Sedimentary Geology 143 (2001) 325327

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Book Review
Sedimentary responses to forced regression Special publication of the Geological Society No. 172; D. Hunt, R.L. Gawthorpe (Eds.); Geological Society, London, 383 pages The special publication comprises a series of articles that focus on deposition and erosion in the coastal and shelf realms as a consequence of basinward shoreline migration during a relative sea-level fall (forced regression). Although not clearly stated in the preface of the book, I know that the special issue is the result of a conference held in 1995, which aimed to discuss conceptual and practical problems related to recognition and denition of facies and bounding surfaces that develop and preserve during forced regression. The content of the book is divided into three parts: (1) Concepts and methods, (2) PaleozoicMesozoic, (3) Cenozoic. The editors' intent for dividing contributions between parts 2 and 3 did not become clear to me. In the preface, they state that part 2 papers use mainly sedimentological and geometrical criteria to identify forced regressions and that part 3 papers focus on high-resolution, age-constrained stratigraphy in settings were subsidence/uplift history is known. Yet, I found that most papers of both parts 2 and 3 use similar criteria of similar detail and age resolution to present their case. Part 1 includes two papers, a rst by Plint and Nummedal on sequence stratigraphic analysis and history of terminology, and second by Posamentier and Morris on aspects of stratal architecture. Plint and Nummedal beautifully clarify the concept of forced regression in coastal systems and dene the Falling Stage Systems Tract (FSST) giving ample features for its recognition. Posamentier and Morris focus on the recognition of attached and detached shoreface wedges as a response to forced regression, an aspect that contrasts with the rst paper and which should have been made clear in the title of their paper. The present title claims that the paper would show aspects of stratal architecture of forced regressive deposits. However, the paper also discusses important issues around the forced-regression concept, exposing a quite contrasting view both in terminology and in concept with Plint and Nummedal. Hence, a wonderful, but missed opportunity for the editors to include a third paper in this part of the book to reconcile terminology and to discuss the controversies raised by the rst two papers. Nota Bene, such a paper was apparently intended since it was referenced by in the text of Posamentier and Morris (p. 39). The papers in part 2 describe and interpret outcrop studies. The examples are mainly of Mesozoic age except for the Ineson and Surlyk contribution that deals with the occurrence of Cambrian carbonate megabreccias (Northern Greenland) in a sequence stratigraphical context. They conclude that the breccias are best positioned in the FSST. Hamberg and Nielsen infer stepwise, fth-order, forced regression for shingled, sharp-based sandstones of the upper Triassic Gassum Formation (Denmark). Olsen and Steel deal with the Middle Jurassic Brent Group record (North Sea). They document extensively the presence of both normal- and forced regressive deposits in that 4 Ma record, which is ascribed to a variable stable, rising and falling sea-level for the studied interval. Both Fitzsimmons and Johnson, and Mellere and Steel provide beautifully illustrated, high-resolution outcrop studies of forced regression, Campanian deposits in Wyoming. The last paper in the part 2 series is from Ainsworth, Bosscher and Newall on forward numerical modeling of deposition controlled by sea-level fall. Although the modeling paper is a loner in this volume, it is highly relevant giving the reader an understanding of the position of bounding surfaces in a stratigraphical context. The book would have beneted from a few more modeling papers of this kind. The papers in part 3 deal with both outcrop and subsurface studies. Gawthorpe, Hall, Sharp and

0037-0738/01/$ - see front matter q 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0037-073 8(01)00094-X

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G. Postma / Sedimentary Geology 143 (2001) 325327

Dreyer showed similar FSST for different tectonic styles (extensional versus compressional settings) with examples from the Suez rift and the Eocene of the Pyrenees. Haywick studied the PlioPleistocene cyclothems of New Zealand and found that, unlike in many other parts of the world, recognition of systems tracts that can be solely attributed to the FSST, are uncommon. The cause was sought in differing local conditions, with sample accommodation space and high supply rates for the New Zealand area. Tropeano and Sabato discussed the response of shallow marine, temperate-water carbonates of the Upper Pliocene and lower Pleistocene of Puglia (Italy) to forced regressions. In the wave-dominated setting, the forced regressive and lowstand carbonate deposits bounded by marine erosion surfaces and enveloped by offshore sediments are the only lithoclastic deposits that were preserved. Trincardi and Correggiari present detailed seismics of the narrow Italian shelf of the Adriatic Sea and in a separate paper Chiocci present data from the shelf along the Thyrrhenian Sea. Both papers describe fourth order (,100 kyr) sequences and recognize FSST within shelf stratigraphy that developed in contrasting tectonic settings. Kolla, Biondi, Long and Fillon describe from seismics the Late Pleistocene (isotope stage 5 to 1) Lagniappe delta complex in the northeast of the Gulf of Mexico. The falling stage deltac lobes exhibit progradational character and are bounded at the bases of the complex by fthorder initial sequence boundaries and at the top by a nal fourth-order, major sequence boundary. HernandezMolina, Somoza and Lobo deal with the seismic stratigraphy of the shelf of the Gulf of Cadiz, who found that forced regressive sediments are volumetrically the main components in the fth order sequences (2223 kyr cycles) preserved on the present day Cadiz shelf. The last paper of the book is by Murray and Gawthorpe describing along strike variability of late quaternary forced regression deposits exposed in the terraces along the south coast of the Gulf of Korinth. It is perhaps more straightforward to criticize the author of a monograph than the editors of a special volume, where authors of each paper carry their own nal responsibility for the quality of data and their interpretations and conclusions, and where editors can only hope that papers are submitted in time and are of the required quality. Having this in mind, I

would say that the quality (and cash success) of a special publication volume depends on three criteria: in the rst place, actuality and quality of the papers, which should, of course, be rst class. In the second place, the volume must demonstrate where we are now on the learning curve of the subject and what remains to be done. It should thus contain a thorough synthesis of the theme preferably by the editors (who normally are the initiators of the project). Thirdly, the volume should, of course, be timely. I encountered a very important collection of highquality papers that addressed sedimentary responses to forced regression from very different climate and tectonic settings. The contributions are mainly qualitative and will be of signicantly help also to the modeller when it comes to parameterisation of coastal and shelf processes. Certainly, the editors spent significant effort in obtaining sufcient focus and integration of included papers. A brief editorial note in the preface states that authors were asked to focus their contributions to at least one of seven issues related to deposits produced during relative sea-level fall: (1) recognition of forced-regression deposits in the sedimentary record, (2) features of their bounding surfaces, (3) lateral and vertical facies changes, (4) controls on preservation, (5) lateral variability of facies and architecture within a time slice forced by variation in physiography, supply and tectonics (i.e. local factors), (6) placement of main sequence boundary with respect to a suit of forced regression deposits, and (7) implications for existing concepts. The editors were successful in obtaining focused papers, although I would like to think that any, high quality sedimentology paper on any kind of deposits must include most, if not all of the above listed issues. Certainly, none of the contributors explicitly use the listed items to organize their manuscript around by means of subject or paragraph headings, neither is the volume itself organized according to these issues. The `where are we on the learning curve of the subject' is covered by the two papers of part 1 of the book. However, the editors should have addressed the contrasting views and terminology problems that come out of these papers. Here, I do not only blame the guest editors, but also the Series editors Hartley, Holdsworth, Morton and Stoker, who have taken up the responsibility to look after the quality of special publications of the Geological Society. It would have

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been better if the guest editors had persisted on an extensive editorial note, rigorously addressing the controversies, agreements and terminology put forward by the contributing researchers. On the positive side again, the special issue adds importantly to the general concept of sequence stratigraphy and I foresee that it will be much used by future students of the coastal zone. The book is still very timely, in

spite of the ve years that it has taken the editors to bring the proceedings of the conference to print. George Postma* Department of Geology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.021, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands E-mail address: gpostma@geo.uu.nl

* Tel.: 131-30-2534155; fax: 131-30-2534155.