--> Abstract: Stratigraphy--A Skeleton That Has Come Out of the Closet, by P. J. McCabe; #91012 (1992).

Datapages, Inc.Print this page

ABSTRACT: Stratigraphy--A Skeleton That Has Come Out of the Closet

MCCABE, PETER J., U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO

After being a major area of geologic controversy in the nineteenth century, stratigraphy settled into a relatively static state for much of the twentieth century. With an increased understanding of sedimentary facies in the 1960s and early 1970s, stratigraphy appeared destined to be the type section of moribundity. Fortunately, the late 1970s and the 1980s saw the rapid development of new and different perspectives. Sequence stratigraphy, event stratigraphy, cyclostratigraphy, and other "stratigraphies" have generated fervent followers and suspicious skeptics. The discipline is rife with new terminology. Those who argue for a uniform terminology, however, unwittingly attempt to put stratigraphy back in the straitjacket from which it has so recently broken free.

Advancements in our understanding of allocyclic controls, such as tectonics and orbital parameters, have contributed to the current revolution in stratigraphy. In addition, extensive subsurface studies have led to a better understanding of the role of eustasy in packaging strata. Current research in global climate change will undoubtedly lead to a better understanding of the role of climate in determining stratigraphic geometries. The major challenge for the future, however, is the development of a holistic stratigraphy which accepts the reality that allocyclic controls are interrelated. For example, regional variations in land/sea geometries may be controlled by global climatic or tectonic changes. These regional changes themselves may induce local changes in climate, resulting in va iation in rates of sediment supply and types of sediment deposited. Although one allocyclic control may dominate the packaging of some stratigraphic units, it is unreasonable to assume that all other controls were constant.

Eventually the present revolution will run its course. Stratigraphy will continue, however, to be the rigid supportive structure, or skeleton, of geology. In the meantime, it will spawn many new models and theories that have important implications in the search for hydrocarbons.

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91012©1992 AAPG Annual Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 22-25, 1992 (2009)