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Late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentation records changes in glacio-eustatic cycles, oceanography, active tectonics, and sediment supply. Here, we use high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles in Te Tai-o-Aorere Tasman Bay to investigate sedimentary deposit distributions associated with sea-level cyclicity over ∼140 ka. We identify nine seismic stratigraphic units below the inner continental shelf, interpret their character based on stratal relationships and acoustic properties, and infer ages using global sea level. The sequence includes stacked deposits and unconformities associated with the shifting shoreline over glacial cycles. Prominent erosional features include a lowstand ravinement surface and two transgressive surfaces formed during sea-level rise following the last two glacial maxima of ∼20 ka and ∼140 ka. The youngest surface marks the base of post-glacial sediment accumulated since ∼12 ka in the study area. Post-glacial sediment includes five seismically mappable units, covering an area of ∼1400 km2 and deposit volume of ∼9 km3. Time-averaged sediment accumulation rates are estimated to range from a maximum of ∼1.6–2.8 m/kyr to ∼0.5–0.9 m/kyr. Sequence stratigraphy interpreted in Te Tai-o-Aorere Tasman Bay is representative of accumulation in a relatively wide-shelf, sheltered inner bay setting supplied by mountainous catchments, and provides stratigraphic context necessary for future stratigraphic and tectonics studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Upper Cambrian-Tremadocian rocks exposed in the Alfarcito area of Cordillera Oriental, northwest Argentina reveal a series of transgressive-regressive cycles punctuated by incision of fluvio-estuarine valleys. An integrated sedimentologic, biostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic study permits characterization of the sedimentary facies and stratal stacking patterns, and a revision of the stratigraphic framework of this succession. The Upper Cambrian-Tremadocian succession is included within the existing Santa Rosita Formation, which is formally subdivided here into six units, the Tilcara, Casa Colorada, Pico de Halcón, Alfarcito, Rupasca and Humacha members. This scheme recognizes the internal complexities of the formation, in that the Tilcara and Pico de Halcón members record sedimentation in areally-restricted incised valleys and contain structures indicative of tidal dominance, whereas the Casa Colorada, Alfarcito and Rupasca members typify wave-dominated open-marine environments, where background suspension-fallout was punctuated by oscillatory flows during storms. The Tilcara Member is incised into the underlying Mesón Group. The Casa Colorada Member reflects a basinwide Late Cambrian transgression and subsequent progradation and consists of lower to upper offshore deposits. The Pico de Halcón Member is incised into the Casa Colorada Member. The Alfarcito Member is divided into three distinctly upward-coarsening and-thickening intervals. The sandstone-dominated intervals are composed of lower to middle shoreface deposits with minor amounts of offshore transition and upper shoreface deposits. The heterolithic, fine-grained intervals record more distal deposition, ranging from the lower offshore to the offshore transition. The Rupasca Member is a dominantly fine-grained unit that records a major late early to early late Tremadocian transgression. The lower interval of this member consists of lower offshore to offshore-transition deposits, while the upper part is made up of shelf to lower offshore deposits. The Humacha Member is not exposed in the study area. The importance of integrating biostratigraphy within a sedimentologic and sequence-stratigraphic framework is underscored here, in that it enables us to construct a more accurate stratigraphic framework which permits a clear understanding of the sedimentary dynamics of this system.

This study combines data from many published case studies to undertake a quantitative characterization of clastic parasequences, with the aim to determine how accommodation, sediment supply and autogenic sediment‐storage dynamics are recorded in their sedimentary architecture and stacking patterns. Results of this study are used to critically evaluate the validity of paradigms and models that are routinely used to explain and predict trends in the anatomy and arrangement of parasequences. Data on 957 parasequences from 62 case studies of clastic, shallow‐water successions were coded in a relational database, which includes outcrop and subsurface datasets of ancient and Quaternary examples. These units cover the preserved records of both river‐dominated deltas and wave‐dominated coasts, representing shoreline transits over a breadth of timescales, likely of both local and regional extent. The role of extant accommodation, rates of creation of accommodation and rates of sediment supply in determining parasequence architecture is assessed through analysis of relationships between: (i) proxies of these variables at different scales (rates of aggradation and progradation, facies‐belt shoreline trajectories, systems‐tract type, parasequence‐set stacking patterns, parasequence progradation angle and stratigraphic rise, size of feeder rivers); and (ii) parameters that describe the geometry and stacking style of parasequences, and associated shallow‐water sand bodies. Statistical analyses of database outputs indicate which proxies of accommodation, sediment supply and accommodation/sediment‐supply ratio are significant as predictors of parasequence architecture, and allow for interpretations of the importance of allogenic and autogenic factors. The principal results of this study reveal the following: (i) parasequence thickness varies as a function of water depth, accommodation generation and erosional truncation, and these variations are also reflected across types of systems tracts and parasequence sets; (ii) the dip length of parasequence sand bodies demonstrates scaling with measures of accommodation/sediment‐supply ratio at multiple scales, partly in relation to the possible effect of sediment supply on progradation rates; (iii) in systems tracts, stratigraphic trends in parasequence stacking due to autogenic mechanisms or to acceleration or deceleration in relative sea‐level fluctuations are not revealed quantitatively; (iv) some association is seen between the abundance of deltaic or river‐dominated parasequences and progradational stacking; (v) positive but modest correlation is observed between measures of river‐system size and the dip length of shallow‐marine parasequence sand bodies. The resulting insights can be applied to guide sequence stratigraphic interpretations of the rock record and the characterization of sub‐seismic stratigraphic architectures of subsurface successions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strongly progradational regressive stacks of shallow marine sandstones are ubiquitous in modern and ancient coastal depositional systems. Many ancient examples form prolific hydrocarbon and freshwater reservoirs in the subsurface. One of the best areas in the world to study progradational shallow marine successions is the Campanian Book Cliffs of Utah and Colorado, where the Desert Member to Lower Castlegate Sandstone interval served as a foundational data set for early sequence stratigraphic models. A strongly progradational stack of 17 parasequences comprises the Desert–Castlegate interval. Parasequences are 6·5 to 20·7 m thick. Normally regressive coarsening‐upward successions are abundant, as are flat‐topped, rooted foreshore sandstones. Conformable facies contacts mark the transition between the laterally adjoining nearshore terrestrial and shallow marine deposits which are genetically, temporally and spatially linked. The width of the shoreface to inner shelf facies belts varies from 4·8 to 19·9 km per parasequence, with a mean of 12·6 km. Solitary tongue shoreline trajectories are all very low to low angle ascending regressive, varying from +0·0004° to +0·171°. Stacked shoreline system trajectories are also dominantly low angle ascending regressive, with only two descending regressive trajectories, one of which intersects the depositional slope. The predominance of ascending regressive shoreline trajectories and normal regression, rarity of high frequency sequence boundaries, regressive surfaces of marine erosion and descending regressive shoreline trajectories, and absence of third‐order sequence boundaries, incised valley fill deposits and no prolonged and regionally extensive sediment bypass, all point towards increasing sediment supply as the dominant driver of the Desert–Castlegate stratal architectures, while reduced accommodation (i.e. decreasing tectonic subsidence) played a secondary role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Upper Cambrian-Tremadocian rocks exposed in the Alfarcito area of Cordillera Oriental, northwest Argentina reveal a series of transgressive-regressive cycles punctuated by incision of fluvio-estuarine valleys. An integrated sedimentologic, biostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic study permits characterization of the sedimentary facies and stratal stacking patterns, and a revision of the stratigraphic framework of this succession. The Upper Cambrian-Tremadocian succession is included within the existing Santa Rosita Formation, which is formally subdivided here into six units, the Tilcara, Casa Colorada, Pico de Halcón, Alfarcito, Rupasca and Humacha members. This scheme recognizes the internal complexities of the formation, in that the Tilcara and Pico de Halcón members record sedimentation in areally-restricted incised valleys and contain structures indicative of tidal dominance, whereas the Casa Colorada, Alfarcito and Rupasca members typify wave-dominated open-marine environments, where background suspension-fallout was punctuated by oscillatory flows during storms. The Tilcara Member is incised into the underlying Mesón Group. The Casa Colorada Member reflects a basinwide Late Cambrian transgression and subsequent progradation and consists of lower to upper offshore deposits. The Pico de Halcón Member is incised into the Casa Colorada Member. The Alfarcito Member is divided into three distinctly upward-coarsening and-thickening intervals. The sandstone-dominated intervals are composed of lower to middle shoreface deposits with minor amounts of offshore transition and upper shoreface deposits. The heterolithic, fine-grained intervals record more distal deposition, ranging from the lower offshore to the offshore transition. The Rupasca Member is a dominantly fine-grained unit that records a major late early to early late Tremadocian transgression. The lower interval of this member consists of lower offshore to offshore-transition deposits, while the upper part is made up of shelf to lower offshore deposits. The Humacha Member is not exposed in the study area. The importance of integrating biostratigraphy within a sedimentologic and sequence-stratigraphic framework is underscored here, in that it enables us to construct a more accurate stratigraphic framework which permits a clear understanding of the sedimentary dynamics of this system.El análisis de las rocas del Cámbrico Superior-Tremadociano aflorantes en el área de Alfarcito, Cordillera Oriental, noroeste de Argentina, revela una serie de ciclos transgresivos-regresivos e incisiones de valles fluvio-estuarinos. Un estudio sedimentológico, bioestratigráfico y estratigráfico-secuencial integrado proporciona información para caracterizar las facies sedimentarias, analizar los patrones de apilamiento estratal y revisar el marco estratigráfico de estas sucesiones. La sucesión cámbrica-tremadociana es incluida en la Formación Santa Rosita, la cual es formalmente subdividida en seis miembros, Tilcara, Casa Colorada, Pico de Halcón, Alfarcito, Rupasca y Humacha. De este modo, este esquema retiene para el área de Alfarcito una unidad estratigráfica ampliamente aceptada como la Formación Santa Rosita y al mismo tiempo reconoce las complejidades internas de la misma, subdividiéndola en miembros. Los miembros Tilcara y Pico de Halcón registran depositación en valles incisos restringidos arealmente y contienen estructuras indicadoras de dominio mareal. Por el contrario, los miembros Casa Colorada, Alfarcito y Rupasca tipifican sedimentación en ambientes marinos abiertos dominados por el oleaje, donde la sedimentación por decantación alternó con flujos oscilatorios generados durante tormentas. El Miembro Tilcara está inciso en el subyacente Grupo Mesón. El Miembro Casa Colorada refleja una transgresión cámbrica tardía a escala de cuenca y la subsecuente progradación. En el área de estudio, esta unidad está representada por depósitos de offshore inferior a transición a offshore. El Miembro Pico de Halcón está inciso sobre el Miembro Casa Colorada. El Miembro Alfarcito está dividido en tres intervalos muy distintivos grano y estratocrecientes. Los intervalos arenosos están dominados por depósitos de shoreface inferior a medio con proporciones menores de depósitos de transición a offshore y shoreface superior. Los depósitos de los intervalos heterolíticos de grano fino registran depositación en un ambiente más distal, desde el offshore inferior a la transición al offshore. El Miembro Rupasca es una unidad dominantemente de grano fino, que registra una transgresión mayor de edad tremadociana temprana tardía a tardía temprana. El intervalo inferior del Miembro Rupasca consiste en depósitos de offshore inferior a transición a offshore, mientras que el intervalo superior consiste en depósitos de plataforma a offshore inferior. El Miembro Humacha no se encuentra expuesto en el área. La importancia de integrar estudios bioestratigráficos dentro de un marco sedimentológico y estratigráfico-secuencial es resaltada en este estudio. Este enfoque es esencial para construir un marco estratigráfico y correlaciones más precisas que ayuden a clarificar la nomenclatura estratigráfica de la cuenca.

Abstract: By integrating diagenesis and sequence stratigraphy, the distribution of diagenetic alterations and their impact on reservoir quality was investigated within a sequence stratigraphic framework using the fluvial and shallow marine sandstones in the Cambrian–Ordovician succession of southwest Sinai. The perographic and geochemical analysis of the studied sandstone revealed that the eogenetic alterations display fairly systematic spatial and temporal distribution patterns within the lowstand system tract and transgressive system tract, as well as along the sequence stratigraphic surfaces (i.e., sequence boundaries, transgressive surfaces and parasequence boundaries). During relative sea-level fall, percolation of meteoric waters through sandstones of the LST and below sequence and parasequence boundaries resulted in extensive dissolution of detrital grains and formation of kaolinite, authigenic K-feldspar and feldspar overgrowths as well as formation of mechanical infiltrated clays around the detrital grains. During relative sea-level rise, invasion of marine water into the sandstones as a consequence of landward migration of the shoreline, as well as low sedimentation rates encountered in the TST, resulted in the formation of glauconite, apatite and pyrite. Development of pseudomatrix, which was formed by mechanical compaction of mud intraclasts, is mostly abundant along transgressive surfaces and parasequence boundaries of the TST, and is related to the abundance of mud intraclasts in the transgressive lag deposits. The types and extent of eogenetic alterations have an important impact on the distribution of the mesogenetic alterations, including the formation of quartz overgrowths and dickite. Distribution of mesogenetic quartz overgrowths in the sandstones was controlled by the distribution of mechanically infiltrated clays and the presence of eogenetic cement. Sandstones that remained poorly cemented during eodiagenesis and that have thin or discontinuous infiltrated clay rims around the detrital grains were cemented during mesodiagenesis by quartz. The absence of extensive eogenetic cements in the sandstones suggested that the partial deterioration of porosity was mainly due to mechanical compaction. Partial transformation of kaolinite to dickite, which indicates neomorphic change to a better-ordered and more stable crystal structure at the elevated temperatures during mesodiagenesis, is partially a function of distribution of kaolinite during eodiagenesis. The conceptual model developed in this study shows the diagenetic evolutionary pathways in the reservoir sandstones within a sequence stratigraphic context, which in turn provides some insights into the controls on reservoir heterogeneity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The distribution of diagenetic alterations in Triassic fluvio-deltaic, quartzarenitic to sublitharenitic, lowstand systems tract (LST) sandstones of the Grès á Voltzia Formation, anastomosing fluvial, quartzarenitic transgressive systems tract (TST) sandstones of the Grès á Roseaux Formation, and shallow marine, quartzarenitic to sublitharenitic, TST sandstones of the Grès Coquiller Formation, the Paris Basin (France), can be linked to transgression and regression events, and thus to the sequence stratigraphic context. Near-surface eogenetic alterations, which display a fairly systematic link to the depositional facies and sequence stratigraphic framework, include: (i) cementation by meteoric water calcite (δ 18O=−8.9‰ and δ 13C=−9.1‰) in the fluvio-deltaic, LST sandstones, (ii) cementation by mixed marine–meteoric calcite (δ 18O=−5.3‰ to −2.6‰ and δ 13C=−3.9‰ to −1.3‰) and dolomite (δ 18O=−4.6‰ to −2.6‰ and δ 13C=−2.9‰ to −2.3‰) in the foreshore, TST sandstones and below parasequence boundaries (PB), and transgressive surface (TS), and in the shoreface, TST sandstones below maximum flooding surfaces (MFS), being facilitated by the presence of carbonate bioclasts, (iii) dissolution of detrital silicates and precipitation of K-feldspar overgrowths and kaolinite, particularly in the fluvio-deltaic, LST sandstones owing to effective meteoric water circulation, and (vi) formation of autochthonous glauconite, which is increases in abundance towards the top of the fluvio-deltaic, LST sandstones, and along TS, and in the shoreface, TST sandstones, by alteration of micas owing to the flux of seawaters into the sandstones during transgression, whereas parautochthonous glauconite is restricted to the TS sandstones owing to marine reworking. Mesogenetic alterations, which include cementation by quartz overgrowths and illite, display fairly systematic link to fluvio-deltaic, LST sandstones. This study has revealed that linking of diagenesis to transgression and regression events enables a better understanding of the parameters that control the spatial and temporal distribution of diagenetic alterations in sandstones and of their impact on reservoir quality evolution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Jurassic Hugin Formation consists of shallow-marine sandstones that belong to a significant hydrocarbon reservoir in the Sleipner area in the Norwegian North Sea. The formation encompasses coarsening-upward units of mouth bar and shoreface facies, interpreted to record delta outbuilding during regression; and fining-upward units with tidal channel, dune, and tidal flat facies interpreted as part of an estuary environment during transgression. The correlations reveal that the studied part of the Hugin Formation consists of 8 sequences, each with a transgressive and a regressive unit, representing the transgressive systems tract and the highstand systems tract respectively. The sequences are stacked retrogradationally landward as a result of rapid tectonic subsidence and rifting of the Viking Graben. Rifting led to the development of an elongate graben where tidal currents were amplified, wave-action damped and longshore drift (as sediments supply) reduced or absent. Lowstand and forced regressive systems tracts are not identified, and their absence is interpreted to reflect suppression of relative sea level falls in a rapidly subsiding basin where the basin subsidence rate outpaced any potential fall in eustatic sea level. Through facies interpretation and sequence-stratigraphic correlations between wells, these regressive and transgressive units are shown to exhibit characteristic thickness trends in the form of sigmoidal-shaped wedges, stacked in an offset manner in a landward to basinward orientation. These thickness trends illustrate sediment partitioning within the sequences and are explained by the relationship between accommodation versus sediment supply in terms of mass-balance. During regression, the focus of sedimentation was pushed basinward, and during transgression it was pushed landward as sediments were trapped there. The mapping of these sequence-stratigraphic units serves as input to reservoir models and to help increase recovery and identify new exploration targets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Tumbiana Formation (ca. 2.7Ga) is a succession developed in response to Late Archean crustal extension in the Pilbara Craton, northwestern Australia. The formation is characterized by intercalations of stromatolitic carbonates and provides a perspective of the evolution of photosynthetic organisms, which are interpreted to have been responsible for the oxygenation of earth surface environments in early Earth. Here we investigated the depositional setting of the stromatolitic carbonates for the better understand of the environments, which may have controlled the massive development of oxygenic photosynthesis. We studied lithofacies and sequence-stratigraphic features of the Tumbiana Formation in the Redmont area, a southern margin of the northern Pilbara Craton, on the basis of three-dimensional analyses of onshore outcrops. The Tumbiana Formation, as much as 170m thick, unconformably overlies the Early to Middle Archean basement rocks and is unconformably overlain by the Maddina Formation that consists of mafic tuffaceous sediments and basalt lavas. The lower part of the Tumbiana Formation is characterized by planar- and trough cross-stratified conglomerates, which are interpreted to be an alluvial-fan deposit shed from the northern hinterlands and developed mainly in local depressions of the basement rocks during late lowstand and early transgressive stages. The base of the middle part is defined by a transgressive surface of erosion overlain by conglomerates and/or breccias that pass upward to mafic tuffaceous mudstones and sandstones intercalated with accretionary lapillis, breccias, and basalt pillow lavas. Mudstones are commonly laminated and sandstones contain current- and wave ripple-lamination, parallel lamination, hummocky cross-stratification, and trough cross-stratification. In general, the middle part exhibits an overall fining- and coarsening-upward pattern and is interpreted to indicate transgressive and regressive shelf-to-coastal lithofacies successions. In particular, the uppermost horizon of the middle part is characterized by sandstone beds with herringbone structures and desiccation cracks, and is interpreted to indicate an intertidal deposit developed during late highstand and/or following falling stages. The middle part of the formation, in general, thickens to the northern proximal area and eventually flattened out the topographic irregularity of the basement rocks. The upper part is characterized by stromatolitic carbonates, associated with minor mudstones and wave- and current-rippled sandstones, and does not exhibit distinct lateral variation in thickness and vertical lithofacies organization. The base of the upper part is characterized by a transgressive lag deposit. The ensuing transgression over the intertidal deposits of the uppermost middle part is interpreted to have developed a new accommodation space for the vertical stacking of stromatolites with different external shapes from elongated small-domal- and columnar-types associated with desiccation cracks to stratiform- and large domal-types. These changes may have responded to the increase in paleowater depth possibly from intertidal to subtidal environments. In conclusion, stromatolites in the upper Tumbiana Formation in the Redmont area are interpreted to have developed in coastal and shallow marine environments in response to the rise in relative sea level rather than in ephemeral saline lakes as proposed by previous studies. However, the outcome of the present research does not necessarily deny the previously proposed interpretation but suggests spatial variations in depositional environments of the Tumbiana Formation from the north to south. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Tectono-stratigraphic analysis of the East Tanka fault zone (ETFZ), Suez Rift, indicates that the evolution of normal fault segments was an important control on syn-rift depositional patterns and sequence stratigraphy. Sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis of the Nukhul Formation indicates that it was deposited in a narrow (ca1–2 km), elongate (ca5 km), fault-bounded, tidally influenced embayment during the low subsidence rift-initiation phase. The Nukhul Formation is composed of transgressive (TST) and highstand (HST) systems tract couplets interpreted as reflecting fault-driven subsidence and the continuous creation of accommodation in the hangingwall to the ETFZ. The overlying Lower Rudeis Formation was deposited during the high subsidence rift-climax phase, and is composed of forced regressive systems tract (FRST) shallow marine sandbodies, and TST to HST offshore mudstones. Activity on the ETFZ led to marked spatial variability in stratal stacking patterns, systems tracts and key stratal surfaces, as footwall uplift, coupled with regressive marine erosion during deposition of FRST sandbodies, led to the removal of intervening TST–HST mudstone-dominated units, and the amalgamation of FRST sandbodies and the stratal surfaces bounding these units in the footwall. This study indicates that the evolution of normal fault segments over relatively short (i.e.<1 km) length-scales has the potential to enhance or suppress a eustatic sea-level signal, leading to marked spatial variations in stratal stacking patterns, systems tracts and key stratal surfaces. Crucially, these variations in sequence stratigraphic evolution may occur within time-equivalent stratal units, thus caution must be exercised when attempting to correlate syn-rift depositional units based solely on stratal stacking patterns. Furthermore, local, tectonically controlled variations in relative sea level can give rise to syn-rift stacking patterns which are counterintuitive in the context of the structural setting and perceived regional subsidence rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the Jurassic sedimentary successions of Denmark and East Greenland. In comparing the Jurassic succession of both regions, Denmark is limited to the subsurface with exposures on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea while East Greenland is exposed extensively. In subdividing both regions into tectonostratigraphic packages, it reveals that the tectonic evolution and stratigraphic signals are similar but the timing of rift and lift transition is delayed in East Greenland.

The Hawaz Formation comprises a siliciclastic, shallow to transitional marginal marine succession, deposited on the north-western cratonic margin of Gondwana during the Middle Ordovician. This unit is well documented in the north central part of the Murzuq Basin, where it is often dramatically truncated by Late Ordovician glaciation unconformities, generating a major discontinuity, not only in the studied area but also across the whole Saharan Platform of North Africa. The Hawaz Formation is particularly relevant as one of the two major oil-bearing reservoirs in the Murzuq Basin. However, Late Ordovician erosion ensures that its present configuration bears very little relation to the original sedimentary architecture and, consequently, there is a need for a detailed large-scale correlation and sedimentary reconstruction of the Hawaz in order to improve subsurface management of this reservoir unit. The present study was developed from a previous sedimentological characterization of the Hawaz Formation, based on subsurface data provided by 35 wells. This sedimentological background provided the basis for the reconstruction of the sedimentary architecture of this unit by means of eight correlation panels oriented along both sedimentological dip (NNW-SSE) and strike (WSW to ENE). In addition, a series of Gross Depositional Environment (GDE) maps were also generated with the aim of providing insight into the lateral distribution of facies belts within the framework of a sequence stratigraphic-based reservoir zonation. The results of this study suggest that the Hawaz Formation was deposited in a relatively protected or embayed shoreline with multiple bays/estuaries as the main entry points for sediment into the basin, most likely influenced by the effects of pre-existing north-northwest to south-southeast Pan-African structures controlling local accommodation space and reactivated during Ordovician times. Correlation panels and GDE maps also show the Hawaz Formation to be an extensive and continuous reservoir across the studied area, deposited in a broadly extensive subtidal to intertidal paralic environment, with very few or possibly no modern sedimentary analogues. • Multidisciplinary study based on well data comprising conventional wireline logs, cores, image logs and seismic data. • Reconstruction of the sedimentary architecture of the Hawaz Fm. along both sedimentological dip and strike direction. • Gross Depositional Environment (GDE) maps of a Middle Ordovician embayment based on a sequence stratigraphic reservoir zonation. • Deposition of nearshore subtidal to intertidal deposits in an embayed shoreline controlled by eustasy and local tectonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Devonian Period is characterized by an overall mean sea-level higher than is observed today. This pattern is recognized in several basins worldwide and permitted, for example, the flooding of the Rheic ocean through SW Gondwana's cratonic domain. Nonetheless, this flooding was not purely eustatic. The Ordovician-Devonian geodynamic Famatinian episode also played its role. This tectonic-eustatic interplay favored shallow-marine deposition recorded in several SW Gondwana basins, such as the Paraná Basin in Brazil. Even so, the evolution of the Paraná Basin through the Devonian and the factors responsible for the accommodation space remain speculative, which leads to bias regarding the correlation of transgressive-regressive events in SW Gondwana. This work aims, by integrating outcrop and subsurface data, to provide a basin-scale stratigraphic framework and a paleogeographical reconstruction of the Ponta Grossa (Early Devonian) and São Domingos formations (Middle to Late Devonian) of the Paraná Basin. It also correlates the studied interval with adjacent basins to identify the impact of tectonic and eustatic processes on the evolution of SW Gondwana tectono-sedimentary cycles. We identified two 2nd order Transgressive-Regressive sequences that correspond to the lithostratigraphic occurrence of Ponta Grossa and São Domingos formations, respectively, and whose maximum transgressive and regressive surfaces and high-hierarchy unconformities are traceable through adjacent basins. The Ponta Grossa-São Domingos boundary also delineates an important tectonic event associated with far-field stresses probably caused by Precordilleran orogeny related phenomena. The Ponta Grossa and São Domingos formations share several similarities with coeval strata in SW Gondwana basins, indicating that they can be extrapolated and correlated to contemporaneous processes of interregional scale. The first, namely Precordilleran I (Early Devonian) was dominated by tectonics and encompasses the Ponta Grossa and Las Pavas composite sequence set. The second, Precordilleran II (Middle to Late Devonian), was mostly eustatic and encompasses São Domingos and Aguarave composite sequence sets. Both intervals are part of the Famatinian geodynamic cycle. Unlabelled Image • Tectonic was the key-factor for accommodation during the Early Devonian of SW Gondwana. • Eustasy controlled accommodation of Middle and Late Devonian of SW Gondwana. • Second-order sequences are mappable and coeval across SW Gondwana basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parasequences recognized in clastic sedimentary successions of shallow-marine origin are considered by some geologists to be the fundamental building blocks of depositional sequences, even though problems in their definition and application have been identified by others, who instead advocate their abandonment as formal sequence stratigraphic units. To elucidate the geological significance of clastic parasequences and inform the debate on their use in stratigraphy, a quantitative characterization of the geometry, facies characteristics and timescale of deposition of 1163 parasequences has been undertaken based on a synthesis of data from outcrop and subsurface studies that are available in the scientific literature. Through a database compilation, the attributes of the studied parasequences are analysed with respect to the interpreted geological origin of the units, and with consideration of sources of bias and uncertainty. Particular emphasis is placed on assessing the following: (i) the importance of heuristics, and of data types and coverage in the recognition of parasequences; (ii) differences in parasequence characteristics observed across deltaic and shoreface depositional systems, and between the Quaternary and the ancient rock record; (iii) possible explanations for the range in timescales of deposition of parasequences; and (iv) the role of autogenic dynamics on the development of deltaic parasequences, partly based on a comparison with the recent evolution of modern deltas. The results demonstrate that parasequence definition and physical correlation suffer from subjectivity, and that significant variability exists in the spatio-temporal and architectural attributes of clastic parasequences. This gives rise to uncertainty that affects the use of parasequences as a framework for comparison of the architecture of packages of strata originating via shoreline regression: this uncertainty must be considered when using analogue data for subsurface predictions or when attempting comparative studies of clastic successions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated field, petrographical and geochemical investigation reveals a shallow marine dys-oxic depositional setting for the glauconite at the top of the Mesoproterozoic Lower Quartzite Member of the Vindhyan Supergroup. A thorough facies and paleogeographic analysis indicates a storm-influenced, shallow subtidal depositional condition for the glauconitic sandstone, occupying the mid-level of a transgressive systems tract (TST) deposit, which is capped by the maximum flooding zone (MFZ). The X-ray diffractional parameters confirm the evolved character of the glauconite. The mineral chemical analysis indicates the glauconite is enriched in K 2 O, MgO and Al 2 O 3 and depleted in Fe 2 O 3 (total), compared to the Phanerozoic variety. It formed by the pseudomorphic replacement of the K-feldspar, by the addition of Fe 2 O 3 at consistently high content of K 2 O, unlike most Phanerozoic examples. The elevated level of H 3 SiO 4 , Cl, K, Na, Mg and Fe, possibly derived by the continental weathering and/or contemporary volcanism, facilitated the glauconitization process. The high content of Mg in the glauconite corresponds to the Mg-rich, Mesoproterozoic seawater. A dys-oxic depositional condition, associated with a major marine flooding surface, favoured the formation of glauconite. While the onset of anoxic regime caused the disappearance of glauconite and the deposition of pyritiferous and carbonaceous shale in the overlying condensed zone deposits. • Shallow marine Mesoproterozoic glauconites. • Sequence stratigraphic implication. • High -alumina glauconite. • Association of glauconite with major marine flooding surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]