GEOLOGICI

IICOLUMN

The parasequence
J.W. MULHOLLAND, Littleton, Colorado

he parasequence is one of the fundamental stratal units

in sequence stratigraphy. Although individual parasequences are generally below the resolution of seismic lines,
sets of stacked parasequence are distinguishable by their
characteristic stratal patterns. Geologists working with
well logs base much of their interpretation on the recognition of individual parasequences, their vertical and lateral facies relationships, and their stacking patterns. Thus
the parasequence is of prime importance in recognizing
sequences and interpreting depositional and tectonic history from sequence development.
The term parasequence itself is a product of the development of the principles of sequence stratigraphy.
Repetitive, shallowing-upward stratal units were usually
known as cycles, especially in the field of carbonate facies
geology. The word cycle implies a repetitive time series,
and seemed inappropriate for repetitive rock units. Van
Wagoner introduced the term parasequence in 1985 at the
SEPM midyear meeting and later wrote: This usage preserved the dictionary use of the word cycle by Vail et al.
(1977) to indicate a time in which a regularly repeated
event occurs and emphasized the relationship between
the parasequence and the sequence.
It was the development of the concepts of parasequence
stacking patterns as building blocks of sequences that
made them all-important. The fact that parasequences
stack in orderly and predictable patterns controlled by relative sea level enhanced prediction of depositional environments and made subsurface correlation of time and
facies more reliable. Improved correlations produced better reservoir models, new exploration plays, and more
success for the upstream oil and gas industry.
In a previous article, I discussed the architecture of
sequences, or the manner in which parasequences combine in predictable patterns to form sequences. This article will look in more detail at the parasequence itself, the
operative developmental processes, the vertical and lateral
facies relationships that result, and the depositional environments represented. The best guide to this information
is still AAPG Methods in Exploration Series, No. 7,
Siliciclastic Sequence Stratigraphy in Well Logs, Cores, and
Outcrops, by J. C. Van Wagoner, R.M. Mitchum, K.M.
Campion, and V.D. Rahmanian. This report will be mostly
a synopsis of this excellent 1990 publication. The three figures in this article also come from that source.
Characteristics. Parasequences have been identified in all
coastal environments where sea-level variation and sediment variability are sufficient to produce recognizably distinct facies. Most parasequences are progradational, and
all exhibit shoaling-upward features. A siliciclastic parasequence is essentially a miniature highstand systems tract
terminated by a marine flooding surface (abrupt increase
Editors note: The Geologic Column, a monthly feature in The Leading
Edge, is (1) produced cooperatively by the SEG Interpretation Committee
and the AAPG Geophysical Integration Committee, and(2) coordinated
by M. Ray Thomasson and Lee Lawyer. This article is the third in a
series on sequence straigraphy by J.W. Mulholland. The previous articles appeared in January 1998 and June 1998.
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in water depth). While a systems tract is composed of

parasequence sets, the parasequence is composed of bed
sets.
It might be argued that if the upper boundary (the
flooding surface and the thin strata just below it) were
examined closely enough, it would have all the characteristics of a sequence boundary, complete with unconformity, lowstand, or shelf margin systems tract, and a
transgressive systems tract. The flooding surface in effect
is thus a maximum flooding surface and the shale
deposited atop the parasequence is a miniature condensed
section. In certain situations the erosional surface associated with the marine flooding surface (usually in the proximal region of the parasequence) has been called a
transgressive surface of erosion. Further detailed outcrop
studies will be required to resolve the true nature of this
surface, but the fractal nature of sequence architecture
favors the idea that this erosion is the result of sea-level
regression rather than transgression.
In a significant but little known 1974 paper (Texas Bureau
of Economic Geology Circular 74-1), David Frazier pointed
out the (now) obvious, that the sediments for parasequences are delivered by rivers to the coast, and parasequences build seaward and fill the basin from the shore
toward the center. Prior to this, most geologists who
hadnt carefully thought the problem through envisioned
basins as filling from the middle or from the middle toward
the shore. As a case in point, it was widely accepted that
transgressive sheet sands were deposited along the shoreline as it migrated landward with the transgressing sea.
We now know that there is really no such thing as a transgressive sheet sand. It is actually a series of sand bodies
deposited as a retrogradational parasequence set, now
called a transgressive systems tract.
While all parasequences record shoaling-upward conditions, they do not all necessarily display coarseningupward sediments. Van Wagoner and colleagues illustrate
three basic parasequence stratal patterns: the beach parasequence (Figure 1) and the deltaic parasequence (Figure 2),
which are similar and coarsen upward, and the tidal flat
parasequence (Figure 3), which is fining-upward and commonly terminates with a coal bed. While the fining-upward
tidal flat parasequence is rare, it provides a caveat to the
interpreter that geology is never simple.
Boundaries. The parasequence boundary is a marineflooding surface, which represents a relative rise in sea level
(unlike the sequence boundary, which represents a relative fall in sea level). If, however, my suggestion is correct
that a parasequence can be viewed as a very high-order
sequence in miniature, then there is a sequence boundary
at its top and the transgressive systems tract is either very
thin or absent. The marine flooding surface is then actually the maximum flooding surface/condensed section.
The opposing concept that an erosional event at the top of
a parasequence is a product of the transgression echoes
the old view about the nature of transgressive sheet sands.
Van Wagoner et al. devote considerable discussion to the
interpretation of transgressive lag deposits and observe that
few true transgressive lag deposits have been observed on
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marine flooding surfaces. Clearly, this is a topic for further research. Van Wagoner et al. note that the flooding
surface is represented by correlative surfaces both landward and seaward of the coastal marine environment.
Landward, it passes into the coastal plain and may be
identified by subaerial exposure, erosion, and fluvial deposition, none of which are readily traceable. On the marine
shelf the correlative surface lacks evidence of erosion and
is represented by pelagic and hemipelagic deposits.
In many situations a sequence boundary may coincide
with a parasequence boundary. For example, if a sequence
boundary includes incised valleys, the time-stratigraphic
surface it represents also exists between the valleys. As
there may be no detectable erosion between the valleys,
the surface most likely lies atop a parasequence and is coincident with the parasequence boundary. As parasequences
are commonly topped with sandstone beds that tend to be
more resistant to erosion, it follows that on the interfluve
areas between valleys the sequence boundary will lie at
the top of the intervening parasequence.

The parasequence boundary, being a time-stratigraphic

surface, is an excellent horizon for correlation purposes.
It is generally of relatively local extent, however, and by
the nature of sequence architecture is likely to display a
sigmoid downlapping pattern if traced regionally. It is
these surfaces that produce many of the reflections seismic stratigraphers recognize in marine sections.
Stratigraphers working with well log cross-sections will
use them to define the general geometry of stratigraphic
sections prior to working out the details of the fluvial/estuarine sediment packages (i.e., the reservoirs).
Vertical facies relationships. Facies relationships are the
provenance of sedimentologists, and the details are not
appropriate for this overview. As stated above and in a previous article, parasequences display shoaling-upward characteristics. For siliciclastics this generally means facies
transitions from deeper-water marine shales through bioturbated sand-shale interbeds with hummocky bedding of
the lower shoreface, to massive trough cross-bedded upper
shoreface sands, capped by planar laminated beach sands,

OSMB = OUTER STEAMMOUTH BAR

DF = DELTA FRONT,
PRO D = PRO DELTA
SH = SHELF

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WITHIN EACH PARASEQUENCE:

Sandstone bed sets and beds thicken upward
Sandstone/mudstone ratio increases upward
Grain size increases upward
Laminae geometry become steeper upward (in general)
Bioturbation decreases upward to the parasequence boundary
Facies within each parasequence shoal upward
Parasequence boundary marked by:
Abrupt change in lithology from sandstone below the boundary to mudstone or siltstone
above the boundary
Abrupt decrease in bed thickness
Possible minor truncation of underlying laminae
Horizon of bioturbation; bioturbation intensity diminishes downward
Glauconite, phosphorite, shell hash, organic rich shale, shale pebbles
Abrupt deepening in depositional environment across the boundary

WITHIN EACH PARASEQUENCE:

Sandstone beds or bed sets thicken upward
Sandstone/mudstone ratio increases upward
Grain size increases upward
Laminae geometry become steeper upward
Bioturbation increases upward to the parasequence boundary
Facies within each parasequence shoal upward
Parasequence boundary marked by:
Abrupt change in lithology from sandstone below to mudstone above
Abrupt decrease in bed thickness
Possible slight truncation of underlying laminae
Horizon of bioturbation; burrowing intensity decreases downward
Glauconite, shell hash, phosphorite, or organic rich shale
Abrupt deepening in depositional environment across the boundary

Figure 1. Stratal characteristics of a beach parasequence.

Figure 2. Stratal characteristics of a deltaic parasequence.

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estuarine tidal bars, and coal beds. For carbonates, the

facies (depending strongly on the environmental setting)
are commonly represented by transitions from offshore
marine mudstones through nearshore skeletal wackestones
to ooid grainstones or algal stromatolites and tidal flats.
Lateral facies relationships. Walthers law applies here,
and the lateral facies transitions are the same as the vertical facies transitions. Parasequences are constructed of
beds and bed sets, and the facies changes occur bed by bed.
In the seaward direction, facies change from beach to
shoreface to offshore marine shale. Parasequences terminate seaward by thinning, shaling out, and downlapping
onto the sea floor. Parasequences terminate landward in
one of three ways: (1) by onlap onto a sequence boundary; (2) by local or regional erosion due to coastal plain
streams or sequence boundary formation; and (3) by termination of facies, such as a flood tidal delta, into the nondescript coastal plain complex.

Because a parasequence represents a fairly small time

slice and includes a full range of depositional environments
from coastal plain to marine shelf, it makes a good mapping unit. A geologist attempting to map a larger stratigraphic package will be including a number of
parasequences offset from one another according to their
stacking pattern, and both facies and isolith maps will be
smeared representations of the actual paleogeography. The
concept of the transgressive sheet sandstone discussed
above is an excellent historical example of this error.
Effective paleogeographic mapping will confine itself to a
single parasequence. To properly map a complete sequence,
the geologist must map the paleogeography parasequence
by parasequence, which will reveal the same depositional
patterns translated across the shelf and back again as sea
level rises and falls through the transgressive and regressive systems tracts.
Processes. Parasequences form when the rate of generation of accommodation exceeds the rate of sediment supply to the coast. Because relative sea level is always in a
state of change, accommodation is also. As accommodation declines due to failing relative sea level or the rising
sediment wedge, sedimentation patterns change from
aggradational to progradational. A relatively abrupt rise
in relative sea level (caused by sediment compaction in
prodelta muds due to channel avulsion, tectonic subsidence, or eustasy) restores accommodation, generates a
flooding surface terminating the parasequence, and the
cycle repeats.
Parasequence sets. A parasequence set is a succession of
genetically related parasequences forming a distinctive
stacking pattern bounded by major marine-flooding surfaces and their correlative surfaces. (Van Wagoner et al.)
As discussed in a previous article on sequence architecture, parasequence sets are related to and named according to the state of relative sea level for the sequence they
belong to. Stacking patterns and hence parasequence sets
may be either aggradational, retrogradational, or progradational, and are known respectively as shelf margin, transgressive, and highstand systems tracts.

SBT = SUBTIDAL
INT = INTERTIDAL
SRT = SUPRATIDAL

WITHIN EACH PARASEQUENCE:

Sandstone beds or bed sets thin upward
Sandstone/mudstone ratio decreases upward
Grain size decreases upward
Bioturbation increases upward to the parasequence boundary
Parasequence boundary marked by:
Abrupt change in lithology from mudstone or coal below the boundary to sandstone above
the boundary
Abrupt increase in bed thickness
Truncation (several 10s of feet or less) of underlying strata
Abrupt deepening in depositional environment across the boundary

Figure 3. Stratal characteristics of a tidal flat parasequence.

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Summary. The parasequence is the fundamental unit in

the architecture of sequences of third, fourth, and fifth
order. Parasequences are progradational, shoaling-upward
stratal units that occur in all shoreline environments. Most
are also coarsening-upward, with one noted exception.
Parasequence boundaries are marine flooding surfaces,
which are time-stratigraphic horizons. As such they make
good correlation surfaces both in well log cross-sections
and in seismic sections.
Seismic interpreters will see parasequences only as
reflections, and the arrangement of those reflections will
allow them to identify sequences. Geologists working
with outcrops, cores, well logs, and cross-sections will
immediately recognize them as shoaling and/or coarsening-upward stratal units. It will be important for them to
be able to recognize where they fit in a sequence model
and to understand what happens to them laterally in order
to make correct correlations. The parasequence is the key
to valid geologic mapping and it is the link between sedimentology and stratigraphy. LE
Corresponding author: J. W. Mulholland, 7725 West Walker Drive,
Littleton, CO 80213.
OCTOBER 1998

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