Sequence Stratigraphy Flashcards

Flashcards covering sequence stratigraphy, including definitions of key terms, processes, and system tracts.

Sequence stratigraphy deals with the description, interpretation, classification, and nomenclature of strata based on their __.

stacking patterns

Sequence stratigraphy changes the way stratigraphers __ rocks.

correlate

Sequence stratigraphy is __ and provides models that can be verified/falsified.

predictive

Sequence stratigraphy brings together a wide __ of data types and integrates them into one model.

spectrum

Sequence stratigraphy forces the geologist to consider all __ dimensions.

four

Sequence stratigraphy is a __ tool.

chronostratigraphic

The subdivision of sedimentary successions into genetic packages bounded by unconformities and their correlative conformities is known as __.

Sequence Stratigraphy

__ is an imaginative surface that defines and limits the erosion potential and is related to sea level.

Base Level (erosion base)

The concept of base level delineates a dynamic surface of balance between and .

erosion, deposition

The amount of space that is available for sediments to fill up to the base level defines the concept of __.

accommodation

A rise in base level (relative sea level) creates __ , whereas a fall in base level destroys accommodation.

accommodation

Sediments are __ when accommodation space is generated and eroded when accommodation space is reduced.

deposited

__ describes the elevation of the sea level relative to a subsurface horizon (datum).

Relative sea level

__ is space created by relative sea-level rise and consumed by sedimentation.

Accommodation

Falling base level results in the destruction of existing __ , and almost invariably in the shallowing of the water.

accommodation

The interplay between base level changes and sedimentation controls the or shifts of the shoreline.

transgressive, regressive

The surface that separates retrogradational from overlying progradational geometries is known as the __.

maximum flooding surface (MFS)

Normal regressions are driven by __ , where the rates of base level rise are outpaced by the sedimentation rates.

sediment supply

__ are driven by base level fall, and irrespective of sediment supply, the shoreline is forced to regress by the fall in base level.

Forced regressions

Transgressions occur when the rates of base-level __ outpace the sedimentation rates.

rise

__ is an upward-shallowing succession of facies bounded by marine flooding surfaces.

A parasequence

In contrast to sequences and systems tracts, parasequences are geographically restricted to the coastal to shallow-water areas where __ may form.

marine flooding surfaces

Regressive Surface of Marine Erosion (RSME) is a Surface produced by wave erosion in the lower shoreface during relative __ , marking the base of forced-regressive shorefaces.

sea-level fall

The __ is a stratigraphic surface that marks a change in stratal stacking patterns from lowstand normal regression to transgression.

maximum regressive surface (MRS)

The __ is a stratigraphic surface that marks a change in stratal stacking patterns from transgression to highstand normal regression.

maximum flooding surface (MFS)

A ___ is a “succession of strata deposited during a full cycle of change in accommodation or sediment supply”.

sequence

A __ is a linkage of contemporaneous depositional systems, forming the subdivision of a sequence

system tract

The definition of a ___ is independent of spatial and temporal scales.

system tract

A systems tract consists of a relatively conformable succession of __ bounded by conformable or unconformable sequence stratigraphic surfaces.

genetically related strata

HST stands for __ .

Highstand System Tracts

FSST stands for ___

Falling Stage System tracts

LST

Lowstand System tracts

TST

Transgressive System tracts

The subaerial unconformity is an unconformity that forms under __ conditions as a result of fluvial erosion or bypass, pedogenesis, wind degradation, or dissolution and karstification.

subaerial

During a forced regression, rivers can incise trough former shallow- water deposits, creating an __.

Incised Valley Fill (IVF)

In terrestrial environments, doing sequence stratigraphic interpretation is ___ than in marine environments.

more complicated

Name the four System Tracks that are classically recognized

Highstand System Tracks (HST) Falling Stage System tracks (FSST) Lowstand System tracks (LST) Transgressive System tracks (TST)