Sequence Stratigraphy

Microfossil Paleoenvironments and Sequence Stratigraphy of Tertiary cool-water carbonates, onshore Gippsland Basin, SE. Australia

by Stephen Gallagher

Fluvial response to an historic lowstand of the Great Salt Lake, Utah

by Kathleen Nicoll

--> Citation : Krysia Skorko, Paul W. Jewell and Kathleen Nicoll. in press 2011. Fluvial Response to an Historic Low Stand of the Great Salt Lake, Utah. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 37:143-156. doi: 10.1002/esp.2226

ABSTRACT Understanding fluvial adjustments to base level changes benefits the fields of sequence stratigraphy,... more ABSTRACT Understanding fluvial adjustments to base level changes benefits the fields of sequence stratigraphy, geomorphology and petroleum geology. This investigation is a modern case study of the channel dynamics of Lee Creek and the Goggin Drain, two streams that are part of the Jordan River drainage into the endorheic Great Salt Lake of northern Utah, a lacustrine system that has experienced multiple, decadal-scale base level changes. Since 1965, the lake level has fluctuated in elevation more than 6 m, transitioning from an historic lowstand [< 1279 m above sea level (a.s.l.)] to an historic highstand (>1284 m a.s.l.), and in 2009–2010 approaching an historic lowstand. This study uses detailed aerial images, fieldwork and LiDAR data to link the modern geomorphology and channel hydraulics to specific variations in sediment transport, channel form, and avulsion behavior. Although Lee Creek and the Goggin Drain are situated only a few kilometers apart and share similar shore zone gradients, substrates and vegetation patterns, and have been subjected to the same changes in lake level, their channel forms have evolved very differently. Differences in discharge patterns are likely the most influential factor causing the meandering form of Lee Creek and the braiding channel of the Goggin Drain. Despite the differences in discharge, total sediment eroded from the two streams is comparable and can be attributed to similar stream power/unit stream width in the two streams. Although Lee Creek has not recently been avulsive, three major avulsions of the Goggin Drain have taken place since 1965. Two possible styles of avulsion are interpreted: an allogenic response to changing base level, and an autogenic response dictated by channel morphology and hydraulics. Despite a wealth of available information, avulsions cannot be unequivocally attributed to one style or another. Caution should be used when attempting to link the complex process of avulsion to causal mechanisms.

Amorosi A, Rossi V, Sarti G, Mattei R (in stampa). Coalescent valley fills from the late Quaternary record of Tuscany (Italy). QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL, ISSN: 1040-6182

by Sarti Giovanni

Three prominent incised-valley fills of post-Last Glacial Maximum age are described from the northern
Tuscan... more Three prominent incised-valley fills of post-Last Glacial Maximum age are described from the northern
Tuscan coast of Italy. Stratigraphic correlation of core data along a cross-section transversal to the present
fluvial-channel axes enables identification of a suite of genetically related valley bodies that fill the incisions
made up by Arno, Serchio and CamaioreeStiava rivers during the last glacial/interglacial cycle. The valley fills
display different shapes and size, but remarkably similar facies architecture. Valley bodies range between 5
and 10 km inwidth, and between 30 and 45 m in thickness, with width/thickness ratios of about 100e300.
Above a lowstand (and early transgressive?) gravel fluvial deposit, the three incised-valley fills display
a distinctive succession of coastal plain to estuarine facies, dated to about 13e8 cal ka BP. Radiocarbon dates
document that the three valleys were active simultaneously. Accommodation space was rapidly created
during transgression and then filled under conditions of very high sediment accumulation (about 1 cm/y). In
contrast to the more common deepening-upward trend recorded by the latest Pleistoceneeearly Holocene
valley-fill successionsworldwide, sedimentation in the Tuscan valleys equalled, or even exceeded, the rate at
which accommodation was created, thus leading to an aggradational, rather than backstepping, stacking
pattern of high-frequency (millennial-scale) parasequences. Above the valley fills and on the interfluves,
a thin deepening-upward succession of nearshore deposits marks the rapid change from aggradational to
retrogradational depositional style. This is invariably overlain by a characteristic shallowing-upwardmotif of
prograding deltaic and coastal facies. The maximumflooding surface, which can be tracked across thewhole
study area on the basis of subtle palaeontologic indicators, is shown to represent an almost isochronous
surface, dated to about 7.8 cal ka BP. Through examination of large-scale geometry and facies attributes of the
valley fills, including the relationships between valley bodies and interfluves, this study represents an
example of how adjacent river systems with significantly different characteristics may respond simultaneously
in a consistent manner to rapid changes in sea-level and climate conditions.

2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved

The Miguasha Fossil-Fish-Lagerstätte: a consequence of the Devonian land–sea interactions

by Richard Cloutier

Authors: Cloutier, R., J.-N. Proust & B. Tessier
Year: 2011
Reference: Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments

The evolution of vertebrate assemblages in terms of fluctuating environments has rarely been investigated for the... more The evolution of vertebrate assemblages in terms of fluctuating environments has rarely been investigated for the Devonian period. Variation of biodiversity (richness, abundance and species composition) in the diverse Devonian fish assemblage of the Escuminac Formation (Quebec, Canada) is analysed in response to changes in lithofacies, depositional environment and taphonomy through time. Five sequences within an inner wave-dominated estuary show shifts in continentalisation. Although a ubiquitous fish assemblage is identified throughout the formation, species are more diversified and species composition is better structured during relative sea-level rise than during still-stand and relative sea-level fall. Konservat and Konzentrat Fossil-Lagerstätte horizons occur in the transgressive phase of the sequences.

Ichnological features of a marine transgression: Middle Miocene Rocky Shores of Tarragona, Spain

by Jordi M. (de) Gibert

Domènech, R.; Gibert, J.M. de; Martinell, J. 2001. Geobios 34(1): 99-107.

Bioerosion traces from six rocky shore localities in the Miocene Tarragona basin are described. The bioerosion affects... more Bioerosion traces from six rocky shore localities in the Miocene Tarragona basin are described. The bioerosion affects Jurassic and Miocene carbonate substrates. The ichnotaxa include borings produced by bivalves (Gastrochaenolites and Phryxichnus), sponges (Entobia), annelids (Maeandropolydora) and sipunculids (Trypanites). Phryxichnus is recorded for the first time in the Miocene. Trace fossil assemblages, although slightly different among localities, can be tipified as a Gastrochaenolites-Entobia assemblage which is typical of Neogene rocky shores and belongs to the Entobia Ichnofacies which characterizes littoral rockground environments since the Jurassic. Borings affect both the rocky substrate and the associated conglomeratic deposits. The assemblages found on wave-cut platforms are composite assemblages resulting from the overprinting of successive ichnocenoses that replace each other during a transgression. The assemblages found in the conglomerates represent less mature communities due to clast instability produced by physical disturbance characteristic of a littoral environment. The rocky shores described in this paper were originated during a single transgressive event that took place during the Langhian-Serravalian (Middle Miocene) and the surface that can be drawn correlating the sites constitutes the base of the Tarragona Depositional Sequence.

Presencia de Teredolites en la Formación Arcillas de Morella (Cretácico Inferior, Castellón)

by Jordi M. (de) Gibert

Ferrer, O.; Gibert, J. M. de 2005. Revista Española de Paleontología, N.E. X, 39-47.

The present paper documents the presence of bored tree logs in the Morella Mudstone Formation (Lower Aptian,... more The present paper documents the presence of bored tree logs in the Morella Mudstone Formation (Lower Aptian, Castellón). Two different forms have been recognized corresponding to two different ichnospecies: Teredolites clavatus and Teredolites longissimus. The borings are similar to those produced nowadays by bivalves of the families Pholadidae and Teredinidae. The presence of the borings in the upper part of the Morella Mudstone Formation, together with other sedimentological and paleontological data, evidence a clear marine (tidal) infl uence for these deposits. The horizon containing Teredolites is interpreted as a transgressive surface (TS) separating the continental red mudstone facies that constitute the lowstand systems tract (LST) and the marine heterolitic facies corresponding to the transgressive systems tract (TST).

Firmground ichnofacies recording high-frequency marine flooding events (Langhian transgression, Vallès-Penedès Basin, Spain)

by Jordi M. (de) Gibert

Gibert, J.M. de; Robles, J.M. 2005. Geologica Acta 3 (3): 295-305.

The decapod burrow Spongeliomorpha sudolica occurs associated with transgressive firmgrounds in the transition between... more The decapod burrow Spongeliomorpha sudolica occurs associated with transgressive firmgrounds in the transition between Aragonian continental red beds and Langhian marine units in some of the inner sectors of the Vallès-Penedès Basin. This ichnospecies designates branching burrow systems with scratch marks in the walls produced by marine crustacean decapods. The occurrence of Spongeliomorpha represents an example of the Glossifungites ichnofacies. The several horizons where the traces are found are intercalated with continental red beds a few meters below the main transgressive surface, which is overlain by fossiliferous marine sandstones. The Spongeliomorpha-bioturbated layers record short, high frequency marine flooding surfaces that may be related either to actual sea-level changes or to variations in tectonic subsidence or sediment input. In any case, these flooding events punctuated the early phases of the Langhian transgression in the basin.

Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Middle Ordovician Hawaz Formation (Murzuq Basin, Libya)

by Jordi M. (de) Gibert

Ramos, E.; Marzo, M.; Gibert, J.M. de; Tawengi, K.S.; Khoja, A.A.; Bolatti, N.D. 2006. AAPG Bulletin 90(9), 1309-1336.

The Middle Ordovician Hawaz Formation is a 200-m (660-ft)-thick succession made up of fine-grained quartzarenites... more The Middle Ordovician Hawaz Formation is a 200-m (660-ft)-thick succession made up of fine-grained quartzarenites displaying a variable degree of bioturbation. It records the deposition in a large-scale, low-gradient estuary, which was partially controlled by tectonic extension. The upper boundary of the formation is marked by two erosion surfaces (unconformities U1 and U2), related to the Late Ordovician glaciation. The U1 and U2 erosion surfaces generated a pronounced paleotopography that controlled the deposition of the Upper Ordovician sequences. Tectonism influenced the paleogeography, although faults were unimportant from the point of view of sedimentary thickness. Tectonic subsidence was moderate, and accumulation rates were low. Physiography favored tidal power, especially during transgressive episodes, when the coastal embayment was flooded. We defined 11 lithofacies, forming 6 facies associations. These associations are subtidal sandstones; storm-reworked, shoreface sandstones; shoreface-to-beach sandstones; channel-sandstone bodies; nearshore to inner-platform sandstones; and K-bentonites. Trace-fossil assemblages match Skolithos and Cruziana archetypal ichnofacies. On the basis of the dominant facies associations and ichnofacies, we divided the formation into three informal units, from base to top: HW.1, HW.2 and HW.3. Periodically, volcanic ash was supplied to the basin from distal eruptive centers and was preserved as thin beds of K-bentonite interstratified with the shoreface sandstones, but not with the tidal-dominated sandstones. We divided the Hawaz Formation into five third-order depositional sequences. Lowstand deposits were not identified. The lower boundaries of transgressive systems tracts are tidal ravinement surfaces or sequence boundaries, whereas the upper boundaries are flooding surfaces. The transgressive systems tracts are constituted by early transgressive tidal deposits separated by a wave ravinement surface from the late transgressive storm-dominated deposits. Highstand systems tracts consist of bioturbated shoreface-to-beach sandstones, which record seaward, shoreline progradation.

Trace fossils and depositional environments in the Hawaz Formation, Middle Ordovician, western Libya

by Jordi M. (de) Gibert

Gibert, J.M. de: Ramos, E.; Marzo, M. 2011. Journal of African Earth Sciences 60, 28-37.

The ichnology of the Middle Ordovician Hawaz Formation in the Gargaf uplift (W Libya) is here reported. Eleven... more The ichnology of the Middle Ordovician Hawaz Formation in the Gargaf uplift (W Libya) is here reported. Eleven ichnogenera have been identified in this shallow marine formation: Arthrophycus, Bergaueria, Cruziana, Daedalus, Lockeia, cf. Psammichnites, Planolites, Rusophycus, Skolithos, Teichichnus and Thalassinoides. Their distribution is clearly linked with lithofacies and depositional paleoenvironments. Nearshore to shoreface sandstone facies are characterized by dense, pipe-rock occurrences of Skolithos, which is a characteristic association in high-energy, sediment-shifting, shallow marine settings in the lower Paleozoic. This Skolithos ichnofacies is related to regressive sand belts prograding during high-stand sea level conditions. In contrast, heterolithic facies, most abundant in transgressive intervals, are dominated by horizontal burrows and trails, characteristic of the Cruziana ichnofacies. Higher diversity is achieved in those heterolithics found as forming part of the storm-dominated facies association, while similar facies associated to tidal deposits exhibit a less variety and abundance of traces indicating less favorable ecological conditions.

Stratigraphy and fluvial sedimentary facies of the Neocomian lower Strzelecki Group, Gippsland Basin, Victoria

by Stephen McLoughlin

Reference:
Tosolini, A-M. P., Mcloughlin, S. & Drinnan, A.N., 1999. Stratigraphy and fluvial sedimentary facies of the Neocomian lower Strzelecki Group, Gippsland Basin, Victoria. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 46, 951–970.

The Strzelecki Group incorporates Berriasian to Albian, fluvial sediments deposited in the Gippsland Basin during... more The Strzelecki Group incorporates Berriasian to Albian, fluvial sediments deposited in the Gippsland Basin during initial rifting between Australia and Antarctica. Neocomian strata of the lowermost Strzelecki Group are assigned to the Tyers River Subgroup (exposed in the Tyers area) and the Rhyll Arkose (exposed on Phillip Island and the Mornington Peninsula). The Tyers River Subgroup incorporates two formations: Tyers Conglomerate and Rintoul Creek Formation. The latter is subdivided into the Locmany and Exalt Members. Ten fluvial sedimentary facies are identified in the lowermost Strzelecki Group: two gravelly facies; four sandy facies; and four mudrock facies. Associations of these facies indicate: (i) prevalence of gravelly braided-river and alluvial-fan settings during deposition of the Tyers Conglomerate; (ii) more sluggish, sandy braided to meandering fluvial systems during Locmany Member sedimentation; and (iii) a return to active, sandy, braided-river settings for deposition of the Exalt Member. The Tyers Conglomerate and Rhyll Arkose rest on an irregular erosional surface incised into Palaeozoic rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt. The overlying Rintoul Creek Formation incorporates more mature sediments where lithofacies associations varied according to base-level change, variations in subsidence rates, and/or tectonic uplift of the principal sediment source terranes to the northwest.

Black shale, grey shale, fossils and glaciers: Anatomy of the Upper Ordovician-Silurian succession in the Tazzeka Massif of eastern Morocco

by Daniel Le Heron

Le Heron, D.P., Khoukhi, Y., Paris, F., Ghienne, J-F., Le Herisse, A. 2008. Gondwana Research 14, 483-496.

A 400 m thick clastic succession of Late Ordovician through Silurian age crops out in the Tazzeka Massif, eastern... more A 400 m thick clastic succession of Late Ordovician through Silurian age crops out in the Tazzeka Massif, eastern Morocco. Biostratigraphic data (chitinozoa, acritarchs) constrain these rocks to the Late Katian through Hirnantian (coeval with glaciation in Gondwana), with a ~ 8 Myr hiatus at the Ordovician-Silurian boundary. Sedimentological analysis reveals six facies associations, including interbedded black and grey shale couplets (poorly oxygenated shelf sediments), a bioturbated shale with wave rippled sandstone (inner shelf deposits), several occurrences of diamictite (of probable glaciogenic origin), interbedded sandstone and mudstone (storm and fair-weather wave agitated shoreface), rippled sandstone (storm return flow deposits) and amalgamated sandstone deposits (delta-front debris flows). Direct evidence for glaciation in the Hirnantian deposits is poor. Third order sequence stratigraphic analysis reveals two transgressive systems tracts (Late Katian and intra-Hirnantian), two highstand systems tracts (both intra-Hirnantian), lowstand wedges probably corresponding to two principal glacial lowstands, two maximum flooding surfaces (Late Katian and intra-Hirnantian), and a major ravinement surface (Hirnantian-Silurian contact). Remote from the centre of glaciation, the Tazzeka succession is suggested to be an excellent reference section with which to understand glacially-moderated sea-level changes in the Late Ordovician. Silurian (Late Llandovery or younger) shale geochemistry indicates organic enrichment (TOC > 4.5%). This organic enrichment greatly increases the known extent of the upper of two Silurian organic shales across North Africa (potential hydrocarbon source rocks) across the region.

Truncated higher order sequences as responses to compressive intraplate tectonic events superimposed on eustatic sea-level rise

by Gabor Demeter

Sedimentary Geology, 2009, 219. pp. 208-236.

Oldest Cretaceous sequence, Giralia Anticline, Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: late Hauterivian–Barremian

by Stephen McLoughlin

Reference:
McLoughlin, S., Haig. D.W., Backhouse, J, Holmes, M.A., Ellis, G., Long, J.A. and McNamara, K.J. 1995. Oldest Cretaceous sequence, Giralia Anticline, Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia: late Hauterivian-Barremian. AGSO Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics, 15: 445-468.

Outcrop of the oldest Cretaceous sequence in the Giralia Anticline and the Giralia No, 1 well, penetrating the same... more Outcrop of the oldest Cretaceous sequence in the Giralia Anticline and the Giralia No, 1 well, penetrating the same sequence, are described and biostratigraphically assessed in detail. The Cretaceous rocks lie on an erosion surface cut into Permian strata. A 10 m thick basal sand unit, the Birdrong Sandstone, is overlain by 56 m of carbonaceous siltstone-mudstone (Muderong Shale). The Birdrong Sandstone in the anticline belongs to the Muderongia australis Zone of late Hauterivian-Barremian age, as does the lower part of the Muderong Shale. The age of the upper Muderong Shale is uncertain, as is the age of a 10 m thick sandstone unit (probable Windalia Sand Member) which separates the Muderong Shale from the late Aptian Windalia Radiolarite. Abundant fossil conifer wood, much of it with Teredolites borings, is present in outcrop referred to the upper part of the Birdrong Sandstone. Scattered ichthyosauran bones, probable plesiosauran remains, and rare ammonites also are present at this level. A growth-ring analysis of the wood suggests that a seasonal humid mesothermal climate prevailed in the region. Changes in sediment composition, palynomorph assemblages, and foraminiferal biofacies reflect retrogradation of marine facies during deposition of the Birdrong Sandstone and lowermost Muderong Shale, followed by aggradation through most of the Muderong Shale with maximum water depths less than 50 m. Within the sequence, the Birdrong Sandstone and the lowermost Muderong Shale represent a transgressive systems tract, whereas most of the Muderong Shale belongs to a highstand systems tract. The sequence reflects a transgressive pulse that was part of the progressive submergence of vast areas of the Australian continent during the Early Cretaceous. This late Hauterivian-Barremian transgressive pulse is recognised in widely separated basins and may represent a synchronous continent•wide sea level rise.

Crenistria Event and Asbian-Brigantian Transition In the South Portuguese Zone-Sea Level Control on a Hemipelagic Late Dinantian Platform

by Dieter Korn

Depositional environments and sequence stratigraphic analysis of the middle Pleistocene Kongochi Formation

by Masakazu Nara

Crowded Rosselia socialis in Pleistocene inner shelf deposits: Benthic paleoecology during rapid sea-level rise

by Masakazu Nara

Silurian

by Živilė ŽIGAITĖ

Jank, M., Wetzel, A. &Meyer, Ch. A. 2005. Late Jurassic sea-level fluctuations in NW Switzerland (Late Oxfordian to Late Kimmeridgian): closing the gap between the Boreal and Tethyan realm in Western Europe

by Christian Meyer

Facies (2005)
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In Late Jurassic times, the Swiss Jura carbonate
platform occupied the transition between the Paris Basinmore In Late Jurassic times, the Swiss Jura carbonate
platform occupied the transition between the Paris Basin
and the Tethys and thus connects the Boreal and Tethyan
realm. Up to now, the lack of index fossils in the Reuchenette
Formation prevented a reliable correlation between
both areas (its sediments are characterised by a prominent
sparseness of index fossils). Now, seven recently in situ
collected species of ammonites helped to establish a new
sequence-stratigraphical frame for the platform sediments
of the Reuchenette Formation in NW Switzerland. Based
on biostratigraphical data, five third-order sedimentary
sequences were assigned to the Late Oxfordian to Late
Kimmeridgian. The upper three third-order sequences
correspond to the Boreal sequences Kim3–5 of Hardenbol
et al. (1998). The deduced large-scale sea-level fluctuations
match those from other European regions (Spain, Russia).
This biostratigraphically based sequence-stratigraphical
frame is a prerequisite to refine correlations within a wider
area covering the Swiss Jura and parts of adjacent France
and Germany.

Jank, M., Meyer, Ch. A. & Wetzel, A. 2006. Late Oxfordian to Late Kimmeridgian carbonate deposits of NW Switzerland (Swiss Jura): Stratigraphical and palaeogeographical implications in the transition area between the Paris Basin and the Tethys

by Christian Meyer

Sedimentary Geology 2006
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Geological sections of the shallow-water, carbonate-dominated sedimentary system of the Late Jurassic Reuchenette... more Geological sections of the shallow-water, carbonate-dominated sedimentary system of the Late Jurassic Reuchenette Formation in northwestern Switzerland have been studied between the southern Jura Mountains and the Tabular Jura. The largest sections show a characteristic cyclic stacking pattern. Up to now, the age of these sediments (including the type-section) linking the Boreal and Tethyan realms, was biostratigraphically poorly constrained. In the Tabular Jura five 3rd order sequences can be assigned to the Planula- to Eudoxus-Zone (Late Oxfordian to Late Kimmeridgian) using index-fossils (ammonites and ostracodes; This time control and several new outcrops, in combination with mineralostratigraphical and lithological marker beds, allow the correlation and dating of the thickest sections of the Reuchenette Formation and thus serve to improve the previously estimated ages of their sequence boundaries.
The variability of stacking pattern and facies between sections also reveals distinctive changes in facies evolution, related to
Late Palaeozoic basement structures and synsedimentary subsidence. These structures acted as important controlling factors for the sediment distribution of the Reuchenette Formation besides the sea level fluctuations. The interplay of sea level changes and synsedimentary subsidence is outlined by lateral thickness variations and shifting depositional environments.
A close examination of these changes also sheds much light on the nature of platform topography in the transition area between
the Paris Basin in the north and the Tethys in the south, or more generally between the Boreal and Tethyan realms. During the
Planula- to Divisum-time-intervals the study area was a flat platform with a more or less uniform facies distribution, which
connected the above-mentioned realms. During the Divisum-to Acanthicum-time-intervals this platform changed into a pronounced basin-and-swell morpoholgy, with specific depositional environments and separated the Paris Basin from the Tethys.

Jank, M., Meyer, Ch. A. & Wetzel, A. 2006. Late Oxfordian to Late Kimmeridgian carbonate deposits of NW Switzerland (Swiss Jura): Stratigraphical and palaeogeographical implications in the transition area between the Paris Basin and the Tethys

by Christian Meyer

Sedimentary Geology 2006
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Geological sections of the shallow-water, carbonate-dominated sedimentary system of the Late Jurassic Reuchenette... more Geological sections of the shallow-water, carbonate-dominated sedimentary system of the Late Jurassic Reuchenette Formation in northwestern Switzerland have been studied between the southern Jura Mountains and the Tabular Jura. The largest sections show a characteristic cyclic stacking pattern. Up to now, the age of these sediments (including the type-section) linking the Boreal and Tethyan realms, was biostratigraphically poorly constrained. In the Tabular Jura five 3rd order sequences can be assigned to the Planula- to Eudoxus-Zone (Late Oxfordian to Late Kimmeridgian) using index-fossils (ammonites and ostracodes; This time control and several new outcrops, in combination with mineralostratigraphical and lithological marker beds, allow the correlation and dating of the thickest sections of the Reuchenette Formation and thus serve to improve the previously estimated ages of their sequence boundaries.
The variability of stacking pattern and facies between sections also reveals distinctive changes in facies evolution, related to
Late Palaeozoic basement structures and synsedimentary subsidence. These structures acted as important controlling factors for the sediment distribution of the Reuchenette Formation besides the sea level fluctuations. The interplay of sea level changes and synsedimentary subsidence is outlined by lateral thickness variations and shifting depositional environments.
A close examination of these changes also sheds much light on the nature of platform topography in the transition area between
the Paris Basin in the north and the Tethys in the south, or more generally between the Boreal and Tethyan realms. During the
Planula- to Divisum-time-intervals the study area was a flat platform with a more or less uniform facies distribution, which
connected the above-mentioned realms. During the Divisum-to Acanthicum-time-intervals this platform changed into a pronounced basin-and-swell morpoholgy, with specific depositional environments and separated the Paris Basin from the Tethys.