--> ABSTRACT: Calibration and Refinement of the Neogene Eustatic Sea Level Curve by Integration of Sequence Stratigraphic Data with Simulation Results, by Scott A. Bowman, Peter R. Vail; #91020 (1995).

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Calibration and Refinement of the Neogene Eustatic Sea Level Curve by Integration of Sequence Stratigraphic Data with Simulation Results

Scott A. Bowman, Peter R. Vail

Coastal onlap patterns, stratal patterns, and stratal paths from North American, European, African and Australian passive margins form the observational basis for quantitatively defining a Neogene sea level curve. This database is reproduced with a stratigraphic simulator by adjusting the sediment supply history and subsidence rates for each location as frequently as the control horizons.

Improvements to existing sea level curves were executed by simulating stratigraphic sections from various locations to determine the common deviations from observations. A quantitative comparison of the differences between the observed and modeled stratal geometry and paleobathymetry was performed to assess the accuracy of the model. The model variance from the observations often ranges between 5 and 10%.

The revisions to the sea level curve include:

1. adjusting the long-term history to match coastal onlap patterns of passive margins (variations in the Miocene were too high, the high in the early Pliocene can be simulated with a subtle rise after a long-term fall),

2. adding a Late Pleistocene curve based on the DNAG isotope curve (800 thousand years ago to present),

3. adding a new cycle where a consistent pattern of cyclicity in lithofacies was observed on multiple margins,

4. the amplitudes and shapes of individual cycles were adjusted to improve the match between observed and modeled stratal paths, and

5. convolving these cycles with a higher frequency sinusoidal 100 thousand year cycle with a 20 meter amplitude.

This new curve forms a basis for correlation and prediction of lithofacies in untested sections.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91020©1995 AAPG Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, May 5-8, 1995