Andrew D. Miall Stratigraphy: A Modern Synthesis Second Edition Springer Textbooks in Earth Sciences, Geography and Environment The Springer Textbooks series publishes a broad portfolio of textbooks on Earth Sciences, Geography and Environmental Science. Springer textbooks provide comprehensive introduc- tions as well as in-depth knowledge for advanced studies. A clear, reader-friendly layout and featuressuchasend-of-chaptersummaries,workexamples, exercises,andglossarieshelpthe reader to access the subject. Springer textbooks are essential for students, researchers and applied scientists. More information about this series at https://link.springer.com/bookseries/15201 Andrew D. Miall Stratigraphy: A Modern Synthesis Second Edition 123 AndrewD.Miall EarthSciences University of Toronto Toronto, ON,Canada ISSN 2510-1307 ISSN 2510-1315 (electronic) SpringerTextbooks inEarth Sciences, GeographyandEnvironment ISBN978-3-030-87535-0 ISBN978-3-030-87536-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87536-7 1stedition:©SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2016 2ndedition:©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNature SwitzerlandAG2022 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeor part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformationstorageand retrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafter developed. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublicationdoesnot imply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsand regulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbookarebelieved tobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsortheeditorsgiveawarranty, expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeen made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland For Meredith, Henry, Owen and Nora Preface Thestratigraphicrecordisthemajorrepositoryofinformationaboutthegeologicalhistoryof Earth, a record stretching back for nearly 4 billion years. Stratigraphic studies fill out our planet’splate-tectonichistorywiththedetailsofpaleogeography,pastclimatesandtherecord of evolution, and stratigraphy is at the heart of the effort to find and exploit fossil fuel resources. TheexplorationofthishistoryhasbeenunderwaysinceJamesHuttonfirstestablishedthe basic idea of uniformitarianism toward the end of the eighteenth century, and William Smith developed the stratigraphic basis for geological mapping a few decades later. Modern strati- graphicmethodsarenowabletoprovideinsightsintopastgeologicaleventsandprocesseson time scales with unprecedented accuracy and precision, and have added much to our under- standing of global tectonic and climatic processes. But it has taken 200 years and a modern revolution to bring all the necessary developments together to create the modern, dynamic sciencethatthisbooksetsouttodescribe.Ithasbeenaslowrevolution,butstratigraphynow consists of a suite of integrated concepts and methods, several of which have considerable predictive and interpretive power. It is argued in Chap. 1 of this book that the new, integrated, dynamic science that Stratigraphy has become is now inseparable from what were its component parts, including sedimentology, chronostratigraphy and the broader aspects of basin analysis. In this chapter, the evolution of this modern science is traced from its nineteenth-century beginnings, including the contributions that such special fields as facies analysis, fluid hydraulics, plate tectonics, and the reflection-seismic surveying method have made to its evolution. The following are just some of the major features of the Stratigraphy of the early twenty-first century: Sequence stratigraphy has become the standard methodology for docu- mentation, mapping and interpretation, replacing the old descriptive practices of lithostratig- raphy; reflection-seismic methods, including the use of 3-D seismic and the application of seismicgeomorphology,havebecomesteadilymoreadvancedtoolsforsubsurfaceexploration anddevelopment;theGeologicalTimeScaleisbeingstandardizedwiththeuniversaladoption ofthesystemofGlobalStratigraphicSectionsandPoints(GSSPs)andhasbecomemuchmore precise, with the incorporation of several new methods for evaluating deep time. The strati- graphicrecordisnowabletohelpgenerateanswerstomanycomplexquestionsaboutEarth’s past tectonic and climatic history. ThebasicfieldandsubsurfaceobservationsonwhichStratigraphyisbasedaredescribedin Chap. 2. Facies analysis methods are detailed in Chap. 3, and the recognition of depositional environments by facies methods is described in Chap. 4. Chapter 5 provides a succinct summaryofsequencemodelsforsiliciclasticandcarbonatesediments,andChap.6describes modern mapping methods for use in surface and subsurface studies, including seismic methods.ThesynthesisofallthismaterialisdetailedinChap.7,whichincludesadiscussion of the current attempts to standardize sequence-stratigraphic terminology and the Geological Time Scale. Chapter 8, the concluding chapter of the book, focuses on the new understanding we are acquiring about the processes by which the stratigraphic record preserves elapsed geologic time. Refinements in chronostratigraphic methods are revealing the importance of breaks in vii viii Preface the sedimentary record and the ubiquity of missing time, and are revealing an important disconnect between sedimentation rates and preservational processes operating at the present dayversusthoseweinterpretfromtherockrecord.Thiscallsforasignificantmodificationin thewaythatweapplythetraditionalprinciplesofuniformitarianismtoourreconstructionsof geologic history. Some examples of modern stratigraphic work based on very detailed data bases,andmakinguseofmodernconceptsofsedimentationandpresentation,areincludedin this concluding chapter. Thenewsynthesisthatisthesubjectofthisbookisofferedforadvancedundergraduateand graduate training and for use by professionals, particularly those engaged in mapping and subsurface exploration and development. Toronto, Canada Andrew D. Miall July 2021 Acknowledgments ColleagueswhoassistedwiththeearliereditionsofPrinciplesbycriticallyreadingpartsorall of the manuscript include Tony Tankard, Andy Baillie, Guy Plint and Ray Ingersoll. I am eternally grateful for their wise advice, and if they choose to look they will find significant portionsofthebookthatdescribebasicmethods,suchasthedescriptionsoffieldobservations methods and the foundations offacies analysis methods, largely unchanged in this book, in which they constitute Chaps. 2–4. Having the photographs in color has been a nice improvement for which thanks are due to the God of Technology (and Springer). Reviewers for the journal articles from which material in Chaps. 7 and 8 was drawn included Felix Gradstein, Ashton Embry, Bruce Wilkinson, Tony Hallam, Alan Smith, Brian Pratt, Gerald Bryant, John Holbrook, Chris Paola, Pete Sadler, Robin Bailey, Dave Smith, John Howell, and Torbörn Törnqvist. The historical section in Chap. 1 was reviewed by Bill Fisher, Ron Steel, Bob Dalrymple, and Martin Gibling. Chapters 5–7 were critically read by David Morrow. Conversations over the years with Geoff Norris, Nick Eyles, Dale Leckie, Steve Hubbard, Brian Zaitlin, Gerry Reinson, Jim Dixon, Phil Fralick, Jun Cowan, Tobi Payenberg, Bill Galloway, my former colleagues at the Geological Survey of Canada, and manyothersinCalgary,thatamazingcenterofgeologicalactivity,haveallhelpedtoshapemy understanding of stratigraphy and basin analysis. I extend my thanks to all these individuals. Any remaining errors or omissions remain my responsibility. Forthesecondedition,IamonceagainindebtedtoGuyPlintforhisreviewandcomments of the first edition, which have drawn my attention to some new ideas, some errors, and to places where rewriting would improve clarity. David Morrow revealed the mysteries of dolomite to my clastic tin ears. For discussions on the ever-evolving subject of sequence stratigraphy, I benefited from guidance by Octavian Catuneanu. Simon Pattison shared insights from his remarkable era offieldwork on the Mesaverde Group of the Book Cliffs in Utah. Finally, I have enjoyed many e-mail discussions with Janok Bhattacharya and John Holbrook,whichIhopehelpedustoremainsaneduringthepandemic,whilewediscussedthe finer points of what came to be called the stratigraphy machine. Once again, I must acknowledge the enthusiastic support and encouragement of my wife, CharleneMiall.Herinsightsintothescientificmethodandthesociologyofsciencehavebeen particularly invaluable. She has enjoyed the fieldwork, too. Our children, Chris and Sarah, haveconsistentlybeensupportive,andourgrandchildren,Meredith,Henry,Owen,andNora, provide that joy of renewal that makes it all feel worthwhile. ix Revision History My first book, Principles of Sedimentary Basin Analysis, went through three editions, pub- lishedsuccessivelyin1984,1990,and1999.In2014,Irealizedthatitmightbetimeforanew edition.Inreviewingthechangesthathadtakenplaceinthewholebroadfieldofsedimentary geologysincethatlastedition,itbecameclearthatstratigraphyistheareathathasundergone themostsignificantchangesinthelastdecades,andthatiswhatIdecidedwouldmostusefully be treated at length in this book. Stratigraphy has undergone a revolution that has brought together multiple developments dealing with different themes and concepts in sedimentary geology and basin analysis. The following notes refer to the first edition of the present book. Chapter 1 includes anew sectioninwhichItrace the evolution of these many themesand attempttoshowhowtheyhavecometogetherduringthelastfewdecades(sinceabout1990). This is based on a review prepared for Geoscience Canada (Miall, 2015a). The text of Chaps. 2 and 4 from Principles was updated and became Chaps. 2–4 in the presentbook.Chapter3ofPrinciples,whichdealtwithdatingandcorrelation,andtheformal methods for the definition and naming of units, was substantially rewritten and incorporates much of the material I wrote for “Sophisticated Stratigraphy,” a review prepared at the invitationoftheGeologicalSocietyofAmerica(Miall2013).Ithasbeenmovedfurtheralong inthepresentbook,appearingasChap.7,thepointbeingthatstratigraphyshouldnowbeseen as a science that synthesizes sedimentary geology, and which therefore requires that the subject is best addressed once the work of sedimentological description and interpretation is underway. Chapters5and6ofthepresentbookarethosethatunderwentthemostcompleterewriting, to reflect the major changes in the science since the last edition of Principles. Sequence stratigraphy (Chap. 5) has been the standard method for formal description and paleo-geographic interpretation since the 1980s. Mapping methods (Chap. 6) are now domi- nated, at least in the petroleum industry, by the techniques of the reflection-seismic method, including 3-D seismic and the interpretive methods of seismic geomorphology. The study of detrital zircons has added many new dimensions to stratigraphic studies, and this, also, is touched on in Chap. 6. The book culminates with Chap. 8, which is intended primarily as a review of current researchintothenatureofdeeptimeaspreservedinthesedimentaryrecord.Itispartlybased on three research publications (Miall 2014, 2015b, 2016) that focus on modern data dealing with sedimentation and accommodation rates, and the implications of these data for strati- graphic interpretation. The chapter concludes with a review of the current advanced research into cyclostratigraphy and astrochronology. The second edition of this book has been improved with references to many new infor- mative examples of stratigraphic work. Chapters 5 and 7 reflect continuing developments in sequencestratigraphy.Newideasconcerningtheissueofsedimentationrates,timescales,and xi