Book Description

Sequence stratigraphic principals can be applied to carbonate rock sequences. Typical tropical shallow-water carbonate shelves lead to sequence boundary exposure across carbonate platforms, and carbonate deep water deposits during highstands. Rapid carbonate sedimentation across a shelf leads to vertical accretion during the TST and progradation during the HST. Reef-bound shelf margins tend to evolve into escarpment margins with megabreccia development on the slope. Examples are the Devonian of the Canning Basin and the Cretaceous of Mexico. Carbonate ramps typically develop lowstand prograding complexes. Cool-water carbonates develop ramp morphology, independent of light with no framework reefs, and parallel the sequence stratigraphic framework of siliciclastics. The cool water sediments of the Great Australian Bight is an example Mud mound sequences as seen in Morocco are generally independent of sea-level changes, so most sequence stratigraphic concepts are not applicable. In mixed carbonate-siliciclastic situations reciprocal sedimentation results with HST carbonates dominating in the basin and LST clastics dominating in the basin. Sequence stratigraphic concepts are generally not applicable to lacustrine carbonates, but lake dessication cycles present a similar stratigraphic framework as seen in the Tertiary Green River of the Western United States.