Clastic Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy

Literature

Reading, H.G. (Editor), 1996. Sedimentary Environments: Processes, Facies and Stratigraphy. Blackwell, Oxford, 688 pp. ISBN 0-632-03627-3.

Emery, D. and Myers, K.J. (Editors), 1996. Sequence Stratigraphy. Blackwell, Oxford, 297 pp. ISBN 0-632-03706-7.

Nichols, G., 1999. Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. Blackwell, Oxford, 355 pp.

Introduction

Definitions

Sedimentology = the study of the processes of formation, transport and deposition of material which accumulates as sediment in continental and marine environments and eventually forms sedimentary rocks

Stratigraphy = the study of rocks to determine the order and timing of events in Earth history

Sedimentary geology sedimentology + stratigraphy Sequence stratigraphy = the analysis of genetically related

depositional units bounded by unconformities and their correlative conformities

Introduction

Historical development of sedimentary geology and key concepts

Principle of superposition (Nicolas Steno, 1669) Uniformitarianism (the present is the key to the past)

(James Hutton and Charles Lyell, late 18th to early 19th century)

Stratigraphy developed already around 1800 Sedimentology is a relatively new discipline (1960s and 1970s) Late 1980s and 1990s: revival of stratigraphy (sequence

stratigraphy)

Introduction

Temporal and spatial scales

Sedimentology focuses primarily on facies and depositional environments (how were sediments/sedimentary rocks formed?) Smaller temporal and spatial scales

Stratigraphy focuses on the larger scale strata and Earth history (when and where were sediments/sedimentary rocks formed?) Larger temporal and spatial scales

Contents

Introduction Sedimentology - concepts Fluvial environments Deltaic environments Coastal environments Offshore marine environments

Sea-level change Sequence stratigraphy concepts Marine sequence stratigraphy Nonmarine sequence stratigraphy Basin and reservoir modeling Reflection