Figure 1
Historical evolution of sequence stratigraphy models (modified from Catuneanu 2006Catuneanu O. 2006. Principles of sequence stratigraphy. Amsterdam, Elsevier, 375 p.). The nature of the separation of depositional sequence models III and IV is only semantic, relative to the systems tracts’ distinct nomenclature with identical sequence limits.
Figure 2
Graph represents the sedimentary stacking as a product of harmonic fluctuations of multiple frequencies of base-level changes. In this view, the low preservation of deposits (only one-sixth of the time) results in large gaps (unrecorded time is shown in the upper portion of the figure) and materialized as surfaces in the record.
Figure 3
Simplified representation of the shoreline’s mean position and the continental platform exposed in South America during the last glacial maximum (LGM) (based on
Gautney 2018Gautney J.R. 2018. New world paleoenvironments during the Last Glacial Maximum: Implications for habitable land area and human dispersal. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 19:166-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.02.043
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.02...
). Examples of modern environments, and indications of the approximate location of the shoreline during the LGM: (1) Delta of Parnaíba do Sul (State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil); (2) Estuary of the Rio de la Plata (between Argentina and Uruguay). Below are models for the global variation in sea level over the past 400,000 (3 from
Waelbroeck et al. 2002Waelbroeck C., Labeyrie L., Michel E., Duplessy J.C., McManus J.F., Lambeck K., Balbon E., Labracherie M. 2002. Sea-level and deep water temperature changes derived from benthic foraminifera isotopic records. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21(1-3):295-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00101-9
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00...
) and 24,000 years (4 from
Wright et al. 2020Wright N.M., Seton M., Williams S.E., Whittaker J.M., Müller R.D. 2020. Sea-level fluctuations driven by changes in global ocean basin volume following supercontinent break-up. Earth-Science Reviews, 208:103293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103293
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020...
).
Figure 4
Difference between paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the same stratigraphic data: (1) Interpreted section of the Lajas Formation (Jurassic of Neuquen Basin, Argentina), showing prograding deltaic clinoform, including sedimentary log; (2) “Frankenstein model”, based on fragmentary information mistakenly assembled in a wholly preserved three-dimensional depositional system; (3) the interpretation elaborated by the concepts of sequence stratigraphy, which considers both cyclic deposition and the gaps (example based on Silveira 2020Silveira M.M.L. 2020. Análisis estratigráfico secuencial de alta resolución y modelado geológico 3d en secciones sedimentarias transicionales y continentales del Jurásico Inferior a Medio del sector sur de la Cuenca Neuquina como análogo en la caracterización de reservorios de hidrocarburos. PhD Thesis, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, 294 p.).
Figure 5
Sedimentation rates as a function of time intervals: (1) Mean accumulation rates for siliciclastic and carbonate sediments empirically determined as a function of time intervals (modified from
Sadler 1999Sadler P. 1999. The influence of hiatuses on sediment accumulation rates,in On the Determination of Sediment Accumulation Rates. GeoResearch Forum, 5:15-40.); (2) Schematic graph of time x stratigraphic thickness indicating how the calculated sedimentation rates are dependent on the length of the analyzed intervals between gaps (based on
Schlager 2005Schlager W. (ed.). 2005. Carbonate sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy. Tulsa, SEPM Concepts in Sedimentology and Paleontology, 8, 200 p. https://doi.org/10.2110/csp.05.08
https://doi.org/10.2110/csp.05.08...
).
Figure 6
Accommodation can be considered as the resulting amount of space filled by sediments in each ΔT. The potential accommodation, that is, the maximum possible magnitude of accommodation that considers bathymetry, should be evaluated only within a specific time (T) and does not apply to subaerial environments.
Figure 7
Dynamics and spatial distribution of accommodation over the different sedimentary environments — marine (Marine Accommodation Zone — MAZ) and continental (Continental Accommodation Zone — CAZ). The dynamic of accommodation is strongly controlled by allogenic factors (climate, eustasy, subsidence of the basin, and elevation of the source area), but their relative influence varies along the basin. The main difference is in eustasy, which gradually loses its influence towards the Continental Accommodation Zone, where other controlling factors prevail.
Figure 8
Interaction and contribution of allogenic and autogenic factors in the development of sequences of any scale. The generation (in T2) and preservation (in T3) resulting from eustasy and tectonic phenomena will always stratigraphically limit the preserved product of the continuous deposition governed by autogenic factors.
Figure 9
Schematic graph illustrating stacking patterns resulting from the balance between variations in accommodation (A, in this case, controlled by relative sea level — RSL) and sedimentary supply (S) rates (modified from Shanley and McCabe 1994Shanley K.W., McCabe P.J. 1994. Perspectives on the sequence stratigraphy of continental strata. AAPG Bulletin, 78(4):544-568.). When accommodation rates are positive (A > 0), stacking patterns (progradation and retrogradation) and shoreline trajectories (normal regression and transgression, respectively) depend on the relationship with sedimentary supply rates (A/S). When the accommodation rate is negative (A < 0), erosion occurs landwards, and sedimentation advances to the depocenter, developing forced regression.
Figure 10
Schematic diagram showing different stacking patterns and surfaces developed simultaneously along a rift basin.
Figure 11
Log-scale diagram of the timing and amplitudes of the main mechanisms that control eustasy (modified from
Sames et al. 2016Sames B., Wagreich M., Wendler J.E., Haq B.U., Conrad C.P., Melinte-Dobrinescu M.C., Hu X., Wendler I., Wolfgring E., Yilmaz I.Ö., Zorina S.O. 2016. Review: Short-term sea-level changes in a greenhouse world — A view from the Cretaceous. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 441(3):393-411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.10.045
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.10...
and
Sames et al. 2020Sames B., Wagreich M., Conrad C.P., Iqbal S. 2020. Aquifer-eustasy as the main driver of short-term sea-level fluctuations during Cretaceous hothouse climate phases. Geological Society of London, Special Publications, 498:9-38. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP498-2019-105
https://doi.org/10.1144/SP498-2019-105...
). The values represented must be considered as average dimensions.
Figure 12
Supercontinent (S-C) cycles during the Phanerozoic, including the alternation between Greenhouse and Icehouse stages, sea-level changes, and oceanic crust production rates.
Figure 13
Log-scale diagram of the timing and amplitudes of the main tectonic mechanisms that promote accommodation changes, ranging from plate tectonic cycles to basins, sub-basins, individual faults, fault activation moments, and seismogenic cycles.
Figure 14
Synthesis of climatic cycles, their timing, and the related astronomical mechanisms.
Figure 15
Orbital parameters (Milankovitch cycles) and the result of the solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere in the subsequent control of global temperature in the last 800 thousand years.
Figure 16
Visual identification of Milankovitch cycles in an outcrop of Permian marine carbonates from the Dalong Formation, China (modified from
Wu et al. 2013Wu H., Zhang S., Hinnov L.A., Jiang G., Feng Q., Li H., Yang T. 2013. Time-calibrated Milankovitch cycles for the late Permian. Nature Communications, 4(1):2452. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3452
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3452...
). Note the groups of layers identified as a product of precession forming cycles of 100 kyr (short eccentricity) regrouped in cycles of 405 kyr (long eccentricity).
Figure 17
Schwabe (Sch. 1 to 7) and Hale (1 to 4) cycles (see
Fig. 14 for references) identified in shallow marine deposit with microbial influence of the Wuqiangxi Formation, Neoproterozoic (810-715 Ma) in South China.
Figure 18
Hierarchy of stratigraphic sequences based on cycles observed at different scales.
Figure 19
Accordion effect of resolution on stratigraphic analysis. Relative values of high (1) or low (2) rates in long-term (positive rate) accommodation define the possibilities of generation and preservation of the stacking pattern resulting from the high-frequency fluctuation in the A/S ratio.
Figure 20
Sequences, systems tracts, and depositional systems observed at different scales (i.e., hierarchical levels), generated by the fluctuation in the A/S ratio, in a stratigraphic architecture of a prograding system.
Figure 21
Stratigraphic framework of the third- and fourth-order sequences of the Tombador Formation (Mesoproterozoic, Brazil; Magalhães et al. 2016). The fourth-order sequences (highest resolution), characterized by the alternation of estuarine and shoreface facies associations, are well observed in the third-order transgressive intervals (high accommodation setting). In the low accommodation setting of the regressive continental intervals, high-resolution sequences are poorly identified.
Figure 22
Cyclicity hierarchies observed in the Yacoraite Formation, Danian from the Salta Basin (
Bento Freire 2012Bento Freire E. 2012. Caracterização estratigráfica em alta resolução das sequências carbonáticas de origem microbial do intervalo paleocênico da Formação Yacoraite (Sequência Balbuena IV) na região de Salta - Argentina. MSc Thesis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 224 p.,
Bunevich 2016Bunevich R.B. 2016. Caracterização e interpretação bioarquitetural de microbialitos lacustres da sequência Balbuena IV (Daniano), bacia de Salta - Argentina. MSc Thesis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 173 p.,
Bunevich et al. 2017Bunevich R.B., Borghi L., Raja Gabaglia G.P., Terra G.J.S., Bento Freire E., Lykawka R., Fragoso D.G.C. 2017. Microbialitos da Sequência Balbuena IV (Daniano), Bacia de Salta, Argentina: caracterização de intrabioarquiteturas e de microciclos. Pesquisas em Geociências, 44(2):177. https://doi.org/10.22456/1807-9806.78270
https://doi.org/10.22456/1807-9806.78270...
). Stacking patterns are shown from the 3rd- to the 8th-order sequences, always composing superior hierarchies. Note the 7th and 8th order sequences, characterized by the rhythmic alternation of thickening and thinning trends during the stromatolite growth at a thin-section scale.
Figure 23
Observable criteria for identifying sequences in the hierarchical framework: (1) Different architectures (cycle anatomy) of T-R cycles (modified from
Zecchin 2007Zecchin M. 2007. The architectural variability of small-scale cycles in shelf and ramp clastic systems: The controlling factors. Earth-Science Reviews, 84(1-2):21-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2007.05.003
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2007...
and
Catuneanu and Zecchin 2013Catuneanu O., Zecchin M. 2013. High-resolution sequence stratigraphy of clastic shelves II: Controls on sequence development. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 39(1):26-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2012.08.010
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2012...
). (2) Vertical recurrence of individual cycles and trends in the cycles stacking pattern (modulation of the smallest by the highest hierarchy). (3) The lateral extension (mappability) of the stacking patterns and stratigraphic surfaces, within a given framework, that is more significant the higher is the hierarchy.
Figure 24
Origin and longevity of first-order sequences (related to the subsidence mechanisms) within the supercontinental Wilson cycle.
Figure 25
Stratigraphic chart of the Potiguar Basin illustrating the proposed sequence hierarchy (
Melo et al. 2020Melo A.H., Andrade P.R.O., Magalhães A.J.C., Fragoso D.G.C., Lima-Filho F.P. 2020. Stratigraphic evolution from the early Albian to late Campanian of the Potiguar Basin, Northeast Brazil: An approach in seismic scale. Basin Research, 32(5):1054-1080. https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12414
https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12414...
). The phases of tectonic evolution are first-order sequences. The drift phase is subdivided into two second-order sequences. The lower second-order sequence, from Albian to Campanian, is subdivided into five third-order sequences.
Figure 26
Third- and fourth-order sequences from the Potiguar Basin (modified from
Melo et al. 2020Melo A.H., Andrade P.R.O., Magalhães A.J.C., Fragoso D.G.C., Lima-Filho F.P. 2020. Stratigraphic evolution from the early Albian to late Campanian of the Potiguar Basin, Northeast Brazil: An approach in seismic scale. Basin Research, 32(5):1054-1080. https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12414
https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12414...
). A strike-oriented seismic section showing the sequences unconformity boundaries (red lines). Below, a closer view of well data showing the high-frequency fourth-order sequences identified in fluvial systems, bound by subaerial unconformities placed at the top of paleosols (detailed in core data).
Figure 27
System tracts and stratigraphic surfaces development in response to base-level changes as a function of time (modified from Catuneanu 2006Catuneanu O. 2006. Principles of sequence stratigraphy. Amsterdam, Elsevier, 375 p.). Above, base-level and transgressive–regressive (T–R) curves, and below, rates of base-level change and sedimentation rate. All sequence stratigraphic surfaces and system tracts can be defined with these curves. These definitions are perfectly adaptable for the seismic interpretation of sequences (especially in basins with the continental shelf and slope physiography). Adaptations are necessary for sequences above and below seismic resolution.
Figure 28
High-resolution cyclostratigraphic correlations (at precession-scale) and tuning of the continental sections of Prado and Cascante (Spain) and the marine section of Monte dei Corvi (Italy). The correlations and tuning are tightly constrained by magnetostratigraphy in all sections.
Figure 29
Sequence stratigraphy workflow that starts from recognizing elementary units to their stratigraphic clusters, that occur organized in mappable vertical successions. Stratigraphic stacking patterns that define T-R cycle anatomies can be observed at different scales, depending on the resolution of the investigation tool. Except for sedimentary facies, produced purely by autogenic processes, all recurring stacking patterns that make up the hierarchical framework, are a product of the autogenic and allogenic processes interaction. The highest stratigraphic frequencies are composed of facies tracts, whose changes in stacking patterns give rise to high-resolution sequences. These sequences tend to have less mappability and are predominantly controlled by climatic processes modulated by tectonics. System tracts can be recognized as an organization of high-resolution sequences in an upward trend of stacking patterns, with the preponderant representation of given facies associations and arrangements. Changes in system tracts make up low-resolution sequences. These units have wider mappability and are controlled predominantly by tectonics, modeled at different intensities by the climate.