Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Galloway 1989 Part I

    Uploaded by

    Myriam Boussaha
    42 views18 pages

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    42 views18 pages

    Galloway 1989 Part I

    Uploaded by

    Myriam Boussaha

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 18
    Genetic Stratigraphic Sequences in Basin Analysis I: Architecture and Genesis of Flooding-Surface Bounded Depositional Units’ WILLIAM E. GALLOWAY" ABSTRACT Marine basin margins are characterized by repetitive episodes of progradation punctuated by periods of trans- gression and flooding of the depositional platform. The resultant stratigraphic units consist of genetically related (1) depositional systems and their component facies sequences; (2) bypass, nondepositional, and erosional surfaces; and (3) in thick sequences affected by gravity tectonics and crustal response to loading, syndeposi- tional structural discontinuities. Units are bounded by hiatal surfaces preserved as submarine unconformities or condensed sedimentary vencers and that record maxi- ‘mum marine flooding of the basin margin. The repetitive stratigraphic architecture is the product of the ongoing interplay among sediment supply, basin subsidence (and uplifd), and eustatic sea level change. Each of these three variables may dominate depositional evolution; further- more, stratigraphic architecture is very similar regardless ‘of the dominant control. A genetic stratigraphic sequence is the sedimentary product of a depositional episode, The sequence incorpo- rates and reconciles depositional systems, bedding geom- tries, and bounding surfaces withi and retrogradational or transgressive facies deposited during a period of regional paleogeographic sta ‘The defining genetic stratigraphic sequence boundary isa sedimentary veneer or surface that records the deposi- ‘tional hiatus that occurs over much of the transgressed shelf and adjacent slope during maximum marine flood- ing. The genetic sequence paradigm emphasizes preserv- ing the stratigraphic integrity of three-dimensional depositional systems and does not rely on widespread development of subaetial erosion surfaces caused by estat falls of sea level (o define sequence boundaries. ‘The physical stratigraphic record of transgression and ‘©Copyigh 1999, The American Asscciaten of Petoloun Geologists Al razor, jasc! coved, June 10,1097; secopd, August 2, 988 Department of Geleglcal Sclnces, Universi of Texas el Aust, Aus “Tis papas based in part upon research supported by National Science Foundation grant EAR-6416138, The eas evolec tom 21964 AAPG Dist gushes Lostute series. gures wero dad by Jet Horowts Goty Kure ‘Yped the biography. | thank Willa Bazaiy, Frank Brown, Neholas hate Ble, Reber Ot. Jr. Wil Dickson, arn Lagoo, Anco Mal {nd Don Swi, as wol as feviewars LL. Sess and F. Sarg for he com oni, criigu, andevpoort | decete ie paperto Gave ravi, who aught retovworrymore about genetic talgraphy thon Ne probaly guoeee. but widespread facies sequences, prominent erosional surfaces, and super- jacent marine condensed intervals or sedimentary veneers— provides readily recognized, regionally correla- tive, easily and accurately datable, and robust sequence boundaries that commonly define times of major ba: ‘margin paleogeographic reorganization in terrigenous clastic basins. INTRODUCTION The successful interpretation and three-dimensional delineation of depositional systems and basin-scale facies tracts require the recognition and correlation of genetic stratigraphic packages. Our final interpretations of paleogeography, sediment dispersal patterns, and basin history can be no better than thestratigraphic foundation upon which they are based. Thus, establishing genetic stratigraphic units for further mapping and analysis is a fundamental but commonly difficult starting point in basin analysis. ‘One potential approach to solving this problem is rec- ognizing carly that a basin-filing record is commonly episodic. The concept of cyclothems (Wanless and Wel- der, 1932) and its many derivatives (for example Kauff- man, 1969) recognized recurrent and, therefore, predictable patterns of deposition in time and space. Wheeler (1960) and Sloss (1963) developed the concept of | repetitive depositional and erosional patterns within cra- tonic basins The repetitive nature of Cenozoic deposition was rec- ognized early in thick stratigraphic section of the Gulf of Mexico basin (Deussen and Owen, 1939; Fisher, 1964) and provided a basis for regional stratigraphic correla- tion and analysis. Here, successions of sandy tongues consisting of coastal plain and paralic deposits extend progressively basinward, where they overlie and grade into thick marine mud rocks (Figure 1). The thick sand- rich offlapping wedges are separated by thinner updip- extending tongues of fossiliferous marine mudstone that effectively punctuate the lithostratigraphy of the upper 5.6 km of the sedimentary section. Sedimentary cycles were defined by the bounding marine mud-rock units. ‘These marine-shale bounded units provide the basis for systematic depositional analysis of the Cenozoic section of the northern Gulf of Mexico. A similar stratigraphic pattern—offlapping sandy tongues or wedges separated by widespread, often litho- 125 126 FACIES ASSEMBLAGE coostl-lain tit By /agoon Pali: shore-2oe éie (CONTINENTAL, Genetic Stratigraphic Sequences in Basin Analysis | RIO GRANDE EMBAYNENT se crust ATTENUATED CONTL. Figure 1—Generalized dip-oriented stratigraphic cross section through northwestern Gulf Coast sedimentary wedge. Principal Cenozoic depositional complexes are labeled. Note expansion of complexes across major growth fault zones, which mark posi- tions of successive paleocontinental margins. logically distinct, marine units—dominates the deposi- tional pattern in clastic basin fills of diverse ages and tectonic settings (Figure 2). The marine beds again pro- vvide a basis for regional correlation and integrative facies, analysis. Depositional Elements and Depositional Architecture Analyses of the depositional history of the northwest- em Gulf Coast and late Paleozoic Midland basin fills, particularly as illustrated in Texas Bureau of Economic Geology publications (beginning with Fisher and McG ‘wen’s [1967] analysis of the Wilcox Group), generally used transgression-bounded units to define and map three-dimensional, genetic lithostratigraphic units termed “depositional systems.” Interpreting deposition systems as fundamental building blocks of basin fills is a ‘major facet of basin analysis (Miall, 1984; Galloway and Hobday, 1983). The increasing quality and availability of regional reflection seismic sections led to the development of seis- mic stratigraphy, an approach to basin analysis that delineates and maps regional depositional and erosional surfaces (Mitchum et al, 1977). Because disconformable surfaces are particularly apparent on regional seismic sections, boundary defined units, or seismic sequences, become the fundamental element for basin analysis using seismic data, Depositional system and seismic stratigraphic analyses, with their divergent but complementary emphases on sedimentary volumes and bounding sur- faces, incorporate the three key elements that define the genetic stratigraphy of basin fills. (1) Depositional systems are three-dimensional assem- biages of process-related facies that record major paleo- geomorphic basin elements. They grade laterally into adjacent systems, forming logical associations of paleo- geographic elements. The systems commonly display evolutionary trends through stratigraphic successions that record geologically significant time spans but are separated from underlying and overlying systems by hiatal (disconformable) surfaces. Genetic stratigraphic packages typically consist of the sediments of several related depositional systems. 2) Bounding hiatal surfaces separate stratigraphic packages and record major interruptions in basin deposi tional history. These surfaces record significant periods of nondeposition or very slow deposition, with or with- ‘out concomitant subaerial or submarine erosion. Sur faces have several origins and may themselves be part of a migratory facies tract. Thus, hiatal surfaces can be part of a related time-equivalent depositional system tract or can separate system tracts of different ages and genetic stratigraphic units Unconformities are hiatal surfaces that demonstrably truncate underlying strata. Three types of unconfor ties are recognized: (1) subaerial erosion surfaces, includ- ing incised valley systems, (2) shoreface ravinement surfaces eroded during transgression (Swift, 1968), and G) submarine shelf and slope erosion surfaces reflecting sediment starvation and erosion by currents or mass William E. Galloway 127 e [dreamin sndsra one mite [Eeontat cantons erin must 8 veri z0mi em orrtap 77 bhai inatoon [7 orine mucsiace Towa oed nonmarin sondtane ond mudora B Figure 2—Generalized stratigraphic cross sections of offlapping basin-margin sedimentary prisms showing repetitive pattera of progradational sandy tongues, which consist of coastal and nonmarine facies, separated by transgressive marine mudstone or limestone units, (A) Upper Cretaceous fill of western North American seaway, San Juan basin. Seven episodes of sediment influx into this intermittently thrast-Jonded foreland basin are clearly evident. (B) Late Pennsylvanian prograding Eastern shelf, Midland basin, Here, eight prominent but thin sedimentary cycles punctuate mixed sliciclastc and carbonate fll of stable intracratonic basin. Sections modified from Molensar (1983) and Brown etal (1973). wasting (Frazier, 1974; Christie-Blick etal, in press. ‘Condensed sections are the product of very slow depo- sition. In terrigenous clastic basin fills, marine con- densed sections form on the open shelf and slope during extensive basin-margin transgression and flooding, and exhibit a variety of paleontologic or compositional attributes, Thin, widespread, highly fossiferous hemi- pelagic and pelagic mudstone drapes commonly reflect sediment starvation, Chemical sediments—thin marl or limestone beds, glauconite, phosphatic zones, siliceous shale—indicate extremely slow deposition. Widespread radioactive marine mudstone units (hot shales) similarly reflect slow sedimentation and concentration of organic ‘matter. In subaerial environments, widespread paleosoils and coaly zones indicate slow rates of clastic accumula tion, (3) Bedding architecture describes the geometric rela- tionship between bedding surfaces or the stratification Within depositional systems and at bounding surfaces. ‘The contrasting geometries of progradational, aggrada- tional, and retrogradational sedimentary units have long been recognized. Similarly, the hierarchy of erosional features, ranging from simple channeling to large-scale valley or canyon incision, has been recognized using out- crop and conventional subsurface data. The ability of seismic data to resolve surfaces and the geometry of dis- cordant stratification within the framework of those sur- faces has increased our understanding and ability to use bedding relationships in interpreting depositional pro- ess and history (Mitchum et al, 1977). A thorough analysis of a sedimentary basin fill must incorporate and reconcile the three-dimensional dst tion of depositional systems and their component facies, bedding geometries, bounding surfaces, and condensed sections within the motif of recurrent depositional cycles shown in Figures 1 and 2. Sequence stratigraphy—the analysis of repetitive genetically related depositional units bounded in part by surfaces of nondeposition or erosion—attempts this integration. The genetic strat graphic sequence I propose emphasizes the equal impor- tance of depositional systems and bounding hiatal surfaces as elements of the basin fill. The primary objec- tive is to define an operational stratigraphic unit that (1) groups all sediments that record a common paleogeo- 128 graphic’ assemblage of depositional systems and (2) is bounded by stratal surfaces that reflect major reorgani- zations in basin paleogeographic framework. Given a choice of possible surfaces, those that separate major shifts or changes in depositional system organization are emphasized. Delineation, mapping, and interpretation, these sequences then provides an overview of the prin- cipal depositional episodes recorded within the sedimen- tary fill ofa basin Depositional Episodes and Genetic Stratigraphic Sequences Frazier (1974) developed a conceptual model for defin- ing genetic stratigraphic units and their components in lap-filled clastic basins, Using three-dimensional stratigraphic studies of the late Quaternary depositional, sequences of the northern Gulf Coast basin, Frazier dis- tilled several principles that form a foundation for sequence stratigraphy (Galloway and Hobday, 1983). (1) Terrigenous clastic sediments are allochthonous and must be transported to the basin margin primarily by fluvial systems. Therefore, major reorganization of basin paleogeography typically involves changes in prin- cipal fluvial axes. (2) Basins are filled through a repetitive alternation of depositional (offlap) and nondepositional (transgressive) intervals. At any specific time, active deposition is con- centrated within a small portion of the total submerged. basin area. Minor amounts of terrigenous sediment acct mulate elsewhere; nondeposition or erosion may, in fact, dominate. Consequently, essentially nondepositional, interludes separate depositional intervals. 3) The time interval represented by resultant subma- rine hiatal surfaces varies areally; however, such surfaces ‘everywhere separate sediments of different depositional events and, therefore, ages. (4) Each depositional pulse or event is separated from other pulses by hiatal surfaces basinward of initial and. terminal shorelines of maximum flooding. The pulse produces a surface-bounded genetic stratigraphic unit that Frazier termed “facies sequence.” Analogous strati- graphic units have also been called “parasequences” (Van Wagoner et al, 1987) (5) Progradational, aggradational, and transgressive facies are arranged predictably within a facies sequence. (6) A hierarchy of progradational-transgressive cycles exists in most basins. Multiple events punctuate regional depositional episodes. Frazier recognized depositional episodes and depos tional complexes as the principal genetic time and rock stratigraphic subdivisions of basin history and fill. Depo- sitional episodes are ended by regional flooding events; their physical stratigraphic units provide a record of, coastal outbuilding capped by transgressive facies and superjacent submarine unconformities or condensed sed- imentary veneers. Although Frazier did not use the term hs sod hore, palogoogrephy emphasizes the eres darbuton of ping palphyscalesograpnicelamonts ofthe basin including major hia kes aN ‘ated shore zone and suber eas Genetic Stratigraphic Sequences in Basin Analysis | “depositional sequence,” his depositional complex is a sequence-stratigraphic unit bounded by surfaces of ero- sion or nondeposition and their correlative conformities. The complex provides the basis for defining an alterna- tive sequence-stratigraphic unit that does not rely on the presence or recognition of widespread subaerial uncon- formities, as required in the definition of depositional sequences proposed by the Exxon research group (Vail, 1987; Van Wagoner et al, 1987). I build upon Frazier’s model to provide an alternative sequence-stratigraphic paradigm proven useful in analyzing prograding clastic basin fills DEPOSITIONAL EPISODES AND GENETIC STRATIGRAPHIC SEQUENCES Progradation of a basin-margin sedimentary prism during a depositional episode requires that sediment accumulate in depositional systems ranging from deep- water slope and basin plain to paralic (deltaic, shore zone, and shelf) and terrestrial (fluvial or alluvial fan). Four bathymetric and depositional regimes—slope, shelf edge, shelf, and coastal plain—successively pass a refer- ence point as basin-margin progradation proceeds, beyond that point. Shelf-edge progradation, as defined by the break in depositional slope that separates shelf- platform sediments deposited by traction currents from slope sediments deposited dominantly by gravitational resedimentation, is the most stable guide to the extent of basin-margin outbuilding at any particular time or strati- graphic level (Winker, 1982; Jackson and Galloway, 1984), The shore zone, in contrast, commonly shifts tens of kilometers across the depositional platform response to minor base-level changes or variation in sedi- ment supply. An ideal depositional episode thus is recorded by a cycle shoreline advance and retreat and a pulse of shelf-edge progradation and foundering, Elements of Depositional Episodes and Sequences ‘The temporal framework and facies stratigraphy of a genetic stratigraphic sequence produced by an idealized depositional episode are shown in Figure 3. The time- space diagram atthe top of the figure illustrates the tem- poral and spatial relationships of principal environmental assemblages. The lower cross section illustrates the bedding architecture of the genetic strat graphic sequence. The episode and sequence consist of three families of elements: offlap components, onlap or transgressive components, and bounding surfaces reflecting maximum marine flooding (hiatal surfaces of Frazier, 1974). Offlap components (Figure 3) include (1) commonly sandy fluvial, delta-plain, and bay/lagoon facies that reflect aggradation of the coastal plain, (2) prograda- tional deposits of the shore zone (also sandy) that overlie, landward, the flooded depositional platform of the pre- ceding depositional sequence and, seaward, the contem- poraneous facies ofthe offlapping continental slope, and William E. Galloway 129 TRANSGRESSIVE REWORKING, (CHEMICAL SEDIMENTS SOIL. ZONE SSUBAERIAL UNCONF HATUS: CHEMICAL SEDIMENTS CONDENSED SECTION SUBMARINE UNCON PELAGIC DRAPE Hiatus SHELF EDGE SLOPE REGRADING SLOPE Figure 3—Idealized stratigraphic architecture of simple depositional episode and resultant genetic stratigraphic sequence. Upper

    You might also like