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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.
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
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
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
Prograding Regression
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
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
http://www.uga.edu/~strata/sequence/transgressivesurface.html
Transgressive Sequence
http://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/future/geology.html
Regressive Sequence
cus
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
4.0
-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
4.0
-4.0
-8.0
-12.0
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980
Date
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.)
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
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.
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
http://www.uta.edu/paleomap/homepage/Schieberweb/summer_2000_field_work.htm
Key Beds
The iridium layer at
the K-T boundary
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.
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
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.
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
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
Assemblage Zone
With Fossil 6
The Index Fossil
Not all fossils are equally useful for correlation.
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
Hundreds of Miles
Transgressive Sequence
Regressive Sequence
c k Unit sandstone
Near Shelf
e Ro shale
Tim Far Shelf
limestone
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
http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/geolsci/dlr/peninsula%20geology.html
Disconformity
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
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.
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
Within these rock units are 4th and 5th order gaps