Stratigraphic Facies

and Geologic Time

Amantz Gressley, 1834, and the Jurassic Rocks of the
Jura Mountains between France and Switzerland
 The Interpretation of Geologic History
Requires Knowledge of the Following
The Interpretation of Sedimentary
Rocks
Requires Knowledge of the
1. Sedimentary Rocks 1. Rock Classification
Following:

2. Igneous Rocks 2. Depositional

Environments
3. Metamorphic 3. Sedimentary Structures
Rocks
4. Origin and History of 4. Sedimentary Tectonics
Life
5. Tectonics, including: 5. Sedimentary Facies and
Time
Structural geology
Plate tectonic theory
Etc.
The core concept is tectonics
since nothing in geology makes
sense except in the light of
tectonics
 Abraham Gottlob Werners Geologic Time Scale
The Neptunist World View
Sea Level after deposition of the Primitive rocks

Sea Level after deposition of the Transition rocks Transition

Stratified Primitive
Sea Level after deposition of the Stratified rocks

Transported

Primitive crystalline rocks, both igneous and metamorphic. Thought to represent first chemical
precipitates from a worldwide ocean.

Transition stony, indurated stratified rocks such as graywacke, limestones, sills.

Stratified obviously stratified fossiliferous rocks, thought to represent the first deposits after
receding of the worldwide oceans, formed by erosion of emergent mountains.

Transported Poorly consolidated clays, sands and gravels. Thought to have been deposited after
final withdrawal of a worldwide ocean.

Volcanic Younger lava flows associated with volcanic vents (added to the classification later as an
afterthought, lavas were thought to be local phenomena resulting from the burning of coal beds.
 Layer Cake Stratigraphy
The study of rock strata, especially the
distribution, deposition, and age of
sedimentary rocks

P 126

Werners theory made a firm

prediction, that the same kinds of
rocks should have been laid down in
the same sequence all over the world.
 The Facies Concept
It is not certain who first noticed that rocks were not layer cake.
Levoisier in 1789 is the earliest mention we have, but Amantz Gressley
coined most of the important concepts while working in the Jura
Mountains.
While describing the rocks he observed lateral changes in the
composition and described them with clarity calling these changes
facies. But, then later in his paper he spoke of facies changes in the
vertical direction meaning that the rocks were different vertically as
well as horizontally. This has led to ongoing confusion.
Perhaps a dozen different
concepts and definitions
about the facies have been
proposed. But, they all go
back to the two original ways
Gressley used the term his
formal definition, and his
offhanded use of the term.
Two Facies Definitions
Definition
One
The facies is the sum total of all the physical,
biological and chemical characteristics
imparted to a sedimentary rock at the time of
deposition.
Definition Two
Facies are the many different sediments and
resulting rocks that form at the same time,
but in different depositional environments.
 The Transition from Wernerian "Transition Rocks"
To the Lower Paleozoic Periods
By Sedgewich and Murchinson

Murchinson, 1835
Charles Lapworth
1879 Silurian
Sedgewick, 1835 Murchinson, 1835
Cambrian Ordovician Silurian
Sedgewick, 1835
Cambrian
overlap
Opps !
 Pleistocene
Pliocene
Lyell 1833
Miocene
Eocene
DHalloy 1822 Cretaceous
Gressley 1795 Jurassic
Alberti 1834 Triassic
Murchinson 1841 Permian
Williams 1891 Pennsylvan.
Carbonif.
Williams 1891Mississippian
Sedgewich & Murchinson 1839Devonian Old Red ss
Murchinson 1835 Silurian
Unstudied
Lapworth 1879 Ordovician Until
Sedgewick 1835 Cambrian 1830s
The Transition from Wernerian "Transition Rocks"
To the Lower Paleozoic Periods
By Sedgewich and Murchinson

Adapted from Dott and Batten: Evolution of the Earth

 Old Red Sandstone

Early Devonian fishes from the Old Red Sandstone of

Spitzbergen (Wood Ray Formation)

http://www.picturescape.co.uk/gallery
%20pages/gallery%20one/caldey
%20sandstone.htm

http://www.picturescape.co.uk/gallery%20pages/gallery%20one/caldey%20sandstone.htm
 Old Red Sandstone
The Old Red Sandstone exhibited many changes over short distances, with thinly layered
areas alternating with conglomerates and outstanding crossbedded sandstones.

http://virtual.yosemite.cc.ca.us/ghayes/Siccar%20Point.htm
 Devonian Marine Rocks of Devon, England
The cliffs at Fremington are Devonian with Glacial beds on top of this, below the
Devonian beds follows the carboniferous beds. Both Upper and Lower Carboniferous
rocks have been found at Fremington, however it is suspected that some of these rocks
have drifted from up or down stream, this could explain why occasionally blocks of
Carboniferious limestone can be found.

http://www.ukfossils.co.uk/sec084c.htm
Devonian Marine Rocks of Devon, England

http://www.earthfoot.org/places/uk005.htm
 After their work on the Cambrian and Ordovician but before they had
their falling out over the overlap of their systems Sedgewick and
Murchinson decided to tackle the problem of the Old Red Sandstone and
the marine bearing rocks of Devonshire exposed on opposite sides of
Bristol Bay.

Wales
Bristol Bay

Devonshire http://www.devonshireheartland.co.uk/

http://www.camelotintl.com/heritage/counties/england/devon.html
Scenes of Devonshire, England

http://www.picturesofengland.com/Devon/pictures-1.htm
Scenes of Devonshire, England

http://www.picturesofengland.com/Devon/pictures-1.htm
 The Problem

There are different rocks sandwiched between

the Silurian and Carboniferous rocks as found in
Wales and Devonshire.
 Onlap (Transgressive) Sequences
Shifting Facies through Time

Time Rock Unit

n it
Time Rock Unit v eU
re ssi
Time Rock Unit
ra nsg ion
eT ress
Time Rock Unit sg
Tim an
Time Rock Unit Tr
Time Rock Unit
Beach
Far Shelf Near Shelf sandstone
limestone shale Beach moves farther away
Water gets deeper

Sediment becomes finer

FUS Fining Upward Sequence

= Transgressive Sequence
Offlap (Regressive) Sequences
Shifting Facies through Time

Prograding Regression

Time Transgressive Rock Unit t

ck U n it t ni Beach
im e Ro U n i t i t n i U
T
Rock
n k U Rock Near Shelf
sandstone
m e o c kU o c
Ti eR e R Time
Tim
shale
Ti m
Far Shelf
limestone

Beach moves closer

Water gets shallower
Sediment gets coarser

CUS Coarsening Upward Sequence

= Regressive Sequence
 Transgressive Sequence

n
s sio
sgre
n
Tra
Beach
Far Shelf Near Shelf sandstone
limestone shale Beach moves farther away
Water gets deeper
Sediment becomes finer

Regressive Sequence
Prograding Regression

Time Transgressive RockBeach

Unit
sandstone
Near Shelf
shale
Far Shelf
limestone

Beach moves closer

Water gets shallower
Sediment gets coarser
 There are Facies, and then there are Facies

The facies is the sum total of all the

physical, biological and chemical Facie
characteristics imparted to a sedimentary s
rock at the time of deposition. Two
Facies One
Facies are the many different sediments
and resulting rocks that form at the same
time, but in different depositional
environments.

A couple of hundred miles

 The Problem

There are different rocks sandwiched between

the Silurian and Carboniferous rocks as found in
Wales and Devonshire.

FUS

CUS

FUS

CUS
FUS

CUS
Transgressive Sequence in the
Grand Canyon of Arizona

http://instruct.uwo.ca/earth-sci/300b-001/
 Transgressive Sequence in the
Grand Canyon of Arizona
TONTO GROUP
Cambrian Period, 500-520 Million Years Old, 1025 Feet Thick
Yellowish ledges on top, the Tonto Platform between, and brown cliff below

FINING
UPWARD
SEQUENCE

http://www.canyondave.com/TontoPg.html
 Transgressive Sequence

Shown above is an example of a prominent transgressive surface, combined with a

sequence boundary. This surface separates underlying shallow subtidal carbonate from
overlying deep subtidal carbonate and mudstone. Note the pyritization, visible as a rusty
stain, at this surface. Photograph taken at the contact between the Upper Ordovician Carters
Limestone (below) and Hermitage Formation at the Nashville International Airport. This
outcrop has subsequently been removed and is no longer visible.

http://www.uga.edu/~strata/sequence/transgressivesurface.html
 Transgressive Sequence

The next example of a transgressive surface separates underlying shallow

subtidal carbonate from overlying offshore mudstone. Photograph taken at
the basal contact of the Nolichucky Formation in southwestern Virginia.
Transgressive Sequence

http://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/future/geology.html
 Regressive Sequence

cus

Table mountain near Mitzpe Ramon, central Negev, Israel

http://www.geomorph.org/gal/mslattery/world.html
 Regressive Sequence

cus

http://www.geneseo.edu/~gsci/pages/department/information/brochure/brochure_department.html
Transgressive-Regressive
Sequences

http://www.geology.utoronto.ca/basinanalysis/photos.htm
 The Fractal
Nature of
Transgression
and Regression
 Universality 53
Properties of Complex Evolutionary Systems

Fractal Organization Sea Level Changes

Meter Changes Over 125,000 Years Meter Changes Over 18,000 Years
0

Relative Sea Level in Meters

+20 -20
Relative Sea Level in Meters

present sea level

0 -40
-20 -60
-40 -80
-60 -100
-80 -120
18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2
-100
Time in Thousands of Years
-120
glaciation

100,000 50,000 Present

Time in Years Centimeter Changes Over 100 Years
8.0

4.0

Sea Level in Centimeters

annual mean
5 year running mean
Meter Changes Over 18,000 Years
0 0
Relative Sea Level in Meters

-20
-4.0
-40

-60
-8.0
-80

-100
-12.0
-120 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980
18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 Date
Time in Thousands of Years
 Universality 53
Properties of Complex Evolutionary Systems

Fractal Organization Sea Level Changes

Centimeter Changes Over 100 Years
8.0

4.0

Sea Level in Centimeters

annual mean
5 year running mean

-4.0

-8.0

-12.0
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980
Date

patterns, within patterns, within patterns

Millimeter Changes Over 2 Years
15
Average Rate = 3.9 +
_ 0.8mm/year

10 Periodic change
in mean sea level
Mean Sea Level in Millimeters

-5

-10

-15
1993 1993.5 1994 1994.5 1995
Date
 Hierarchy of Sequences
(All sequence orders may not be present in one section; depend on local
tectonics, depositional rates, etc.)

Order Duration Range Probably Cause1 2

First Order 200 my 750 feet Tectonic

Second Order 9-10 my 366 feet Glacio-Eustatic

Third Order 1-2 my 200 feet Glacio-Eustatic

Fourth Order 0.1-0.2 my 40 feet Milkanovitch cycle

3

Fifth Order .01-0.2 my 20 feet

Milkanovitch cycle

Graph to left takes up

Only this much time on the
Above graph

Relative Sea Level

Curves
Relative Sea Level Curves and
Constructive and Destructive
Interference

3rd order down, 4th order up;

muted sea level fall

3rd order up, 4th order down;

muted sea level rise
3rd order up, 4th order down;
muted sea level rise

Both curves go down;

exaggerated sea level fall
 Sea Level Changes and Corresponding
Trangressions/Regressions are Fractal

Third Order Transgression . . . followed by . . . A Third Order Regression

 Sea Level Changes and Corresponding
Trangressions/Regressions are Fractal

Third Order Transgression . . . followed by . . . A Third Order Regression

4th Order Regression . . . followed by . . . 4th Transgression. . . followed by . . .
4th Regression . . .
followed by . . .
4th Transgression
followed by . . .
4th Regression

Patterns within patterns within patterns: i.e. fractal

 Sea Level Changes and Corresponding
Trangressions/Regressions are Fractal

FUS
CUS

FUS
CUS

Figure 8 shows upward and seaward increase in depositional energy (yellow dotted and green areas), which is tied to increases in porosity and
permeability. The basal disconformity (wavy line) is the horizontal datum for the 3-D porosity and permeability models. The wedge shape of the
Sussex "B" interval results from reworking by currents of seaward margins of sand ridges, and landward redeposition of sediment. The blue-lined
areas are basal and landward low-depositional-energy facies; these exhibit low porosity, permeability, and petroleum production.
The disconformity at the top of the Sussex "B" sandstone is generally marked by a thin chert-pebble sandstone (figure 9A). Shading variation of the
quartz (figure 9B) results from fracturing of the grain in this cross-nicols photomicrograph view (light is transmitted differently due to rotation of the
crystal axes). Quartz grains that were incorporated from underlying sand-ridge sediments commonly exhibit early stages of diagenesis within marine
environments, primarily chamosite overgrowths under the quartz overgrowths. Grain-to-grain contacts within this facies are mainly point with lesser
long-straight contacts.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-033/USGS_3D/ssx_txt/depomod.htm
Correlation
Demonstrating the
Equivalency of
Stratigraphic Units
Equivalency may mean:
Lithologic: Same rock unit

Paleontologi Contain same

c: fossils
Time: Deposited at same
time

Biostratigraphic Facies # 2
Facies are the many different sediments and resulting rocks that form at the same time, but in different depositional
environments.

Facies # 1
Facies are the many different sediments and resulting rocks that form at the same time, but in different
depositional environments.
 1. Ways of Correlating -
Lithologic
Walking Out
Physically tracing a bed from one place to another to insure it is
in fact the same rock unit; literally walking it out.

Or, tracing an outcrop down the highway. Can be done in many

places in the west where good exposure, and flat lying beds are
easy to trace.
 Grand Canyon
of Arizona

http://www.mongabay.com/external/grand_canyon_trouble.htm

http://www.ggl.ulaval.ca/personnel/bourque/s4/cambrien.pangee.html

http://www.raphaelk.co.uk/main/worldwonders.htm
http://www.jgk.org/maps/grand-canyon-large.html
The problem is, . . . Rocks are not always flat laying, and
traceable at the surface.

A cross section through the Harrisonburg and Bridgewater, Virginia area, showing a duplex herd of horses. The floor thrust is at the bottom of the
drawing just above the basement rocks. The North Mountain fault is the roof thrust. In between are a series of splay faults that isolate a series of
horses. Note the overturned anticline on the far left (west) side where the last ramp formed. From Gathright and Frischmann, 1986, Geology of the
Harrisonburg and Bridgewater Quadrangles, Virginia.
 2. Ways of Correlating -
Lithologic
Key Beds
Correlating by recognizing and identifying beds that are so
distinctive you always know them when you see them.

1. Distinctive lithology

2. Distinctive mineral assemblage.

3. Particular sedimentary structures.

 Key Beds
The Chattanooga
Shale

http://www.uta.edu/paleomap/homepage/Schieberweb/summer_2000_field_work.htm
 Key Beds
The iridium layer at
the K-T boundary

An analysis of the chemical

composition of this clay layer
shows that it contains a
relatively high concentration of
an element called iridium.
Iridium is rare in the Earths
crust, but more common
towards the Earth's centre,
and in space. It continually
filters down to earth from outer
space, and so a high
concentration of iridium is
usually an indication that the
sediment was deposited very
slowly, absorbing lots of iridium
over time.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/beasts/whatkilled/evidence/analyse1.shtml http://c3po.barnesos.net/homepage/lpl/fieldtrips/K-T/day3/day3.html
 http://www.athro.com/geo/trp/ktm/ktmain.html

The hill in the background of this photograph is known as Iridium Hill. The
bands on the side of the hill are layers of rock of different ages that span the
time of the extinction of the dinosaurs.
http://www.uhaul.com/supergraphics/crater/what-is-it2.html

http://www.student.oulu.fi/~jkorteni/space/boundary/
 Key Beds
The Navajo Sandstone

http://www.mines.utah.edu/geo/about_ES/Geology/ZionGIFS/XbedSS.html

http://www.olympic.ctc.edu/class/dassail/CapReef.html

http://www.creationsafaris.com/crev07.htm
 3. Ways of Correlating -
Lithologic
Position in Sequence
Identifying a relatively nondescript formation, which could be
confused with other similar looking beds, by its relationship to
other more distinctive units.

Limestone Cross Bedded Sandstone

Non-Descript Shale Non-Descript Shale

Quartz Arenite Arkose

 4. Ways of Correlating -
Lithologic
Wire Line Well Logging
Measuring geophysical properties of a rock as recorded by
instruments lowered down a well hole.
In logging the well four main types of equipment are
used: the downhole instrument (which measures the
data), the computerized surface data acquisition
system (to store and analyze the data), the cable or
wireline (which serves as both mechanical and data
communication link with the downhole instruments),
and the hoisting equipment to raise and lower the
instruments.
Resistivity Logs
Gamma Ray Logs
Acoustic Logs

http://www.bakerhughes.com/bakeratlas/about/log4.htm
Wire Line Well Logging

http://www.trianaenergy.com/ucwell/photos/march_26/march_26.htm
 Geophysical logging involves lowering a series of probes
into drilled boreholes (or existing fractures or wells) as deep
as several thousands of feet into the ground. One type of
multiparameter probe that has been used in Maryland and
Delaware measures several characteristics of subsurface
properties, including natural gamma radiation, or a materials
resistance to electric current, which is useful for finding a
good water-bearing sand aquifer for water-supply purposes.
Another type is an acoustic velocity probe, which works by
transmitting acoustic signals and recording the traveltime of
the acoustic wave from one or more transmitters to receivers
in the probe. The recorded information can be used to
measure porosity and calculate the materials density. This
technique was used to determine the extent of jumbled
geologic strata caused by a crater impact at the mouth of the
Chesapeake Bay 30 million years ago. Another type of
probe, called an Acoustic Televiewer, transmits acoustic
signals to subsurface rock layers and uses state-of-the-art
computer software to convert the recorded data into an
actual image of the borehole. This image can be used to
determine the amount of water that could be extracted from
individual fractures in the rock formation.
Even though most of the parameters measured by these probes can only be determined in a newly
drilled open borehole, certain probes emit signals that can penetrate well casings, making it possible to
measure subsurface materials after a well is constructed. Gamma rays can travel through almost any type of
well casing, while an induction probe can measure conductivity electromagnetically through polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) casing. Other parameters, such as the boreholes fluid temperature and conductivity, can
also be measured, making it possible to evaluate water quality. The flow direction of ground water can also
be determined with several types of probes. All of this equipment enables scientists to characterize the
properties of subsurface materials, improving our knowledge of what lies beneath the Earths surface.
http://md.water.usgs.gov/publications/fs-126-03/html/
A typical well logging arrangement and the resultant logs from two types of
tools, the GR and Resistivity Logs

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/geology/8345/8345welc.html#Wireline
 Gamma Ray
Logs
One of the advantages of gamma ray
logs is that the gamma ray intensity
closely corresponds with texture of the
rocks.
Typically, gamma ray radiation is
higher with shales (because they have
radioactive K40 in them which
undergoes K to Ar decay.) Sandstones
tend to have a lower gamma radiation.
Thus, we can use the gamma ray log
as a proxy for texture of the sediment,
and this allows us to read them like a
strip log, obtaining information about
the energy of deposition.

http://www.kgs.ukans.edu/Dakota/vol3/fy89/app_b.htm
 Gamma Ray Logs and Strip
Logs Observe
Low
Radioactivity
SANDSTONE
High
that gamma ray
Radioactivity
strip logs are the mirror
SHALE

image of a regular strip

Rapid FUS is a rapid rise in log where texture
Very sea level. They are
rapid
parasequence boundaries
increases to the right.
FUS
used for correlation.

Gamma Ray
Trace from
Well log Converted into a
Stratigraphic
Strip log
Coarsening
Upward
Sequence
Gamma Ray Strip Logs
Vary with Depositional
Environment
Shoreface Tidal Shoreline
Rapid FUS is a
parasequence boundary
used for correlation.

Subtler FUS is a
parasequence boundary
used for correlation.

Rapid CUS is a
parasequence boundary
used for correlation.
Subtler FUS is a
parasequence boundary
used for correlation.

Subtler FUS is a Rapid CUS is a

parasequence boundary parasequence boundary
used for correlation. used for correlation.
 Gamma Ray Correlation
Followed by Facies Correlation

Overall
CUS
Coastal Plain

Shoreface

Offshore Shelf

Sea level rises affect large parts of the depositional basin, and their effects are therefore widespread
making them ideal for correlations.
 5. Ways of Correlating -
Lithologic
Reflection Seismicity
Seismic surveys use low frequency acoustical energy generated by
explosives or mechanical means. These waves travel downward, and
as they cross the boundaries between rock layers, energy is reflected
back to the surface and detected by sensors called geophones. The
resulting data, combined with assumptions about the velocity of the
waves through the rocks and the density of the rocks, are interpreted
to generate maps of the formations.
Seismic surveys are usually performed using multiple geophones
set at known distances from the energy source. Early seismic surveys
used mechanical plotters to record the received signals, and were
restricted to a few geophones. These surveys placed the source and
geophones in a straight line, with the interpretation of the resulting
data producing a 2-D cross section of the formation under that line.
The interpretations were subject to error, which increased the
difficulty, and cost, of accurately locating hydrocarbon-bearing
formations.
Today, the development of digital recording systems allow the
recording of data from more that 10,000 geophones simultaneously,
greatly speeding data collection. Sophisticated computer programs
develop highly accurate 3-D models of rock structures. These models
are more accurate than past 2-D maps, and increase the likelihood of
accurately identifying hydrocarbon-bearing formations.
http://www.bakerhughes.com/bakeratlas/about/log2.htm
Dark lines are seismic reflection surfaces. Detailed study shows they are essentaily
time lines corresponding also with lithologic contacts.

http://www.geocities.com/jtvanpopta/seismic_reflection.html
http://www.bgr.de/b322/index.html?/b322/text/d_sunda.htm
 Seismic profile across the Cocos and North
American Plates adjacent to Costa Rica. Single
and double-headed arrows delineate structural
fabric in the crust and mantle

http://www.mala.bc.ca/~earles/hydrated-mantle-sep03.htm
http://www.gfz-potsdam.de/pb4/pg3/projects/3-D_structural_modelling_CEBS/content_en.html
http://www.niwa.cri.nz/pubs/wa/11-3/images/news4_large.jpg/view
 Ways of Correlating
Biostratigraphic
Biostratigraphic Correlation is based on the work of William
Smith and George Cuviere who established the two principles by
which geologic maps are drawn.
1. Principle of Faunal Succession The Subversive Foss
2. Principle of Faunal Correlation

It had been towards the end of the seventeenth century

that the first very few and very bold observers raised
(albeit timidly) the ultimate heretical thought: the
possibility that perhaps, just perhaps, these objects
actually were what collectors and scientists and
countrymen had long been loath to consider admitting -
the organic remains of the very creatures that they
looked like.
The same strata are always found in the
same order of superposition, and they
always contain the same peculiar fossils.
 Basis of Biostratigrapic
Correlation
A body of rock characterized, recognized and
Zone: identified by one or more of the fossils it
contains.
Range Zone: based on the entire vertical range of a
single species.

Assemblage Zone: based on the entire vertical range

of a community of species.

Teil Zone: part zone defined locally by only part of

the known total range of a particular species.

Peak Zone: based on the greatest abundance (the

abundance peak) of a species.
 Defining Biostratigraphic Zones

Species 9

Species 13
Species 4

Species 12
Species 10

Species 11
Species 6

Species 7

Species 8
Species 5
Biostratigraphic
Fossil 6 disappears Zone Based
On Species 13

Species 3
Biostratigraphic
Biostratigraphic
Species 2

Zone
Zone Based
Based
On
On Species
Species 56
Species 1

Fossil 6 first appears

Assemblage Zone
With Fossil 6
 The Index Fossil
Not all fossils are equally useful for correlation.

Lingula, the inarticular brachiopod, for

example appears in the record about
540 million years ago, and is still living
today.
The best knowledge we get from
Lingula is that the rock was deposited
between 450 million years ago and
today. Not very useful.

On the other hand, Lingula prefers to

live in tidal systems and so does
provide us with paleoenvironmental
information.
 The Index Fossil
The fossils that are most useful for correlation possess the
following characteristics:

1. Abundant no one wants to spend hours looking for the

index fossil. They should be easy to find.

2. Rapidly Evolving want species that evolve and diversify

rapidly so that small stratigraphic intervals can be
distinguished.
3. Widely dispursed the best index fossils are swimmers
or floaters since their remains tend to show up in many
different environments. Facies fossils, those living on the
bottom in restricted habitats, are not as useful.

There are abundant practical problems associated with

biostratigrapic correlation. Requires the work of specialists
who have done the technical, nit-picking, careful, highly
detailed work that is necessary.
 The Relationship Between Lithologic
and Biostratigraphic Correlation
Local Local
Section Section
#1 #2

Biostratigraphic Correlation
between local sections

Fossil
Time Rock Zone
Unit

n
onit
tU
i
imv e
a
r
e Fsos
nre
Time

ts
o g e ss
io

asn of
gr
d ns
aTr
n Tr
a

eS ction
Tim
re
Di

Lirthologic Correlation between

local sections

Hundreds of Miles
 Transgressive Sequence

Time Rock Unit t

ck U ni
e Ro
ss i v
s gre
e Tran
Tim
Beach
Far Shelf Near Shelf sandstone
limestone shale Beach moves farther away
Water gets deeper
Sediment becomes finer

Regressive Sequence

Time Transgressive Rock Unit

Beach

c k Unit sandstone
Near Shelf
e Ro shale
Tim Far Shelf
limestone

Beach moves closer

Water gets shallower
Sediment gets coarser
http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/198_IR/chap_05/c5_f6.htm
http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/183_SR/002/images/02_f02.gif
 Diastems and Unconformities
Gaps in the Record
Premise 1 We want a complete history of the Earth.

Premise 2 The Record is preserved only in the rocks.

Premise 3 The Rock Record is incomplete, being

destroyed by weathering and erosion, or lack of
deposition.
Therefore A complete history of the Earth is not
possible.
Consequenctly, in order to understand the Earths
history we must understand the gaps in the record,
what is missing, why it is missing, and how we know.
Nonconformity Angular Disconformity
 Angular Unconformity
The Taconic Unconformity, an angular unconformity between
the vertical beds of the Ordovician Austin Glen Formation and
the overlying, but steeply dipping, Late Silurian Rondout
Formation.

http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/parks/loc26.htm
Angular Unconformity

http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/FieldImages.htm
Angular Unconformity at Siccar Point
James Huttons Famous Unconformity

http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/FieldImages.html
Angular Unconformity

http://geology.asu.edu/~sreynolds/glg103/relative_age_principles.htm
Nonconformity

http://www.geowords.com/lostlinks/c19/nonconformity.htm
 Nonconformity

Along U.S. Highway 67 south of Farmington, Missouri we came to a road cut which
featured a very weathered section of granite (probably the Knob Lick granite) which is
overlain by a sandstone layer (presumably the Lamotte). Shown in the image on the
left, the granite layer is the white weathered debris on the bottom and the sandstone
unit is the layered rock on top.

http://www.pittstate.edu/services/scied/Teachers/Field/Camp/Us67-1/us67-1.htm
 Nonconformity

View from Hout Bay towards Chapmans Peak, showing the

nonconformity between the Cape Granite and strata of the Cape
Supergroup. Cutting the granite and unconformity is a dolerite
dyke

http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/geolsci/dlr/peninsula%20geology.html
Disconformity

Closer view of contact point between Lykins

formation (reds) and Canyon Spring
sandstone (whites). The greenish layer in
between is where iron has leached out of
the uppermost Lykins formation. A
disconformity exists here because approx.
70 million years of deposition is missing
here between the early Triassic Lykins
formation and the mid-to-late Juarssic
Canyon Spring sandstone.

http://www.paleocurrents.com/cert_classes/2003_03_15_5/HTML/img_8159.htm
 Disconformity

http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/appliedscience/gjc-nsf/reldat/reldat26.html

http://rockhounds.com/grand_hikes/hikes/cape_solitude/index.shtml
 Diastems - 1
Invisible Gaps in the Record

1 - Erosion and Deposition

on a Relative Sea Level
Curve
In this model a sea level rise
leads to deposition, and a sea
level fall to erosion and/or no
deposition resulting in a gap
in the record.
The model assumes a simple
relationship: only sea level rises
not countered by a drop result
in a permanent record. A sea
level rise with a corresponding
drop at any time in the future
results in no permanent record.

Diastem 2
Next Page
 Diastems - 2
Nearly Invisible Gaps
in the Record Condensed
Section
Rapid Rise in Sea Level Layer of black

Parasequence
shale only a few
PROGRADING REGRESSION: With sea mm or cm thick.
level not changing much sediment fills Hard to see or

= CUS
in the accommodation resulting in a
find in ourcrop.
regression and a CUS

Shoreline moves inland Sea Level/Base Level Distal basin receives little
sediment resulting in a
Shore condensed section
Prograding Regression
= CUS

Near Far
Shelf
Old Near Shelf Shelf
now becomes deep, distal far
shelf
 Diastems - 3
Invisible Gaps in the Record
Low High
Radioactivity Radioactivity
3 - Episodic Depositional SANDSTONE SHALE

Events
When we look at an outcrop of
rock is it easy to think that it
represents continuous
deposition. After all, we dont
see any gaps or holes in the
outcrop. Yet, there are lots of But, this shale may represent
years or decades of time.
holes (gaps) and not all deposits
represent equivalent time. A few hours of time to
deposit this.

Most of the beds we see in an outcrop

represent geologically instantaneous events.
They took at most a few hours or a few days to
be deposited. The shale beds in between
represent slow deposition over years of time.
The outcrop is a kaleidoscope of different
lengths of time and they are fractal. Most of
the record is in fact gap.

We see the rocks, but we do not see the gaps.

 http://geology.sdsmt.edu/Stratsed.htm

http://www.sju.edu/research/bear_gulch/beargulch.shtml

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/Oceanography.html
 Gaps in the Geologic Time Record are Fractal

Gaps resulting from third order sea level cycles

Within these rock units are 4th and 5th order gaps

Gaps in the record are fractal: imperceptible gaps, within

tiny gaps within small gaps, within larger gaps, within much
larger gaps, etc.