
and expanding the fractures. The may also move by a
process called stoping, wherein bocks are loosened by
magma at the top of the magma body with these
blocks then sinking through the magma to accumulate
on the floor of the magma body.

In relatively shallow environments intrusions are usually tabular bodies like dikes and sills or
domed roof bodies called laccoliths.

Dikes are small (<20 m wide)

shallow intrusions that show a
discordant relationship to the
rocks in which they intrude.
Discordant means that they cut
across preexisting structures.
They may occur as isolated bodies
or may occur as swarms of dikes
emanating from a large intrusive
body at depth.

Sills are also small (<50 m thick)

shallow intrusions that show a
concordant relationship with the
rocks that they intrude. Sills
usually are fed by dikes, but these
may not be exposed in the field.

Laccoliths are somewhat large

intrusions that result in uplift and
folding of the preexisting rocks
above the intrusion. They are also
concordant types of intrusions.

Deeper in the earth intrusion of magma can form bulbous bodies called plutons and the
coalescence of many plutons can form much larger bodies called batholiths.

Plutons are large intrusive bodies, of any shape that intrude in replace rocks in an
irregular fashion.

Stocks are smaller bodies that are likely fed from deeper level batholiths. Stocks may
have been feeders for volcanic eruptions, but because large amounts of erosion are
required to expose a stock or batholith, the associated volcanic rocks are rarely exposed.

If multiple intrusive events

occur in the same part of the
crust, the body that forms is
called abatholith. Several large
batholiths occur in the western
U.S. - The Sierra Nevada
Batholith, the Coast Range
Batholith, and the Idaho
Batholith, for example (See
figure 6.10d in your text).

During a magmatic event there is usually a close relationship between intrusive activity and
extrusive activity, but one cannot directly observe the intrusive activity. Only after erosion of
the extrusive rocks and other rock above the intrusions has exposed the intrusions do they
become visible at the earth's surface (see figure 6.10a in your text).
The rate of cooling of magma depends largely on the environment in which the magma cools.
Rapid cooling takes place on the Earth's surface where there is a large temperature contrast
between the atmosphere/ground surface and the magma. Cooling time for material erupted into
air and water can be as short as several seconds. For lava flows cooling times are on the order
of days to weeks. Shallow intrusions cool in months to years and large deep intrusions may
take millions of years to cool.

Because cooling of the magma takes place at a different rate, the

crystals that form and their interrelationship (texture) exhibit different
properties.

Fast cooling on the surface results in many small crystals or

quenching to a glass. Gives rise to aphanitic texture (crystals
cannot be distinguished with the naked eye),
or obsidian (volcanic glass).

Slow cooling at depth in the earth results in fewer much larger crystals,
gives rise to phaneritic texture.

Porphyritic texture develops when slow cooling is followed

by rapid cooling. Phenocrysts = larger
crystals, matrix orgroundmass = smaller crystals.

Classification of Igneous Rocks

Igneous rocks are classified on the basis of texture and chemical composition, usually as
reflected in the minerals that from due to crystallization. You will explore the classification of
igneous rocks in the laboratory portion of this course.

Extrusive/Volcanic Rocks
Basalts, Andesites, and Rhyolites are all types of volcanic rock distinguished on the basis of
their mineral assemblage and chemical compostion (see figure 6.13 in your text). These rocks
tend to be fine grained to glassy or porphyritic. Depending on conditions present during
eruption and cooling, any of these rock types may form one of the following types of volcanic
rocks.

Obsidian - dark colored volcanic glass showing concoidal fracture and few to no
crystals. Usually rhyolitic .

Pumice - light colored and light weight rock consisting of mostly holes (vesicles) that
were once occupied by gas, Usually rhyolitic or andesitic.

Vesicular rock - rock filled with holes (like Swiss cheese) or vesicles that were once
occupied by gas. Usually basaltic and andesitic.

If vesicles in a vesicular basalt are later filled by precipitation of calcite or quartz, the
fillings are termed amygdules and the basalt is termed an amygdularl basalt.

Pyroclasts = hot, broken fragments. Result from explosively ripping apart of magma.
Loose assemblages of pyroclasts called tephra. Depending on size, tephra can be
classified as bombs. lapilli, or ash.

Rock formed by accumulation and cementation of tephra called a pyroclastic rock or

tuff. Welding, compactioncause tephra (loose material) to be converted in pyroclastic
rock.

Intrusive/Plutonic Igneous Rocks

Shallow intrusions like dikes and sills are usually fine grained and sometimes porphritic
because cooling rates are similar to those of extrusive rocks. Classification is similar to the
classification for volcanic/extrusive rocks. Coarse grained rocks, formed at deeper levels in the
earth include gabbros, diorites, and granites. Note that these are chemically equivalent to
basalts, andesites, and rhyolites, but may have different minerals or different proportions of
mineral because their crystallization history is not interrupted as it might be for extrusive rocks
(see figure 6.13 in your text).
Pegmatites are very coarse grained igneous rocks consisting mostly of quartz and feldspar as
well as some more exotic minerals like tourmaline, lepidolite, muscovite. These usually form
dikes related to granitic plutons.
Distribution of Igneous Activity
Igneous activity is currently taking place as it has in the past in various tectonic settings. These
include diverging and converging plate boundaries, hot spots, and rift valleys.
Divergent Plate Boundaries
At oceanic ridges, igneous activity involves eruption of basaltic lava flows that form pillow
lavas at the oceanic ridges and intrusion of dikes and plutons beneath the ridges. The lava
flows and dikes are basaltic and the plutons mainly gabbros. These processes form the bulk of
the oceanic crust as a result of sea floor spreading. Magmas are generated by decompression
melting as hot solid asthenosphere rises and partially melts.
Convergent Plate Boundaries
Subduction at convergent plate boundaries introduces water into the mantle above the
subduction and causes flux melting of the mantle to produce basaltic magmas. These rise
toward the surface differentiating by assimilation and crystal fractionation to produce andesitic
and rhyolitic magmas. The magmas that reach the surface build island arcs and continental
margin volcanic arcs built of basalt, andesite, and rhyolite lava flows and pyroclastic material.
The magmas that intrude beneath these arcs can cause crustal melting and form plutons and
batholiths of diorite and granite
Hot Spots
As discussed previously, hot spots are places are places where hot mantle ascends toward the
surface as plumes of hot rock. Decompression melting in these rising plumes results in the
production of magmas which erupt to form a volcano on the surface or sea floor, eventually
building a volcanic island. As the overriding plate moves over the hot spot, the volcano moves
off of the hot spot and a new volcano forms over the hot spot. This produces a hot spot track
consisting of lines of extinct volcanoes leading to the active volcano at the hot spot. A hot spot
located beneath a continent can result in heat transfer melting of the continental crust to produce

large rhyolitic volcanic centers and plutonic granitic plutons below. A good example of a
continental hot spot is at Yellowstone in the western U.S. Occasionally a hot spot is coincident
with an oceanic ridge. In such a case, the hot spot produces larger volumes of magma than
normally occur at ridge and thus build a volcanic island on the ridge. Such is the case for
Iceland which sits atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Rift Valleys
Rising mantle beneath a continent can result in extensional fractures in the continental crust to
form a rift valley. As the mantle rises it undergoes partial melting by decompression, resulting
in the production of basaltic magmas which may erupt as flood basalts on the surface. Melts
that get trapped in the crust can release heat resulting in melting of the crust to form rhyolitic
magmas that can also erupt at the surface in the rift valley. An excellent example of a
continental rift valley is the East African Rift.
Large Igneous Provinces
In the past, large volumes of mostly basaltic magma have erupted on the sea floor to form large
volcanic plateaus, such as the Ontong Java Plateau in the eastern Pacific. Such large volume
eruptions can have affects on the oceans because they change the shape of ocean floor and cause
a rise in sea level, that sometimes floods the continents. The plateaus form obstructions which
can drastically change ocean currents. These changes in the ocean along with massive amounts
of gas released by the magmas can alter climate and have drastic effects on life on the planet.

2.3 metamorphic rocks

The word "Metamorphism" comes from the Greek: Meta = change, Morph = form, so
metamorphism means to change form. In geology this refers to the changes in mineral
assemblage and texture that result from subjecting a rock to pressures and temperatures different
from those under which the rock originally formed.
The original rock that has undergone metamorphism is called the protolith. Protolith can be
any type of rock and sometimes the changes in texture and mineralogy are so dramatic that is
difficult to distinguish what the protolith was.

Note that diagenesis and weathering are also a changes in form that occur in rocks. In
geology, however, we restrict diagenetic processes to those which occur at temperatures
below 200oC and pressures below about 300 MPa (MPa stands for Mega Pascals), this is
equivalent to about 3,000 atmospheres of pressure.

Metamorphism therefore occurs at temperatures and pressures higher than 200oC and
300 MPa. Rocks can be subjected to these higher temperatures and pressures as they
become buried deeper in the Earth. Such burial usually takes place as a result of
tectonic processes such as continental collisions or subduction.

The upper limit of metamorphism occurs at the pressure and temperature of wet partial
melting of the rock in question. Once melting begins, the process changes to an igneous
process rather than a metamorphic process.

During metamorphism the protolith undergoes changes in texture of the rock and the mineral
make up of the rock. These changes take place mostly in the solid state and are caused by
changes in physical or chemical conditions, which in turn can be caused by such things as
burial, tectonic stress, heating by magma or interactions with fluids.

Factors that Control Metamorphism

Metamorphism occurs because rocks undergo changes in temperature and pressure and may be
subjected to differential stress and hydrothermal fluids. Metamorphism occurs because some
minerals are stable only under certain conditions of pressure and temperature. When pressure
and temperature change, chemical reactions occur to cause the minerals in the rock to change to
an assemblage that is stable at the new pressure and temperature conditions. But, the process is
complicated by such things as how the pressure is applied, the time over which the rock is
subjected to the higher pressure and temperature, and whether or not there is a fluid phase
present during metamorphism.

Temperature
o Temperature increases with depth in the Earth along the Geothermal Gradient.
Thus higher temperature can occur by burial of rock.
o Temperature can also increase due to igneous intrusion.

Pressure increases with depth of burial, thus, both pressure and temperature will vary
with depth in the Earth. Pressure is defined as a force acting equally from all directions.
It is a type of stress, called hydrostatic stress, or uniform stress.
If the stress is not equal from all directions, then the stress is called a differential stress.

There are two kinds of differential stress. Normal stress causes objects to be
compressed in the direction of maximum principal stress and extended in the direction
of minimal stress. If differential stress is present during metamorphism, it can have a
profound effect on the texture of the rock. Shear stress causes objects to be smeared out
in the direction of applied stress.
Differential stress if acting on a rocks can have a profound affect on the appearance or
texture of the rock.

Rounded grains can become flattened in

the direction of maximum stress.

Minerals that crystallize or grow in the

differential stress field can have a
preferred orientation. This is especially
true of the sheet silicate minerals (the
micas: biotite and muscovite, chlorite, talc,
and serpentine).
These sheet silicates will grow with their sheets orientated perpendicular to the direction
of maximum stress. Preferred orientation of sheet silicates causes rocks to be easily
broken along approximately parallel sheets. Such a structure is called a foliation.

Fluid Phase.- Any existing open space between mineral grains in a rock can potentially
contain a fluid. This fluid is mostly H2O, but contains dissolved ions. The fluid phase is
important because chemical reactions that involve changing a solid mineral into a new
solid mineral can be greatly speeded up by having dissolved ions transported by the
fluid. If chemical alteration of the rock takes place as a result of these fluids, the
process is called metasomatism.

Time - Because metamorphism involves changing the rock while it is solid,

metamorphic change is a slow process. During metamorphism, several processes are at
work. Recrystallization causes changes in minerals size and shape. Chemical reactions
occur between the minerals to form new sets of minerals that are more stable at the
pressure and temperature of the environment, and new minerals form as a result of
polymorphic phase transformations (recall that polymorphs are compounds with the
same chemical formula, but different crystal structures.
Laboratory experiments suggest that the the sizes of the mineral grains produced during
metamorphism increases with time. Thus coarse grained metamorphic rocks involve
long times of metamorphism. Experiments suggest that the time involved is tens of
millions of years.

Grade of Metamorphism

Metamorphic grade is a general term for

describing the relative temperature and
pressure conditions under which metamorphic
rocks form. As the temperature and/or
pressure increases on a body of rock we say
that the rock undergoes prograde
metamorphism or that the grade of
metamorphism increases.

Low-grade metamorphism takes place at temperatures between about 200 to 320oC, and
relatively low pressure. Low grade metamorphic rocks are characterized by an
abundance of hydrous minerals (minerals that contain water, H2O, in their crystal
structure).

o Examples of hydrous minerals that occur in low grade metamorphic rocks:

Clay Minerals

Serpentine

Chlorite

High-grade metamorphism takes place at temperatures greater than 320oC and relatively
high pressure. As grade of metamorphism increases, hydrous minerals become less
hydrous, by losing H2O and non-hydrous minerals become more common.

o Examples of less hydrous minerals and non-hydrous minerals that characterize

high grade metamorphic rocks:

Muscovite - hydrous mineral that eventually disappears at the

highest grade of metamorphism

Biotite - a hydrous mineral that is stable to very high grades of

metamorphism.

Pyroxene - a non hydrous mineral.

Garnet - a non hydrous mineral.

Retrograde Metamorphism
As temperature and pressure fall due to erosion of overlying rock or due to tectonic uplift, one
might expect metamorphism to a follow a reverse path and eventually return the rocks to their
original unmetamorphosed state. Such a process is referred to as retrograde metamorphism. If
retrograde metamorphism were common, we would not commonly see metamorphic rocks at
the surface of the Earth. Since we do see metamorphic rocks exposed at the Earth's surface
retrograde metamorphism does not appear to be common. The reasons for this include:

chemical reactions take place more slowly as temperature is decreased

during prograde metamorphism, fluids such as H2O and CO2 are driven off, and these
fluids are necessary to form the hydrous minerals that are stable at the Earth's surface.

chemical reactions take place more rapidly in the presence of fluids, but if the fluids are
driven off during prograde metamorphism, they will not be available to speed up
reactions during retrograde metamorphism.

Metamorphic Rock Types

There are two major subdivisions of metamorphic rocks.
1. Foliated These have a planar foliation caused by the preferred orientation (alignment)
of minerals and formed under differential stress.
They have a significant amount of sheet silicate (platy minerals and are classified by
composition, grain size, and foliation type.
2. Non-foliated These have no evident planar fabric or foliation, crystallized under
conditions where there was no differential stress, and are comprised of equant minerals
only. These are classified mainly by the minerals present or the chemical composition of
the protolith.
Foliated Metamorphic Rocks

Example - metamorphism of
a shale, made up initially of
clay minerals and quartz all
of clay or silt size.

Slate - Slates form at low metamorphic grade by the growth of fine grained chlorite and
clay minerals. The preferred orientation of these sheet silicates causes the rock to easily
break along the planes parallel to the sheet silicates, causing a slatey cleavage. Note that
in the case shown here, the maximum stress is applied at an angle to the original bedding
planes, so that the slatey cleavage has developed at an angle to the original bedding.

Because of the nearly perfect breakage along planes, slates are useful for blackboards
and shingles.

Phyllite - Fine mica-rich rock, formed by low medium grade metamorphism. In a

phyllite, the clay minerals have recrystallized into tiny micas (biotite and muscovite
which reflect a satiny luster. Phyllite is between slate and schist.

Schist - The size of the mineral grains tends to enlarge with increasing grade of
metamorphism. Eventually the rock develops a near planar foliation caused by the
preferred orientation of sheet silicates (mainly biotite and muscovite). Quartz and
Feldspar grains, however show no preferred orientation. The irregular planar foliation at
this stage is called schistosity.

Schist often has other minerals besides micas. These include minerals like - Quartz, Feldspars,
Kyanite, Garnet, Staurolite, and Sillimanite.
When these non-mica minerals occur with a grain size greater than the rest of the rock, they are
called pophyroblasts.

Gneiss As metamorphic grade increases, the sheet silicates become unstable and dark
colored minerals like hornblende and pyroxene start to grow. These dark colored
minerals tend to become segregated in distinct bands through the rock, giving the rock
agneissic banding. Because the dark colored minerals tend to form elongated crystals,
rather than sheet- like crystals, they still have a preferred orientation with their long
directions perpendicular to the maximum differential stress.

Granulite - At the highest grades of metamorphism all of the hydrous minerals and sheet
silicates become unstable and thus there are few minerals present that would show a
preferred orientation. The resulting rock will have a granulitic texture that is similar to a
phaneritic texture in igneous rocks.

Migmatites If the temperature reaches the solidus temperature (first melting

temperature), the rock may begin to melt and start to co-mingle with the solids. Usually
these melts are felsic with the mafic material remaining metamorphic.

Non-foliated Metamorphic Rocks

Non-foliated rocks lack a planar fabric . Absence of foliation possible for several reasons:

Rock not subjected to differential stress.

Dominance of equant minerals (like quartz, feldspar, and garnet).

Absence of platy minerals (sheet silicates).

Non-foliated rocks are given specific names based on their mineralogy and composition:
Amphibolite - These rocks are dark colored rocks with amphibole (usually hornblende) as their
major mineral. They are usually poorly foliated and form at intermediate to high grades of
metamorphism of basaltic or gabbroic protoliths.
Hornfels - These are very fine grained rocks that usually form as a result of magma intruding
into fined grained igneous rocks or shales. The magma causes a type of metamorphism called
contact metamorphism (to be discussed later).
Quartzite - A rock made up almost entirely of quartz. They are formed by metamorphism of
quartz arenites (sandstones). Since quartz is stable over a large range of temperatures and
pressures, no new minerals are formed during metamorphism, and the only metamorphic effect
that occurs is recrystallization of the quartz resulting in interlocking crystals that make up a very
hard rock.
Marble - A limestone or dolostone made up only of calcite or dolomite will metamorphose to a
marble which is made mostly recrystallized calcite or dolomite. The Recrystallization usually
obliterates all fossils. Marbles have a variety of colors and are often complexly banded. They
are commonly used as a decorative stone.
Protolith Composition
Although textures and structures of the protolith are usually destroyed by metamorphism, we
can still get an idea about the original rock from the minerals present in the metamorphic rock.
Minerals that form, do so because the chemical elements necessary to form them are present in
the protolith.
General terms used to describe the chemical composition of both the protolith and the resulting
metamorphic rock are:
Pelitic Alumina rich rocks, usually shales or mudstones. These start out originally with clay
minerals and as a result of metamorphism, Alumina rich minerals like micas, chlorite, garnet,
kyanite, sillimanite and andalusite form. Because of the abundance of sheet silicates, pelitic
rocks commonly form slates, phyllites, schists, and gneisses during metamorphism.
Mafic - These are Mg and Fe rich rocks with low amounts of Si. Minerals like biotite,

hornblende and plagioclase form during metamorphism and commonly produce amphibolites.
Calcareous - These are calcium-rich rocks usually derived from limestones or dolostones, and
thus contain an abundance of Calcite. Marbles are the type of metamorphic rock that results.
Quartzo-Feldspathic - Rocks that contain an abundance of quartz and feldspar fall into this
category. Protoliths are usually granites, rhyolites, or arkose sandstones and metamorphism
results in gneisses containing an abundance of quartz, feldspar, and biotite.
Types of Metamorphism
Metamorphism can take place in several different environments where special conditions exist
in terms of pressure, temperature, stress, conditions, or chemical environments. We here
describe several diff rent types of metamorphism that are recognized.

Contact Metamorphism (also called thermal metamorphism) - Occurs adjacent to

igneous intrusions and results from high temperatures associated with the igneous
intrusion. Since only a small area surrounding the intrusion is heated by the magma,
metamorphism is restricted to a zone surrounding the intrusion, called
a metamorphicaureole. Outside of the contact aureole, the rocks are
unmetamorphosed. The grade of metamorphism increases in all directions toward the
intrusion. Because temperature differences between the surrounding rock and the
intruded magma are larger at shallow levels in the crust, contact metamorphism is
usually referred to as high temperature, low pressure metamorphism. The rock produced
is often a fine-grained rock that shows no foliation, called a hornfels.

Burial Metamorphism - When sedimentary rocks are buried to depths of several

hundred meters, temperatures greater than 300oC may develop in the absence of
differential stress. New minerals grow, but the rock does not appear to be
metamorphosed. The main minerals produced are the Zeolites. Burial metamorphism
overlaps, to some extent, with diagenesis, and grades into regional metamorphism as
temperature and pressure increase.

Dynamic Metamorphism - This type of metamorphism is due to mechanical

deformation, like when two bodies of rock slide past one another along a fault zone.
Heat is generated by the friction of sliding along the zone, and the rocks tend to crushed
and pulverized due to the sliding. Dynamic metamorphism is not very common and is
restricted to a narrow zone along which the sliding occurred. The rock that is produced
is called a mylonite.

Regional Metamorphism - This type of

metamorphism occurs over large areas
that were subjected to high degrees of
deformation under differential stress.
Thus, it usually results in forming
metamorphic rocks that are strongly
foliated, such as slates, schists, and
gneisses. The differential stress usually
results from tectonic forces that produce
a compression of the rocks, such as
when two continental masses collide
with one another. Thus, regionally
metamorphosed rocks occur in the cores
of mountain ranges or in eroded
mountain ranges. Compressive stresses
result in folding of the rock, as shown
here, and results in thickening of the
crust which tends to push rocks down to
deeper levels where they are subjected to
higher temperatures and pressures (See
Figure 8.20 in your text).

A map of a hypothetical regionally metamorphosed area is shown in the figure below. Most
regionally metamorphosed areas can be divided into zones where a particular mineral, called
an index mineral, is characteristic of the zone. The zones are separated by lines (surfaces in
three dimensions) that mark the first appearance of the index mineral. These lines are
called isograds (meaning equal grade) and represent lines (really surfaces) where the grade of
metamorphism is equal. A map of a regionally metamorphosed areas are can be seen in figure
8.16 of your text.

Hydrothermal Metamorphism - Near oceanic ridges where the oceanic crust is broken up by
extensional faults, sea water can descend along the cracks. Since oceanic ridges are areas where
new oceanic crust is created by intrusion and eruption of basaltic magmas, these water-rich
fluids are heated by the hot crust or magma and become hydrothermal fluids. The hydrothermal
fluids alter the basaltic oceanic crust by producing hydrous minerals like chlorite and
talc. Because chlorite is a green colored mineral the rocks hydrothermal metamorphic rocks are
also green and often called greenstones.
Subduction Related Metamorphism - At a subduction zone, the oceanic crust is pushed
downward resulting in the basaltic crust and ocean floor sediment being subjected to relatively
high pressure. But, because the oceanic crust by the time it subducts is relatively cool, the
temperatures in the crust are relatively low. Under the conditions of low temperature and high
pressure, metamorphism produces an unusual blue mineral, glaucophane. Compressional
stresses acting in the subduction zone create the differential stress necessary to form schists and
thus the resulting metamorphic rocks are called blueschist
Shock Metamorphism - When a large meteorite collides with the Earth, the kinetic energy is
converted to heat and a high pressure shock wave that propagates into the rock at the impact
site. The heat may be enough to raise the temperature to the melting temperature of the earth
rock. The shock wave produces high enough pressure to cause quartz to change its crystal
structure to more a dense polymorph like coesite or stishovite. Ancient meteorite impact sites
have been discovered on the basis of finding this evidence of shock metamorphism.

Metamorphic Facies
In general, metamorphic rocks do not undergo significant changes in chemical composition
during metamorphism. The changes in mineral assemblages are due to changes in the
temperature and pressure conditions of metamorphism. Thus, the mineral assemblages that are
observed must be an indication of the temperature and pressure environment that the rock was
subjected to. This pressure and temperature environment is referred to as Metamorphic
Facies.
The sequence of metamorphic
facies observed in any
metamorphic terrain, depends
on the geothermal gradient
that was present during
metamorphism. A high
geothermal gradient such as
the one labeled "A" in the
figure shown here, might be
present around an igneous
intrusion, and would result in
metamorphic rocks belonging
to the hornfels facies. Under
a normal geothermal gradient,
such as "B" in the figure,
rocks would progress from
zeolite facies to greenschist,
amphibolite, and eclogite
facies as the grade of
metamorphism (or depth of
burial) increased.
If a low geothermal gradient was present, such the one labeled "C" in the diagram, then rocks
would progress from zeolite facies to blueschist facies to eclogite facies. Thus, if we know the
facies of metamorphic rocks in the region, we can determine what the geothermal gradient must
have been like at the time the metamorphism occurred.

3. traditional principles of stratigraphy

3.1 Steno's Principle of Superposition (1669)
"At the time when any given stratum was being formed, all the matter resting upon it was fluid,
and, therefore, at the time when the lower stratum was being formed, none of the upper strata
existed."
Today we restrict this principle to sedimentary rocks, which were understood differently in
Steno's time. Basically, he deduced that rocks were laid down in vertical order just as sediments
are laid down today, under water, with new on top of old. This principle allows us to piece
together the succession of fossil life that defines much of the geologic time scale.

3.2 Steno's Principle of Original Horizontality (1669)

". . . strata either perpendicular to the horizon or inclined to it, were at one time parallel to the
horizon."
Steno reasoned that strongly tilted rocks did not start that way, but were affected by later events
either upheaval by volcanic disturbances or collapse from beneath by cave-ins. Today we

know that some strata start out tilted, but nevertheless this principle enables us to easily detect
unnatural degrees of tilt and infer that they have been disturbed since their formation. And we
know of many more causes, from tectonics to intrusions, that can tilt and fold rocks.

3.3 Steno's Principle of Lateral Continuity (1669)

"Materials forming any stratum were continuous over the surface of the Earth unless some other
solid bodies stood in the way."
This principle allowed Steno to link identical rocks on opposite sides of a river valley and deduce
the history of events (mostly erosion) that separated them. Today we apply this principle across
the Grand Canyoneven across oceans to link continents that once were adjoined.

3.4 The Principle of Cross-cutting Relationships (1669)

"If a body or discontinuity cuts across a stratum, it must have formed after that stratum."
This principle is essential in studying all kinds of rocks, not just sedimentary ones. With it we
can untangle intricate sequences of geologic events such as faulting, folding,deformation, and
emplacement of dikes and veins.

3.5 Uniformitarisn (Hutton,1785)

James Hutton is best known for expanding our notion of the age of the Earth. His
observations of geological strata that had been uplifted on edge and eroded away, and then
capped with yet more layers, revealed the presence of whole other "worlds" before us. We
could no longer measure the history of the planet in terms of ordinary human lifetimes, nor
even in terms of the appearance and disappearance of great civilizations. We had to adopt a
whole new, geological time scale.
For many, Hutton laid the foundation for dispelling religious misconceptions about a young
Earth--especially as professed in some religious traditions. Yet Hutton himself was a theist.
Moreover, his conclusions were strongly guided by his theology. Indeed, for Hutton, a
beneficent God was the major reason for believing that the world was extremely old.

Somewhere, we have inverted the role of religion in Hutton's work.

Nowhere do we misinterpret Hutton more deeply than in the meaning of the closing image
to his great geological work, The Theory of the Earth. Hutton concluded poetically that the
Earth offered "no vestige of a beginning,--no prospect of an end." By today's reckoning,
Hutton was asserting the unimaginably extended, "deep" time frame of an ancient Earth. But
for Hutton, it was quite literal: he saw no beginning and no end to the Earth; the planet was
timeless. Why?
For Hutton, the Earth was created by God especially for human habitation. As such the
world was wisely self-perpetuating. Though humans might consume many vital elements,
they were all replenished. As animals used oxygen, for example, plants regenerated it using
the animal's carbon dioxide waste. Rain, so essential for human crops and other vegetation,
was supplied continuously by a great cycling of water. Even coal was regenerated--by the
burying and consolidation of plants that had captured energy from the sun (using the raw
products of earlier coal combustion). Having inherited and managed two farms, Hutton also
well appreciated how soil was lost through erosion. But soil, too, was renewed--through
geological uplift and breakdown of rock. For Hutton, God had built a great "world
machine"--in the Newtonian sense of a clockwork universe. The world was composed of
great cycles--cycles without beginning or end. For Hutton, there was certainly no
"evolution" in our sense of gradual, directional change. There were only great endless
cycles. This view was also shared by Charles Lyell, who later popularized Hutton's
"uniformitarian" view of geology that so influenced Darwin. (Lyell, though, never fully
embraced Darwin's conclusions about the evolution of organisms, preferring a view of a
steady-state world [see SHiPS News, 5(#2)].)
Most importantly, perhaps, Hutton's theological thinking about cycles led to his most
significant geological contribution. Hutton's world machine needed an engine of change.
For Hutton, it was fire deep within the earth (from coal burning). Heat was a primary agent
of change in geology as much as in agriculture and meteorology. Previously, geologists had
viewed the formation of rocks--especially sedimentary rock, almost exclusively in terms of
water. Following Abraham Werner's conception, rocks had precipitated from an ocean that
once covered the world. Through his theological lens, Hutton recognized, instead, the
central role of heat in consolidating underwater sediments into rock and, later, in lifting
those rocks above sea level. Hutton's "biased" thinking likewise guided him in assembling
massve evidence on the importance of intrusions and metamorphic rocks.
Hutton's novel views on heat in geology would later be dubbed "Plutonist," in contrast to
Werner's "Neptunist" views, and would come to balance them in significance. One may note
the irony, though, in the etymological references to Roman mythology that completely
eclipsed Hutton's deeply theist perspective. That small bit of terminology was one early step
in disguising the religion in Hutton's science.
Finally, it is worth noting that Hutton's theological thinking on heat also led him (almost
unexpectedly, by today's conceptions) to defend the doctrine of phlogiston, the material

substance of fire. Hutton's defense was observationally well founded [see SHiPS News
3(#3)] and, if pursued, might well have led to deeper investigations of energy flow through
ecosystems or of electrochemistry (in today's terms). Hutton's theological science was
innovative, as well as grounded in evidence.
Can we separate Hutton's science from his theology or religion? Yes, perhaps, we can do so.
But it is hard to imagine how it would have been otherwise for Hutton. To dismiss Hutton's
theology would be to dismiss his discoveries.
Time allows us a certain luxury: we can erase from our stories of past scientists any feature
that does not fit our own preferred conceptions of science and religion. Thus many
textbooks, in their effort to convey today's notion of scientific concepts, have elided the
theology of Hutton's arguments. To suggest that Hutton--or even Lyell--crusaded against
naive religious belief misrepresents history. Ultimately, it is misrepresents the process of
science, as well.

3.6 Catastrophism:
Catastrophism is doctrine that explains the differences in fossil forms encountered in successive
stratigraphic levels as being the product of repeated cataclysmic occurrences and repeated new
creations. This doctrine generally is associated with the great French naturalist Baron Georges
Cuvier (1769-1832). One 20th-century expansion on Cuvier's views, in effect, a neocatastrophic
school, attempts to explain geologic history as a sequence of rhythms or pulsations of mountain
building, transgression and regression of the seas, and evolution and extinction of living
organisms.
There have been dramatic changes in attitude towards catastrophism since 1980, stimulated by
the hypothesis of Luis Alvarez and colleagues that high iridium concentrations found at the
Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary throughout the world could be taken as evidence that the mass
extinction episode at the end of the Cretaceous Period had been caused by the impact of a large
asteroid. Alternatively, the iridium abundance anomaly might have been the result of extensive
vulcanism, which is known to have occurred at this time, but this would also have to be regarded
as a catastrophist mechanism, and could even be linked to an impact.
In the case of catastrophism, as applied to geology (the study of the Earth) or palaeontology (the
study of fossils), there can be little doubt that, in the eyes of the scientific establishment for a
century or more, it has seemed as defunct as any theory could be. Now, however, catastrophism

is making a very real contribution to geology and evolutionary theory. A resurrection would seem
to have taken place.
Rightly or wrongly, it has generally been thought that the catastrophists of the nineteenth century
and earlier believed that God was directly involved in determining the history of the Earth. So,
for example, American palaeontologist, Steven Stanley, claimed in 1987 that catastrophism
was the outmoded belief that sudden, violent and widespread events caused by supernatural
forces formed most of the rocks visible at the earth's surface.
It should go without saying that twentieth century catastrophism, often called neocatastrophism,
is founded entirely in science, relying solely on natural forces for its explanations, but was
eighteenth and nineteenth century catastrophism completely different? Was it so dominated by
supernatural elements that any scientific content it may have claimed was without value? That
was certainly the prevailing view for most of the present century. Catastrophists have been
condemned for putting dogma before observational science, whereas their rivals, the gradualists
(also called uniformitarians) have been praised for taking the opposite stance.
This view of scientific uniformitarianism and dogmatic catastrophism was, at best, oversimplistic, failing to take into account the range of beliefs and attitudes of individual
uniformitarians and catastrophists in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. For many centuries,
the Church had exercised almost complete control over academic communications in the western
world, and everything was viewed within a spiritual context. For most of that time, it would have
been heretical to deny the testimony of the Bible, as accepted by the Church, that the Earth was
only a few thousand years old, and that there had been a major cataclysm, the Flood in the time
of Noah. Today, we ridicule Archbishop Ussher, who in the middle of the seventeenth century
calculated, from information given in the Bible, that the Earth was created in 4004 BC. For
whatever reason, we ignore the fact that Ussher's chronology was supported, in very positive
terms, by no less a scientist than Sir Isaac Newton. Similarly, when rightfully praising Newton
for formulating the mathematical laws of gravity, we turn a blind eye to the fact that he thought
the gravitational forces themselves required a supernatural rather than a physical explanation.
3.7 Faunal Succession (Abbe Giraud de Saulave [1777])
theory of Abbe Giraud de Saulave is the Law of Faunal Succession or Sequence Fauna Law.
Where he found the kinds of fossils that are according to age. Fossils on bottom formation is not
identical to the formations on it.
3.8 Strata identified by fossils (Smith,1816)
THE eastern and south-eastern half of England, as for inland as a curved line from Exeter to
Teesmouth, abounds with organized Fossils, regularly imbedded in the Strata. The vast expanse
of red Marl and its Sandstone, has none of them, but they are very abundant in the Limestones
which accompany it.
These, however, occupy but a small portion of the island, compared to the great extent of
Strata before-mentioned, and when it is considered that in the remainder of the Strata, Red and

Dunstone, Killas and Granite, organized Fossils are not found, or very rare; they seem chiefly
confined to the district before described, and to the Coalmeasures, and the bituminized wood of
blue clays, in the other districts, being trifling exceptions to general rules so extensive.
The eastern side of the island is, therefore, best for the commencement of regular
observations on the organized Fossils which are illustrative of its Geology. It is also necessary
that the series of British Strata, for the simplification of science, should be considered in classes.
The part above the Chalk is one, and the principle divisions of which it is susceptible, are
reducible to twoa great Sand and a great Clay, with a general parting of Crag; but each of these
is subject to considerable variations.
The Sand lies next the Chalk, and the clay over that forms insular hills.
The great Sand is in many places interspersed with Clay, or Brickearth, and the Clay as
frequently with Sand and Loam. Pebbles are common to both, but to what depth beneath the
surface my be difficult to determine
The chief partition Strata have not always the same appearance. The Craig being, in some
[arts of its course, composed of shells and sand, in some places of shells and clay, and in others
of shells and coral, united in a soft stony rock, which about Oxford is used in building. In other
places the shells are filled with, and imbedded in a hard blue grey Sandstone, and in some of
their course they appear to be deficient, or found only thinly interspersed with a blue grey
concreted loam, or indurated Brickworth. The alluvial Pebbles, Clay, and Sand spread over great
breadths of the plains formed by the surface of these thin partition Strata, much increases the
difficulty of tracing their outcrops.
The greatest breadth of the Clay is in Essex, and the vicinity of London, as described in my
delineation of the Strata by the dun or dark blue colour, and the localities of the most remarkable
sites of its organized Fossils, are noted in a list which accompanies the explanation of the plate.
The other great division of Sand and Brickearth, is represented on the map by yellowish
brown, and the sites of its peculiar Fossils under the head of Craig, similarly describedbut the
partition Strata which produce these shells, vary so much in hardness, colour, consistence, and
uses, as to render a local description of one part, almost unintelligible to those who are
acquainted with it in another. For on a cursory view of these shelly Strata in their course through
[2] the three north-eastern countries, from the banks of the Thames, some miles below London, it
is singular that a considerable distinction in the site or accompaniments of the shells should be
peculiar to each of the countries.
The shells in Essex are lodged in a strong blue Clay which makes a tenacious soil.
All through Suffolk in a light or blowing Sand, which, in many parts of the course of Crag,
is some of the worst land in the country.
Through Norfork the shells lie much nearer to, or in contact with the top of the Chalk, and
under a loamy soil, on or near some of the best land in Fleg and the Vale of Aylesham.
In the present state of our knowledge of these Strata, and the shells they contain, any
attempt at a minute division of them, seems, therefore, more likely to perplex, than instruct the
reader
The strong features only of the country, will therefore, first be noticed, The order of nature

which is shown by my discoveries, suggests the outline of the work, and the different Strata
serving like chapters for the principle divisions, the subject will be so treated; taking each of
their outcrops in succession. from East to West. The figures of organized Fossils in each Stratum
are printed on coloured paper, to correspond with the most general colour of the matter in which
they are imbedded, and also with that by which their courses are represented on the Map; where
otherwise, as in the Chalk, it will be particularly noticed under each head.
It may be necessary to remark, that the Strata over Chalk, occupy much of the eastern,
south, and south-eastern coast of England, and seem to be only parts of much larger districts of
corresponding Strata on the Continent.
In England this class is separated into three portions, by vacancies on the heights of
Hampshire, and in the sea by the Wash. The mouth of the Humber makes also a lesser division
but for these, the class might be said to extend from Dorsetshire to Yorkshire, for Pool Harbour is
in one extremity, and Bridlington Bay in the other.
The northern-most of the three principle portions, North and South of the Humber, is small,
long, and narrow, lying low, and as yet little noticed for organized Fossils, except large bones
washed out of the crumbly cliffs of Holderness, which correspond with those washed out of
similar cliffs on the coast of East Norfork, Suffolk, Essex, East Kent, and South Hants.
The middle and principle portions extends north-eastward from the Hampshire Hills to the
coast of Norfork; it flanks the Chalk through Surrey and Kent, on the south side of the Thames;
the Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire Chalk Hills on the north side. It embraces the whole
Estuary of the Thames; spreads over nearly all Essex, three-fourths of Suffork, and all the eastern
half of Norfork, except the Vales about Norwich and Aylesham.
The northern portion, chiefly in Hempshire and Dorsetshire, narrows both ways from its
widest part about the new Forest, to its western extremity, near Dorchester, and its eastern, near
Brighton. Its widest part is from Newport in the Isle of Wight, to the similar elevations of Chalk
and down lands, between Salisbury and Winchester. Each of these districts is abundantly stored
with organized Fossils, Large teeth and bones, great resembling those on the Continent, have
been most frequently collected from the shores of the middle portion, and large vertebrae further
inland, at Whitlingham, Leiston old Abbey, Diss, Hoxney, and Hawkedon.

4. modification of the traditional concept to modern

4.1 Superposition vs bedding concept
"At the time when any given stratum was being formed, all the matter resting upon it was fluid,
and, therefore, at the time when the lower stratum was being formed, none of the upper strata
existed."

Today we restrict this principle to sedimentary rocks, which were understood differently in
Steno's time. Basically, he deduced that rocks were laid down in vertical order just as sediments
are laid down today, under water, with new on top of old. This principle allows us to piece
together the succession of fossil life that defines much of the geologic time scale.

4.2 Lateral continuity vs lateral termination

The principle of original lateral continuity proposes strata originally extended in all
directions until they thinned to zero or terminated against the edges of their
original basin of deposition. This was the third of the principles of Niels Stensen (alias
Nicolaus or Nicolas Steno) (Dott and Batten, 1976).
He established three principles still accepted today. The first was the principle of
superposition, the crucial discovery that old rock layers underlie new rock layers. The
second was the principle of original horizontality, that sediments are deposited as liquids,
and like water, they are deposited horizontally, filling in irregularities at the bottom, but
making a smooth surface at the top. The third was the principle of lateral continuity, that
layers of sediment are continuous, unless a barrier prevents the sediments from spreading
during deposition, or subsequent changes in the landscape break those sediment layers
apart.

Truncation is a lateral termination of the boundary layer due to cut off the original deposition.
Erosional truncation is a top termination of strata-discordant (angled) older to younger strata by
erosion. Usually dijumpaipada top depositional sequences and indicates the presence of a
sequence boundaries (SB) or known erosional unconformity Truncation (unconformity) events
caused by erosion due to exposure to the surface.

4.3 Original horizontality vs clinoform

". . . strata either perpendicular to the horizon or inclined to it, were at one time parallel to the
horizon."

Steno reasoned that strongly tilted rocks did not start that way, but were affected by later events
either upheaval by volcanic disturbances or collapse from beneath by cave-ins. Today we
know that some strata start out tilted, but nevertheless this principle enables us to easily detect
unnatural degrees of tilt and infer that they have been disturbed since their formation. And we
know of many more causes, from tectonics to intrusions, that can tilt and fold rocks.

Clinoform is a term originally introduced by Rich (1951) to describe the shape of

a depositional surface at the scale of the entire continental margin (Figure 1a). In the
current geologic literature, the term clinoform denotes strata packages with oblique
internal layering, best imaged on seismic refl ection profi les, where three geometric
elements are recognized: (1) topset, the most shallow and low-angle area, (2) foreset,
the central and steepest area, and (3) bottomset, the fl at area farther basinward
(Figure 1b) (Mitchum et al., 1977). The break in seafl oor slope between the topset and
the foreset is often called the rollover point.

4.4 Vertical accumulation vs Lateral accumulation

Schenk in 1961 in a paper confirming the Guiding Principles of stratigraphy stratigraphic
principles are based Steno as time-Honoured principels, so that Steno principle is still valid,
although with slight modifications (see figure 1). In accordance with the development of seismic
methods, in the seventies, which gives a view being on the order of layering regionally,
compared with the data outcrop and drilling, has changed its views on how the layers of
sediment accumulate.

Figure 1a. Traditional Stratigrsafi view: on the accumulation of sediment. Outskirts of the
exposure (shelf edge) mrpkn center dr precipitation Figure 1b. View Stratigrsafi sequence: on the
accumulation of sediment in which the center of laps sediment deposition is a form of basin
This was stated by Weimer ('72, '75) which shows that the principles stratrigrafi which is based
on the Law of Steno implicitly states that generally accumulate sediment layers vertically,
whereas in reality the sediment layers generally accumulate lateral accretion, even though the
vertical component is still there, but in a much smaller scale. Weimer ('71, '75) showed that in
general the sediment accumulates laterally by accretion on the outskirts of the exposure, so that
the vertical accumulation should be modified by the accumulation of the lateral and vertical
accumulation is only a component only. This is in direct contradiction to the principles of
stratigraphy long, at least Steno's principles need to be modified.
In '77 comes the so-called seismic stratigraphy developed by Exxon Research Center, which is
based on seismic data in Atlantic Beach, which was pioneered by Vail et al (1977) which is the
students Sloss. The concepts and principles that have been mentioned above then form the basis
of the new science of stratigraphy. By applying the principles and concepts of the new
stratigrafdi in outcrop and log the well, then there was a stratigraphic new science which is called
as sequence stratigraphy.

4.5 Unconformity vs Stratal discontinuity

Unconformities are gaps in the geologic record that may indicate episodes of crustal
deformation, erosion, and sea level variations. They are a feature of stratified rocks, and are
therefore usually found in sediments (but may also occur in stratified volcanics). They are
surfaces between two rock bodies that constitute a substantial break (hiatus) in the geologic
record (sometimes people say inaccurately that "time" is missing). Unconformities represent
times when deposition stopped, an interval of erosion removed some of the previously deposited
rock, and finally deposition was resumed.
Commonly three types of unconformities are distinguished by geologists:
ANGULAR UNCONFORMITIES
DISCONFORMITIES
NONCONFORMITIES
Stratal discontinuities are physical surfaces caused by erosion or by non deposition :
(1) Unconformities ;
(2) Disconformities ;
(3) Depositional hiatuses.
Unconformity time-gaps may simply represent prolonged periods of subaerial exposurewith
minimal erosion, possibly with local valley or channel down-cutting, or they may
represent periods of uplift and major subaerial erosion of strata or they may representsubmarine
erosion by turbidites, slump or submarine currents.

4.6 Cyclicity of strata vs stratigraphy classification

Sedimentary rocks are more often than not formed by rhythmic and rythms
of repeated occurrences similar vertical successions of strata. These strata may have the
same lithology, or alternations two or more lithologies, or be similar vertical successions of
different lithology. These have been divided into varve scale laminations, bed scale rhythms,
and cycles (Einsele et al, 1991; and Schwarzacher, 2000),. The attached diagrams list some of
their different orders and character. For instance Vail et al, (1977), and Haq et al (1987)
subdivide depositional sequences and cycles largely on the basis of time into first to sixth order.
Their smallest unit is the parasequence of van Wagoner et al (1988). The parasequence can been
equated with the cyclothem used to describe the Pennsylvanian coal-bearing deltaic sequence of

the Appalachians (Weller, 1964), the shallow water and peritidal carbonate cycle observed in the
Mesozoic of the Apennines (elementary cycles of D'Argenio et al, 1999) and Southern Alps
(Lofer cyclothems of Fischer, 1964; and depositional cycles of Goldhammer et, 1990), and the
"simple" carbonate sequence cycle (for the platform carbonate cycles of the Upper Miocene of
Mallorca (Pomar, personal communication).
Strictly rythmic and periodic sequences formed over a regular time period are distinct from
rythmic or non-periodic sequences caused by irregular stratigraphic events or by recurrent
processes associated with the depositional regime (autocyclic processes) (Einsele et al , 1991).
Sedimentary cycles may coarsen or fine upward, form symmetric or asymmetric sequences, as
well as form complete and incomplete cycles, the latter reflecting non-deposition or erosion
during the depositional cycle.
Recurring processes generate successions of bundles rythmic beds.
Recurring cycles, particularly those with recurring or evolving faunas are used for stratigraphic
correlation and mapping.
For more data on cycles and events in stratigraphy, the compilations of Einsele et al (1991) and
(Schwarzacher, 2000) represent useful sources. Einsele et al (1991) has assembled numerous
review articles on cycles in the stratigraphic record and both have extensive lists of references.

Stratigraphic classification encompasses all rocks of the crust of the Earth.Rocks have many
tangible and measurable properties and may be classified according to any of them. Rocks may
also be classified by their time of origin or interpreted attributes, such as environment or genesis.
The stratigraphic position of change for any property or attribute does not necessarily coincide
with that for any other.Consequently, units based on one property commonly do not coincide
with those based on a different property.Therefore, it is not possible to express the distributions
in the rocks of all of the different properties with a single set of stratigraphic units. Different sets
of units are needed.
However, all the different classifications are closely related because they express different
aspects of the same rock bodies and they are used to achieve the same goals of stratigraphy: to
improve our knowledge and understanding of the Earth's rock bodies and their history.
4.7 Traditional vs. deposition sequence stratigraphy
Schenk in 1961 in a paper confirming the Guiding Principles of stratigraphy stratigraphic
principles are based Steno as time-Honoured principels, so that Steno principle is still valid,
although with slight modifications (see figure 1). In accordance with the development of seismic
methods, in the seventies, which gives a view being on the order of layering regionally,

compared with the data outcrop and drilling, has changed its views on how the layers of
sediment accumulate.

Figure 1a. Traditional Stratigrsafi view: on the accumulation of sediment. Outskirts of the
exposure (shelf edge) mrpkn center dr precipitation Figure 1b. View Stratigrsafi sequence: on the
accumulation of sediment in which the center of laps sediment deposition is a form of basin
This was stated by Weimer ('72, '75) which shows that the principles stratrigrafi which is based
on the Law of Steno implicitly states that generally accumulate sediment layers vertically,
whereas in reality the sediment layers generally accumulate lateral accretion, even though the
vertical component is still there, but in a much smaller scale. Weimer ('71, '75) showed that in
general the sediment accumulates laterally by accretion on the outskirts of the exposure, so that
the vertical accumulation should be modified by the accumulation of the lateral and vertical
accumulation is only a component only. This is in direct contradiction to the principles of
stratigraphy long, at least Steno's principles need to be modified.
In '77 comes the so-called seismic stratigraphy developed by Exxon Research Center, which is
based on seismic data in Atlantic Beach, which was pioneered by Vail et al (1977) which is the
students Sloss. The concepts and principles that have been mentioned above then form the basis
of the new science of stratigraphy. By applying the principles and concepts of the new

stratigrafdi in outcrop and log the well, then there was a stratigraphic new science which is called
as sequence stratigraphy.

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