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Erosion surfaces (SB) or eroded parasequence boundaries
Some flooding surfaces including
transgressive surfaces and/or
maximum flooding surfaces
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It should be emphasized that, as has been shown by Fischer (1964), Pomar and
Ward (1999), Goldhammer, et al, (1990), and D'Argenio et al (1997) that though
shallow cycles of carbonate are composed of a relatively conformable succession of
genetically related beds or bedsets these cycles are often truncated and incomplete
so that maximum flooding and trangressive surfaces can be missing. This means
that these cycles are not, in the strictest sense, a match for the clastic models of
parasequences of Van Wagoner et al, (1999). Never the less we argue cycles can
be used like parasequences in the analysis of the sedimentary section as units of
process/product oriented depositional models. However should they exhibit
truncated cycles and miss the sediments of an initial transgression or maximum
flooding event one should consider them as high frequency carbonate cycles, not
parasequences.
Response of carbonates to relative sea level change Links to movies,
exercises & .pdf files.
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The carbonate cycle of a sigmoid versus parasequence explained
The basic reefal accretional unit of the Miocene reef complex of Mallorca is the
"sigmoid ". This is bounded by clear erosion surfaces (the product of sea level
lowering and erosion with a matching correlative surface downdip) but has no
obvious marine flooding surfaces . Updip and landward the sigmoid is represented
by a horizontal lagoonal bed that basinward passes in sigmoidal bedded reefcore
lithofacies belt and seaward into clinoform bedded forereef slope beds and sub
horizontal basinal lithofacies. The boundary over the lagoonal and reefcore
lithofacies of the sigmoid is formed by an erosional surface that basinward becomes
a correlative conformable surface in the reef slope and basin lithofacies. Notably, the
coralmorphology zonation within the reefcore facies of the sigmoid migrates
seaward, aggrades vertically, or moves landward over the bounding erosional
surfaces. This enables the sigmoid (like system's tracts) to be tied to specific
segments of the sealevel curve. Consequently the sigmoid configuration can be
considered "genetically" as a depositional sequence, though not exactly fitting the
original definition of a parasequence. This is because the sigmoid, like the
parasequence , is composed of a relatively conformable succession of genetically
related beds or bedsets . Also the geometric patterns shown by stacked sigmoids
can be used, along with their position within a sequence, like the patterns of stacked
parasequence sets, to define systemtracts , while within lower order depositional
sequences there are sigmoid sets, sigmoid cosets and megasets.
In the interests of keeping the sequence stratigraphic literature from becoming over
complex it is argued here that during the time interval between the development of
the erosional surface on the underlying sigmoid and the deposition of sediment
marking the boundary of the overlying sigmoid, sea level dropped to be followed by
a trangressive flooding event and the development of a maximum flooding surface.
However since no sedimentary fill has been recognized that records these events,
the sigmoid cannot be inferred to be equivalent to the parasequence, or vice versa!
Similarly this "simplification" should not be applied to a shoaling upward carbonate
cycle missing transgressive or maximum flooding sediments. In this case the
transgression surfaces (TS) and maximum flooding surfaces (mfs) are not equivalent
to erosion surfaces initially produced by a sea level fall, since the missing sediments
mean that one cannot establish how the erosion surface was modified on the
following transgression. Clearly the truncated high frequency carbonate cycle may
have different genetic elements to a parasequence and should not be considered to
be one! It should be noted that because "modern" type of reefal systems are able to
build rigid frameworks, resistant to wave energy, this depositional system has the
capacity to record even the highestfrequency sealevel cycles. Thus some sigmoids
appear to record 7th order sealevel cycles that represent a periodicity of few
thousand years! Other depositional systems that have not produced this "rigid
framework" to the sea level are not able to record such highfrequency cycles of sea
level and parasequences may form.
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Pomar (personal communication, 2004) proposes that parasequences form in
response to sealevel paracycles (rise and stillstand of sea level), commonly as a
response of sealevel cyclicity when subsidence equals or exceeds the amount of
sealevel fall, OR when the sedimentary systems are dominated by loose grains. In
this latter case, lowering of base level (related to the fall in sea level) would increase
basinward shedding of sediment and these erosional processes onto a granular
seabed would not be recorded as an erosion surface. This could be the reason that
higherfrequency sequences (simple sequences in Vail's definition) at the most
commonly record up to 5thorder cycles of sea level. These high frequency
carbonate cycles that have the genetic elements of the parasequence are "of
course" carbonate parasequences.
Some carbonate parasequence geometries Tools for the interpretation of
depositional setting
The sequence stratigraphy of the carbonate sections is commonly determined from
a combination of 2 and 3 D Seismic data (providing a comparatively low frequency
resolution), well logs (providing a comparatively high frequency resolution), cores
(providing very high frequency resolution) and outcrops (with best access to a
combination of high frequency resolution and low frequency resolution).
Click
thumbnail
to access
the large
images
The analysis of the sequence stratigraphy of carbonates is improved by applying the
recent realizations of Larue et al (1995); Sprague et al, (2002); Sprague et al,
(2003); and Sprague et al, (2004) for depositional systems and integrating:
The boundaries to their systems tracts
The component lithofacies
The hierarchies in the resulting geometries of the strata
Their stacking patterns
Thus, as with clastic sediments (Sprague et al, 2002), at a general level the physical
stratigraphy of the carbonate strata can be broken down into a hierarchical
framework. This framework ties together genetically related architectural elements
and their associated boundaries . The hierarchy of these elements is independent of
the thickness and the time invovled in their accumulation. A top down breakdown of
the architectural elements shows a progressive decrease in scale from the complex
facies geometries of the basin margin to single tidal flat cycles or beds that
accumulated on shallow shelves or in shallow lagoons. As Sprague et al, (2002)
showed for clastics, these carbonate hierarchical elements are directly relatable to
stratal units defined on the basis of sequence stratigraphy. Biostratigraphic data tied
to the stratal units enable the direct comparison between shallowmarine and deeper
marine carbonate sequences and their related units with the potential of correlation
of the carbonate cycles to base level rise and fall.
All are the combined products of base level change. This is particularly true of
shallow water carbonate accumulations which are depth dependent, a response to
the paleooceanography, and processes of the depositional setting. The result of
such an analysis creates a "powerful" framework of parasequence and high
frequency cycle geometries that can be used to explain, assess and predict reservoir
and aquifer quality better independent of thickness and time.
This approach even applies in deepwater settings. For instance, using the Tamabra
formation of the Poza Rica Field Area of Mexico as an example, Loucks, et al (2006)
have demonstrated that deeperwater masstransport carbonate deposits are carried
by gravity flow and suspension processes into deepwater basinal settings
downslope from margins tied to shallowwater carbonate platforms. So while reefal
and grainrich debris accumulate on the shallow platform carbonate debris wedges
extend into the deeperwater basin.
The architecture of this debris wedge is related to the availability of source material
during changes in relative sealevel (Loucks, et al., 2006). During sealevel
lowstands and transgressions or during early highstands when the platform rapidly
aggrades, debris and mud flows composed of platform and slope carbonate mud,
sand, and clasts generally accumulate. In contrast during highstands of sea level
when the platform is flooded and shedding, densityflow and turbidite deposits
composed of carbonate sand and lesser amounts of lime mud collect.
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Click thumbnail to access the large images and click on the larger image to see
them full size!
Over
Falling stage and
Simple Transgressive High stand
lowstand
Dip systems tract systems tract
systems tracts
Section
Normal
Marine
Setting
Stacking
patterns
Geometries of carbonate strata
The geometries of carbonate strata are products of the shape of the depositional
surface , changing base level and sediment accumulation. They are defined by the
underlying and overlying surfaces. These surfaces may be the products of
deposition and/or erosion and can coincide with the depositional event or proceed or
follow this. Physical erosion, burrowing, boring, dissolution (Clari et al, 1995; Lukasik
& James, 2003), and/or cementation may have modified them. Whatever their origin,
these surfaces provide a convenient means to subdivide the carbonate section.
From the perspective of sequence stratigraphy these surfaces are used to determine
the order in which strata are laid down and define the geometries that they enclose.
As with the products of other sedimentary depositional systems carbonate strata
exhibit a hierarchy of scales that include at the smallscale end ( beds , bed sets ,
and bed cosets) and at the larger spatial scales reef complexes, basin margin and
slope complexes etc. These strata can be expressed as unconfined sheets,
unconfined but localized build ups (reefs, banks and islands), unconfined but
localized sigmoids (reef cores of Pomar 1991), bank margins etc., and confined
incised channels (tidal channels and the products of flood events). What ever the
final geometry this is the product of both accumulation (aggradation ) and erosion.
A set of carbonate sequence stratigraphy exercises
Click on the highlighted title above to access the exercises that are available on this
site to examine the hierarchy of scales expressed by carbonate strata. These may
be the lower frequency subdivisions that can be interpreted from seismic, or higher
frequency subdivisions outcrop and well logs. These consider facies or more
complex lithofacies assemblages from the perspective of sequencestratigraphic
concepts, including systems tracts, parasequences, sequences and their response
to seal level rise ( TST), still stand (HST) fall (FSST) and lowstand (LST) and their
response to the paleooceanography and processes of the depositional setting. The
exercises are intended to develop skills that can be used to establish direct
relationships between the nature of the carbonate bodies, the sequence stratigraphic
architecture, reservoir connectivity, reservoir characterization and prediction. This
would involve the use of systematic hierarchical relationships, integration of seismic,
well, and core data with outcrop and subsurface analogs. From this you will gain a
better understanding of how to predict accurate nettogross, continuity, architecture,
and reservoir extent. If you are able to integrate biostratigraphy with your studies this
will provide an independent time framework correlation made to cycles of base level
rise and fall.
To conclude, carbonate depositional facies hierarchy provides a framework for the
systematic description and comparison of carbonate deposits that is based on the
physical relationships of strata and their boundaries. The recognition of genetically
related stratigraphic elements, is independent of the lithofacies assemblage of
carbonate, and is applicable at all scales.
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Publications on the response of carbonates to sea level
Link to a page that lists some of the literature on the carbonate sedimentary record
and how its sequence stratigraphic character varies in response to base level
change, usually eustasy and gain access to .pdf files of these papers.
Bosence, D.W.J., Pomar, L., Waltham, D.A. Lankaster, T., 1994. Computer modeling
a Miocene carbonate platform, Mallorca, Spain. Arnerican Association of Petroleurn
Geologists Bulletin, 78:247266.
Kendall, Christopher G. St. C., Abdulrahman. S. Alsharhan, Kurt Johnston and Sean
R. Ryan; 2000; "Can The Sedimentary Record Be Dated From A SeaLevel Chart?
Examples from the Aptian of the UAE and Alaska". In A. S. Alsharhan and R. W.
Scott, Eds, Society of Economic Petrologists and Mineralogists (SEPM) Special
Publication 69 on the Jurassic/Cretaceous Platformbasin Systems; Middle East
Models; p 6576 (Reference for the simulation of Shaybah Formation above )
Loucks, R. G., Charles Kerans, and Alfredo Marhx, 2006, "Origin and Organization
of MassTransported carbonate Debris in the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Tamabra
formation, Poza Rica Field Area, Mexico", SEPM Research Symposium: The
Significance of Mass Transport Deposits in Deepwater Environments II, AAPG
Annual Convention, April 912, 2006 Technical Program
Pomar, L. and Ward, W.C. 1994. Response of a Miocene carbonate platform to high
frequency eustasy. Geology, 22:131134.
Pomar, L. and Ward, W.C, 1995. Sea level change, carbonate production and
platform architecture, in B. Haq ed., sequence stratigraphy and depositional
response to eustatic, tectonic and climatic forcing, Kluwer Academic Press. p. 87
112.
Pomar, L., 2001 (a), Ecological control of sedimentary accommodation: evolution
from a carbonate ramp to rimmed shelf, Upper Miocene, Balearic Islands:
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 175, p. 249272.
Pomar, L., 2001 (b), Types of carbonate platforms, a genetic approach: basin
Research, v. 13, p. 313334.
References on a Hierarchical Approach to sequence stratigraphy
D. K. Larue, A. R. Sprague, P. E. Patterson , J. C. Van Wagoner (1995): MultiStorey
Sandstone Bodies, sequence stratigraphy, and Fluvial Reservoir Connectivity,
Bulletin AAPG, (Abstract) AAPG Annual Meeting, 79, 13, 54
Sprague,A. R., P. E. Patterson, R.E. Hill, C.R. Jones, K. M. Campion, J.C. Van
Wagoner, M. D. Sullivan, D.K. Larue, H.R. Feldman, T.M. Demko, R.W. Wellner, J.K.
Geslin1 (2002), The Physical stratigraphy of Fluvial strata: A Hierarchical Approach
to the Analysis of Genetically Related Stratigraphic Elements for Improved Reservoir
Prediction, (Abstract) AAPG Annual Meeting
Sprague, A. R., M. D. Sullivan, K. M. Campion, G. N. Jensen, F. J. Goulding, T. R.
Garfield, D. K. Sickafoose, C. Rossen, D. C. Jennette, R. T. Beaubouef, V. Abreu, J.
Ardill, M. L. Porter, and F. B. Zelt, (2003), The Physical stratigraphy of DeepWater
strata: A Hierarchical Approach to the Analysis of Genetically Related Stratigraphic
Elements for Improved Reservoir Prediction, AAPG Bulletin, (Abstract) AAPG
Annual Meeting,.87, 10 p
Sprague, A. R., P.E. Patterson, M.D. Sullivan, K.M. Campion, C.R. Jones, T.R.
Garfield, D.K. Sickafoose, D.C. Jennette, G.N. Jensen, R.T. Beaubouef, F.J.
Goulding, J.C. Van Wagoner, R.W. Wellner, D.K. Larue, C. Rossen, R.E. Hill, J.K.
Geslin, H.R. Feldman, T.M. Demko, V. Abreu, F.B. Zelt, J. Ardill, and M.L. Porter
(2004), Physical stratigraphy of Clastic strata: A Hierarchical Approach to the
Analysis of Genetically Related Stratigraphic Elements for Improved Reservoir
Prediction, ABSTRACT, AAPG 200304 Distinguished lecturer Tour Information.
SUNDAY, JULY 24, 2016
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