Carbonate system tract boundaries, hierarchies & stacking patterns

Differences between carbonates and clastics

Carbonates have some similarities to clastics but major differences in the sequence
stratigraphy of the two sediments exist. While both respond to changes in base level
and both can be subdivided by similar surfaces , the difference in the sequence
stratigraphy of these sediment types is related to carbonate accumulation tending to be
"in situ production" while clastics are transported to their depositional resting place.
Rates of carbonate production are lined to photosynthesis and so are depth dependent
and greatest close to the air!sea interface. "his favors carbonate facies and their fabrics
as clear indicators of sea level position . #dditionally carbonate sediments often have a
biochemical origin and are influenced by the chemistry of the water from which they are
precipitated. "hus the character of a carbonate sediment can change as the plate
tectonic configuration of the depositional setting of the basin responds to pale$climate
change, and!or changes in paleogeography related to isolation or access to the open
sea. "his means that carbonates can be used as indicators of depositional setting that,
when combined with sequence stratigraphy, mae carbonate facies analysis a powerful
tool for the interpretation of the geological section and lithofacies prediction away from
data rich areas.
Subdividing Surfaces
#s with clastic rocs carbonates can be subdivided on the basis of bounding and
internal surfaces into sequences, parasequences and!or truncated carbonate cycles.
"hese can include
%rosion surfaces &'() or eroded parasequence boundaries
*looding surfaces including
o "ransgressive surfaces and!or
o maximum flooding surfaces .
+t should be emphasi,ed that, as has been shown by *ischer &-./0), 1omar 2 Ward
&-...), 3oldhammer,et al, &-..4), and 56#rgenio et al &-..7), that though shallow
cycles of carbonate are composed of a relatively conformable succession of genetically
related beds or bedsets these cycles are often truncated and incomplete so that
maximum flooding and trangressive surfaces can be missing. "his means that these
cycles are not, in the strictest sense, a match for the clastic models of parasequences
described by 8an Wagoner et al, &-...). 9owever as one analy,es the cycles we argue
that they can be used lie parasequences to propose and build process!product
oriented depositional models. 9owever should they exhibit truncated cycles and miss
the sediments of an initial transgression or maximum flooding event one should
consider them as high frequency carbonates cycles, not parasequences.

Carbonate Response to Relative Sea Level Change - Links to ovies,
!"ercises & #pdf files#
Carbonate system tracts 2
enveloping surfaces:
responses to sea level
change.
'ea level rise 2 fall induce
onlapping ramp, and forced
regression of offlapping
system tract &;'") &1omar,
-..-)
<ower rates of carbonate
accumulation of interior
shelf produce lagoon which
gives up in response to sea
level rise.
(ahamian =eogene
carbonate margin
responds to relative sea
level change &%berli et al,
-..0). Seismic !"ercise
%arly Cretaceous 'haybah
*ormation, >#%, carbonate
margin responds to sea
level change &?endall et al,
@444) &below).
Carbonate sigmoids of
Aiocene of Aallorca
capture sea level history
&1omar, -..-). $utcrop
!"ercise
>pper 5evonian Budy
Cree carbonate build up
responds and "3ives up"
with sea level change
&'caturo, et al, -.C.),
<ate Burassic of =equen
(asin mixed carbonate 2
clastic system tracts with
enveloping surfaces:
responding to sea level
change &Aitchum and
>liana, -.CD).
'edpa simulation of
evolving carbonate and
clastic geometries and
cross section responding to
changing base level. <in to
full explanation

%he Carbonate cycle of a Sigmoid verus &arase'uence e"plained
"he basic reefal accretional unit of the Aiocene reef complex of Aallorca is the "sigmoid
". "his is bounded by clear erosion surfaces &the product of sea level lowering and
erosion with a matching correlative surface downdip) but has no obvious marine
flooding surfaces . >pdip and landward the sigmoid is represented by a hori,ontal
lagoonal bed that basinward passes in sigmoidal bedded reef$core lithofacies belt and
seaward into clinoform bedded forereef slope beds and sub$hori,ontal basinal
lithofacies. "he boundary over the lagoonal and reef$core lithofacies of the sigmoid is
formed by an erosional surface that basinward becomes a correlative conformable
surface in the reef slope and basin lithofacies. =otably, the coral$morphology ,onation
within the reef$core facies of the sigmoid migrates seaward, aggrades vertically, or
moves landward over the bounding erosional surfaces. "his enables the sigmoid &lie
system6s tracts) to be tied to specific segments of the sea$level curve. Consequently the
sigmoid can be considered "genetically" as a depositional sequence, though not exactly
fitting the original definition of a parasequence. "his is because the sigmoid, lie the
parasequence , is composed of a relatively conformable succession of genetically
related beds or bedsets . #lso the geometric patterns shown by staced sigmoids can
be used, along with their position within a sequence, lie the patterns of staced
parasequence sets, to define system$tracts , while within lower order depositional
sequences there are sigmoid sets, sigmoid cosets and megasets.
+n the interests of eeping the sequence stratigraphic literature from becoming over
complex it is argued here that during the time interval between the development of the
erosional surface on the underlying sigmoid and the deposition of sediment maring the
boundary of the overlying sigmoid, sea level dropped to be followed by a trangressive
flooding event and the development of a maximum flooding surface. 9owever since no
sedimentary fill has been recogni,ed that records these events, the sigmoid cannot be
inferred to be equivalent to the parasequence, or vice versaE 'imilarly this
"simplification" should not be applied to a shoaling upward carbonate cycle missing
transgressive or maximum flooding sediments. +n this case the "ransgression surfaces
&"') and maximum flooding surfaces &mfs) are not equivalent to erosion surfaces
initially produced by a sea level fall, since the missing sediments mean that one cannot
establish how the erosion surface was modified on the following transgression. Clearly
the truncated high frequency carbonate cycle may have different genetic elements to a
parasequence and should not be considered to be oneE +t should be noted that because
"modern" type of reefal systems are able to build rigid framewors, resistant to wave
energy, this depositional system has the capacity to record even the highest$frequency
sea$level cycles. "hus some sigmoids appear to record 7th order sea$level cycles that
represent a periodicity of few$thousand yearsE ;ther depositional systems that have not
produced this "rigid framewor" to the sea level are not able to record such high$
frequency cycles of sea level and parasequences may form.
1omar &personal communication, @440) proposes that parasequences form in response
to sea$level para$cycles &rise and stillstand of sea level), commonly as a response of
sea$level cyclicity when subsidence equals or exceeds the amount of sea$level fall, ;R
when the sedimentary systems are dominated by loose grains. +n this latter case,
lowering of base level &related to the fall in sea level) would increase basinward
shedding of sediment and these erosional processes onto a granular seabed would not
be recorded as an erosion surface. "his could be the reason that higher$frequency
sequences &simple sequences in 8ail6s definition) at the most commonly record up to
Dth$order cycles of sea level. "hese high frequency carbonate cycles that have the
genetic elements of the parasequence are "of course" carbonate parasequences.
Carbonate &arase'uence (eometries - %ools of the )nterpretation of Depositional
Setting
"he sequence stratigraphy of the carbonate sections is commonly determined from a
combination of @ and F 5 'eismic data &providing a comparatively low frequency
resolution), well logs &providing a comparatively high frequency resolution), cores
&providing very high frequency resolution) and outcrops &with best access to a
combination of high frequency resolution and low frequency resolution).
Click
thumbnail
to access
the large
images
"he analysis of the sequence stratigraphy of carbonates is improved by applying the
recent reali,ations of <arue et al &-..D): 'prague et al, &@44@): 'prague et al, &@44F):
and 'prague et al, &@440) for depositional systems and integratingG
"he bounding surfaces to their system tracts
"he component lithofacies
"he hierarchies in the resulting geometries of the strata
"heir stacing patterns
"hus, as with clastic sediments &'prague et al, @44@), at a general level the physical
stratigraphy of the carbonate strata can be broen down into a hierarchical framewor.
"his framewor ties together genetically related architectural elements and their
associated boundaries . "he hierarchy of these elements is independent of the
thicness and the time invovled in their accumulation. # top down breadown of the
architectural elements shows a progressive decrease in scale from the complex facies
geometries of the basin margin to single tidal flat cycles or beds that accumulated on
shallow shelves or in shallow lagoons. #s 'prague et al, &@44@) showed for clastics,
these carbonate hierarchical elements are directly relatable to stratal units defined on
the basis of sequence stratigraphy. (iostratigraphic data tied to the stratal units enable
the direct comparison between shallow$marine and deeper marine carbonate
sequences and their related units with the potential of correlation of the carbonate
cycles to base level rise and fall.
#ll are the combined products of base level change . "his is particularly true of shallow
water carbonate accumulations which are depth dependent, a response to the paleo$
oceanography, and processes of the depositional setting. "he result of such an analysis
creates a "powerful" framewor of parasequence and high frequency cycle geometries
that can be used to explain, assess and predict reservoir and aquifer quality better
independent of thicness and time.
"his approach even applies in deepwater settings. *or instance, using the "amabra
*ormation of the 1o,a Rica *ield #rea of Aexico as an example, <oucs, et al &@44/)
have demonstrated that deeperwater mass$transport carbonate deposits are carried by
gravity flow and suspension processes into deepwater basinal settings downslope from
margins tied to shallow$water carbonate platforms. 'o while reefal and grain$rich debris
accumulate on the shallow platform carbonate debris wedges extend into the
deeperwater basin.
"he architecture of this debris wedge is related to the availability of source material
during changes in relative sea$level &<oucs, et al., @44/). 5uring sea$level lowstands
and transgressions or during early highstands when the platform rapidly aggrades,
debris and mud flows composed of platform and slope carbonate mud, sand, and clasts
generally accumulate. +n contrast during highstands of sea level when the platform is
flooded and shedding, density$flow and turbidite deposits composed of carbonate sand
and lesser amounts of lime mud collect.
Click thumbnail to access the large images and click on the larger image to see
them full size!
Over
Simple
Dip
Section
*alling Stage &
Lowstand
System %racts
%ransgressive
System %ract
+igh Stand
System %ract
,ormal
arine
Setting
-
Stacking
&atterns
(eometries of Carbonate Strata
"he geometries of carbonate strata are products of the shape of the depositional
surface , changing base level and sediment accumulation. "hey are defined by the
underlying and overlying surfaces. "hese surfaces may be the products of deposition
and!or erosion and can coincide with the depositional event or proceed or follow this.
1hysical erosion, burrowing, boring, dissolution &Clari et al, -..D: <uasi 2 Bames,
@44F), and!or cementation may have modified them. Whatever their origin, these
surfaces provide a convenient means to subdivide the carbonate section. *rom the
perspective of sequence stratigraphy these surfaces are used to determine the order in
which strata are laid down and define the geometries that they enclose.
Over
Simple
Dip
Section
Carbonate fill, a response to
base level change - urray
-asin
Carbonate fill, a
response to base
level change -
urray -asin
Click to access
literature on
Murray Basin &
Carbonate
Surfaces
,ormal
arine
Setting
-
Stacking
&atterns
Click to access
literature on
Burroed
Carbonate &
Clastic
Surfaces
#s with the products of other sedimentary depositional systems carbonate strata exhibit
a hierarchy of scales that include at the small$scale end & beds , bed sets , and bed
cosets) and at the larger spatial scales reef complexes, basin margin and slope
complexes etc. "hese strata can be expressed as unconfined sheets, unconfined but
locali,ed build ups &reefs, bans and islands), unconfined but locali,ed sigmoids &reef
cores, 1omar -..-), ban margins etc.,) and confined incised channels &tidal channels
and the products of flood events). What ever the final geometry this is the product of
both accumulation &aggradation ) and erosion.