Synopses & Reviews
Preface to Second Edition
It has been more than a decade since the appearance of the First Edition of this book. Much progress has been made, but some controversies remain.
The original idea of Sloss and of Vail (building on the early work of Blackwelder, Grabau, Ulrich, Levorsen and others) that the stratigraphic record could be subdivided into sequences and that these sequences store essential information about basin-forming and subsidence processes remains as powerful an idea as when it was first formulated. The definition and mapping of sequences has become a standard part of the basin analysis process. Subsurface methods make use of advanced seismic-reflection analysis methods, with three-dimensional seismic methods, and seismic geomorphology adding important new dimensions to the analysis. Several advanced textbooks have now appeared that deal with the recognition and definition of sequences and their interpretation in terms of the evolution of depositional systems, the recognition and correlation of bounding surfaces, and the interpretation of sequences in terms of changing accommodation and supply. This is not one of these books.
The main purpose of this book remains the same as it was for the first edition, that is, to situate sequences within the broader context of geological processes so that geoscientists might be better equipped to extract the maximum information from the record of sequences in a given basin or region. The following are the main themes of the book:
- Central to the concept of the sequence is the deductive model that sequences carry messages about the pulse of the earth. In the early modern period of sequence stratigraphy (the late 1970s and 1980s) the model of global eustasy was predominant, and it was to offer a critique of that model that provided the impetus for developing the first edition of this book. Model-building has been central to the science of geology from the beginninga it was certainly a preoccupation of such early masters of the science as Lyell, Chamberlin, Barrell and Ulrich. A historical evaluation of the contrasting deductive and inductive approaches to geology has been added to this edition of the book, in order to provide a background in methodology and a historical context.
- Standard sequence models have become very well described and understood for most depositional settings, and are the subject of several recent texts. Two chapters are provided in this edition in order to outline modern ideas, and to provide a framework of terminology and illustration for the remainder of the book.
- A major component of the first edition was devoted to a documentation and illustration of the main types of sequence in the geological record, ranging from those representing hundreds of millions of years of geological evolution to the high-frequency sequences formed by rapid cyclic processes lasting a few tens of thousands of years. Such documentation remains a major component of the book, and has been updated with new examples.
- The central core of the first edition was composed of a detailed description and evaluation of the major processes by which sequences are formed. This remains the central focus of the book and has been updated.
- Perhaps partly in response to this book, many geoscientists have recognized the complexity of the geological record, have adopted a rigorous inductive approach to their analyses and remain committed to a multi-process interpretation of their rocks. Such an approach can provide a rich array of ideas regarding regional tectonics and basin analysis. However, the original Vail model of global eustasy remains convincing to many, and a powerful guide to interpretation. This writer finds that much of the work in this area retains a flavour of working backwards from the answer that was already troubling twenty years ago. The practical, theoretical and methodological issues surrounding this still controversial area comprise a concluding section of the book. The philosophy and methodology that are the basis for the ongoing work to construct the geological time scale constitute an essential background to this discussion.
Review
From the reviews of the second edition: "In this new edition ... Miall (Univ. of Toronto) examines in detail the results of Vail and his followers, showing where he agrees with those results and where he feels that the Vail/Exxon model has gone too far in extrapolating from these results. ... A must-read book for those actively involved in stratigraphy. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students and above." (C. W. Dimmick, Choice, Vol. 48 (5), January, 2011) "The considerably expanded and updated second edition of this book is subdivided into four parts ... . These four parts contain 15 chapters altogether. ... the book is a most welcome update and overview of the rapidly developing field of sequence stratigraphy. All students and professional geologists working in basin analysis will certainly like to have it available in their private libraries. Considering the relatively low price, I can therefore wholeheartedly recommend it." (T. J. A. Reijers, The Sedimentary Record, January, 2011)
Synopsis
It has been more than a decade since the appearance of the First Edition of this book. Much progress has been made, but some controversies remain. The original ideas of Sloss and of Vail (building on the early work of Blackwelder, Grabau, Ulrich, Levorsen and others) that the stratigraphic record could be subdivided into sequences, and that these sequences store essential information about basin-forming and subsidence processes, remains as powerful an idea as when it was first formulated. The definition and mapping of sequences has become a standard part of the basin analysis process. The main purpose of this book remains the same as it was for the first edition, that is, to situate sequences within the broader context of geological processes, and to answer the question: why do sequences form? Geoscientists might thereby be better equipped to extract the maximum information from the record of sequences in a given basin or region. Tectonic, climatic and other mechanisms are the generating mechanisms for sequences ranging over a wide range of times scales, from hundreds of millions of years to the high-frequency sequences formed by cyclic processes lasting a few tens of thousands of years
Synopsis
This book situates sequences within the broader context of geological processes so that geoscientists are equipped to extract the maximum information from the record of sequences in a given basin or region. It is essential reading for professional geologists.
Table of Contents
Contents Part I THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN CONCEPTS 1 HISTORICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 introduction 1.2 Methodologies in geology 1.2.2 The significance of sequence stratigraphy 1.2.3 Data and argument in Geology 1.2.4 The hermeneutic circle and the emergence of sequence stratigraphy 1.2.5 Paradigms and exemplars 1.3 The development of descriptive stratigraphy 1.3.1 The growth of modern concepts 1.3.2 Do stratigraphic units have "time" significance? 1.3.3 The development of modern chronostratigraphy 1.4 The continual search for a "pulse of the earth" 1.5 Problems and research trends: the current status 1.6 Current literature 1.7 Stratigraphic terminology 2 THE BASIC SEQUENCE MODEL 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Elements of the model 2.2.1 Accommodation and supply 2.2.2 Stratigraphic architecture 2.2.3 Depositional systems and systems tracts 2.3 Sequence models in clastic and carbonate settings 2.3.1 Marine clastic depositional systems and systems tracts 2.3.2 Nonmarine depositional systems 2.3.3 Carbonate depositional systems 2.3.3.1 Breaks in sedimentation in carbonate environments 2.3.3.2 Platform carbonates: catch-up versus keep-up 2.4 Sequence definitions Figures 3 OTHER METHODS FOR THE STRATIGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF CYCLES OF BASE-LEVEL CHANGE 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Facies cycles 3.3 Areas and volumes of stratigraphic units 3.4 Hypsometric curves 3.5 Backstripping 3.6 Sea-level estimation from paleoshorelines and other fixed points 3.7 Documentation of metre-scale cycles 3.8 Integrated tectonic-stratigraphic analysis Figures Part II THE STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK 4 The major types of stratigraphic cycle 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Sequence hierarchy 4.3 The supercontinent cycle 4.4 Cycles with episodicities of tens of millions of years 4.5 Cycles with million-year episodicities 4.6 Cycles with episodicities of less than one million years Tables Figures 5 CYCLES WITH EPISODICITIES OF TENS TO HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS 5.1 Climate, sedimentation and biogenesis 5.2 The supercontinent cycle 5.2.1 The tectonic-stratigraphic model 5.2.2 The Phanerozoic record 5.3 Cycles with episodicities of tens of millions of years 5.3.1 Regional to intercontinental correlations 5.3.2 Tectonostratigraphic sequences 5.4 Main conclusions Figures 6 CYCLES WITH MILLION-YEAR EPISODICITIES 6.1 Continental margins 6.1.1 Clastic platforms and margins 6.1.2 Carbonate cycles of platforms and craton margins 6.1.3 Mixed carbonate-clastic successions 6.2 Foreland basins 6.2.1 Foreland basin of the North American Western Interior 6.2.2 Other foreland basins 6.3 Arc-related basins 6.3.1 Forearc basins 6.3.2 Backarc basins 6.4 Cyclothems and mesothems 6.6 Conclusions Figures 7 CYCLES WITH EPISODICITIES OF LESS THAN ONE MILLION YEARS 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Neogene clastic cycles of continental margins 7.2.1 The Gulf Coast basin of the United States 7.2.2 Wanganui Basin, North Island, New Zealand 7.2.3 Other examples of Neogene high-frequency cycles 7.2.4 The deep-marine record 7.3 Pre-Neogene marine carbonate and clastic cycles 7.4 Late Paleozoic cyclothems 7.5 Lacustrine clastic and chemical rhythms 7.6 High-frequency cycles in foreland basins 7.7 Main conclusions Figures Part III MECHANISMS 8 SUMMARY OF SEQUENCE-GENERATING MECHANISMS Figures 9 LONG-TERM EUSTASY AND EPEIROGENY 9.1 Mantle processes and dynamic topography 9.2 Supercontinent cycles 9.3 Cycles with episodicities of tens of millions of years 9.3.1 Eustasy 9.3.2 Dynamic topography and epeirogeny 9.3.3 The origin of Sloss sequences 9.4 Main conclusions Figures 10 TECTONIC MECHANISMS 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Rifting and thermal evolution of divergent plate margins 10.2.1 Basic geophysical models and their implications for sea-level change 10.2.2 The origins of some tectonostratigraphic sequences 10.3 Tectonism on convergent plate margins and in collision zones 10.3.1 Magmatic arcs and subduction 10.3.2 Rates of uplift and subsidence on convergent margins 10.3.3 Tectonism versus eustasy in foreland basins 10.3.3.1 The North American Western Interior Basin; 10.3.3.2 The Appalachian foreland basin. 10.3.3.3 Pyrenean and Himalayan basins 10.4 Intraplate stress 10.4.1 The pattern of global stress 10.4.2 In-plane stress as a control of sequence architecture 10.4.3 In-plane stress and regional histories of sea-level change 10.5 Basement control 10.6 Sediment supply and the importance of big rivers 10.7 Environmental change 10.8 Main conclusions Figures 11 ORBITAL FORCING 11.1 Introduction 11.2 The nature of Milankovitch processes 11.2.1 Components of orbital forcing 11.2.2 Basic climatology 11.2.3 Variations with time in orbital periodicities 11.2.4 Isostasy and geoid changes 11.2.5 Nonglacial Milankovitch cyclicity 11.2.6 The nature of the cyclostratigraphic data base 11.3 The geologic record 11.3.1 The sensitivity of the earth to glaciation 11.3.2 The Cenozoic record 11.3.3 Glacioeustasy in the Mesozoic? 11.3.4 Late Paleozoic cyclothems 11.4 Distinguishing between orbital forcing and tectonic driving mechanisms 11.5 Main conclusions Figures Part IV CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY AND CORRELATION: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT STATUS OF "GLOBAL EUSTASY" 12 THE CONCEPT OF THE GLOBAL CYCLE CHART 12.1 From Vail to Haq 12.2 The two-paradigm problem 12.3 Defining and deconstructing global eustasy and complexity texts 12.4 Invisible colleges and the advancement of knowledge 12.5 The global-eustasy paradigm--a revolution in trouble? 12.6 Conclusions Figures 13 TIME IN SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY 13.1 Introduction 13.1 Hierarchies of time and the completeness of the stratigraphic record 13.2 Main conclusions 14 CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY, CORRELATION, AND MODERN TESTS FOR GLOBAL EUSTASY 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Chronostratigraphic models and the testing of correlations 14.3 Chronostratigraphic meaning of unconformities 14.4 A correlation experiment 14.5 Testing for eustasy: the way forward 14.5.1 Introduction 14.5.2 The dating and correlation of stratigraphic events: potential sources of uncertainty 14.5.2.1 Identification of sequence boundaries 14.5.2.2 Chronostratigraphic meaning of unconformities 14.5.2.3 Determination of the biostratigraphic framework 14.5.2.4 The problem of incomplete biostratigraphic recovery. 14.5.2.5 Diachroneity of the biostratigraphic record. 14.5.3 The value of quantitative biostratigraphic methods 14.5.4 Assessment of relative biostratigraphic precision 14.5.5 Correlation of biozones with the global stage framework 14.5.6 Assignment of absolute ages and the importance of the modern time scale 14.6 Modern tests of the global eustasy paradigm 14.6.1 Cretaceous-Paleogene sequence stratigraphy of New Jersey 14.6.2 Other modern high-resolution studies of Cretaceous-Paleogene sequence stratigraphy 14.6.3 Sequence stratigraphy of the Neogene 14.6.4 The growing evidence for glacioeustasy in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic 14.7 Cyclostratigraphy and Astrochronology 14.7.1 Historical background of cyclostratigraphy 14.7.2 The building of a time scale 14.8 Main conclusions Tables Figures 15 FUTURE DIRECTIONS 15.1 Research methodology 15.2 Remaining questions 15.2.1 Future advances in cyclostratigraphy? 15.2.2 Tectonic mechanisms of sequence generation. 15.2.3 Orbital forcing 15.2.4 The codification of sequence nomenclature Figures.