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Atlas of sequence stratigraphy

A classic topographic expression of resistant regressive sandstone cycles, each culminating in a maximum flooding surface in parasequences from the Jurassic Bowser Basin, northern British Columbia. The MFS in the foreground occurs just above the prominent bench where it is overlain by coarsening upward shale-sandstone of the succeeding regression. At least four such packages are present in this view (arrows indicate approximate MFS positions). Maximum regressive surfaces are also present below the MFS, as shown in the previous image. In each cycle, the transgressive package accounts for 10% or less of the total cycle thickness.
A classic topographic expression of resistant regressive sandstone cycles, each culminating in a maximum flooding surface in parasequences from the Jurassic Bowser Basin, northern British Columbia. The MFS in the foreground occurs just above the prominent bench where it is overlain by coarsening upward shale-sandstone of the succeeding regression. At least four such packages are present in this view (arrows indicate approximate MFS positions). Maximum regressive surfaces are also present below the MFS, as shown in the previous image. In each cycle, the transgressive package accounts for 10% or less of the total cycle thickness.

This category of Atlas images, is not intended as a comprehensive outline or set of definitions of sequence stratigraphy, but rather field examples of strata, stratigraphic trends (an essential component of systems tracts), and stratigraphic surfaces.  There are many excellent journal papers, text books, and conference short courses devoted to sequence stratigraphy, so consult them if needs be. 

The link to Sequence Stratigraphic Principles will take you to more descriptive posts.

The Atlas of Unconformities also has additional examples of sequence boundaries

Some key sequence stratigraphic components illustrated here include (abbreviations on the images):

HST        Highstand Systems Tract (progradational-aggradational) overlies the MFS and underlies the erosion surface formed during the FSST)

FSST       Falling Stage Systems Tract (forced regression and progradation during relative sea-level fall)

LST         Lowstand systems tract (now restricted to end of relative sea-level fall and beginning of sea-level rise)

TST        Transgressive Systems Tract (above the transgressive surface; Retrogradational onlapping during rising relative sea-level and low sedimentation rates. Condensed stratigraphy).

MSF        Maximum Flood Surface (at the transition to sedimentation rates greater than creation of accommodation space. Also the base of the HST).

The images are taken from the Late Cretaceous Eureka Sound Group in Sverdrup Basin, Arctic Canada, and the Jurassic-Cretaceous Bowser Basin in northern British Columbia.

Eureka Sound Group

Late Cretaceous to Middle Eocene 3rd-order stratigraphic sequences in the Eureka Sound Group, Canadian Arctic Islands (mostly Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg islands). Sequences 1 and 2, mainly wave-dominated deltas, and along the eastern basin margin, estuarine - shelf. Sequences 3 and 4: river-dominated deltas, sandy inner shelf, muddy outer shelf; Sequence 5 basin inversion and fragmentation into small, thrust-related, syntectonic basins. Sequence 5 represents the acme of the Eurekan Orogeny.
Late Cretaceous to Middle Eocene 3rd-order stratigraphic sequences in the Eureka Sound Group, Canadian Arctic Islands (mostly Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg islands). Sequences 1 and 2, mainly wave-dominated deltas, and along the eastern basin margin, estuarine – shelf. Sequences 3 and 4: river-dominated deltas, sandy inner shelf, muddy outer shelf; Sequence 5 basin inversion and fragmentation into small, thrust-related, syntectonic basins. Sequence 5 represents the acme of the Eurekan Orogeny.
Sequence 1, wave-dominated delta parasequences; tops defined by flooding surface. The transgressive systems tract in each is relatively thin. Strand Fiord, Axel Heiberg Island. There is about 150m of stratigraphy in this view.
Sequence 1, wave-dominated delta parasequences; tops defined by flooding surface. The transgressive systems tract in each is relatively thin. Strand Fiord, Axel Heiberg Island. There is about 150m of stratigraphy in this view.
Detail of Sequence 1; coarsening upward, wave-dominated delta parasequence and MFS. Axel Heiberg Island. Thinner beds have current ripples, bioturbation; bedform size and abundance increases upward as sandstone dominates. Some parasequences have HCS in the top part of the HST.
Detail of Sequence 1; coarsening upward, wave-dominated delta parasequence and MFS. Axel Heiberg Island. Thinner beds have current ripples, bioturbation; bedform size and abundance increases upward as sandstone dominates. Some parasequences have HCS in the top part of the HST.
Sequence 1, Major unconformity between Ordovician limestone and onlapping Lower Paleocene estuarine, sandy shelf-bar-sand spit, and tidal channels. Combined  karstification and erosion produced significant paleotopgraphy on the unconformity. Mount Moore, eastern Ellesmere Island.
Sequence 1, Major unconformity between Ordovician limestone and onlapping Lower Paleocene estuarine, sandy shelf-bar-sand spit, and tidal channels. Combined  karstification and erosion produced significant paleotopgraphy on the unconformity. Mount Moore, eastern Ellesmere Island.
Sequence 1 estuarine, sand spit, and shallow shelf bars, onlapping karst surface on Ordovician limestones, Mount Moore, eastern Ellesmere Island. In the foreground, crossbedded sandstone is in direct contact with paleotopography.
Sequence 1 estuarine, sand spit, and shallow shelf bars, onlapping karst surface on Ordovician limestones, Mount Moore, eastern Ellesmere Island. In the foreground, crossbedded sandstone is in direct contact with paleotopography.
Reconstructed Early Paleocene paleotopography and Sequence 1 facies.  For details see: Ricketts, B.D.  1991: Lower Paleocene drowned valley and barred estuaries, Canadian Arctic Islands: aspects of their geomorphological and sedimentological evolution; in Clastic Tidal Sedimentology, Rahmani, R.A., Smith, D.G., Reinson, G.E., and Zaitlin, B.A. (ed.); Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 16, p. 91-106.
Sequence 3. River-dominated prodelta - delta front parasequences.  About 300m of stratigraphy here. Abrupt, mappable parasequence tops coincide with the MFS. Axel Heiberg Island. The HST part of parasequences higher in the succession are capped by thin coal beds (e.g., as vegetated interdistributary bay).
Sequence 3. River-dominated prodelta – delta front parasequences.  About 300m of stratigraphy here. Abrupt, mappable parasequence tops coincide with the MFS. Axel Heiberg Island. The HST part of parasequences higher in the succession are capped by thin coal beds (e.g., as vegetated interdistributary bay).
Sequence 3: FSST with forced regressive wedge - sharp-based shoreline sandstones formed by wave erosion as sea-level falls. The subsequent TST and HST extends to the right of the image. Axel Heiberg Island.
Sequence 3: FSST with forced regressive wedge – sharp-based shoreline sandstones formed by wave erosion as sea-level falls.  The subsequent TST and HST extends to the right of the image. Strand Bay Fm. Axel Heiberg Island.
Sequence 3, as in the above image, focusing on the FSST. Strand Bay Fm. Axel Heiberg Island.
Sequence 3, as in the above image, focusing on the FSST. Strand Bay Fm. Axel Heiberg Island.
A sharp-based sandstone wedge deposited during forced-regression. This exposure at Expedition Fiord, Axel Heiberg Island. RSME = Regressive surface of marine erosion; FS = marine flooding surface, HST = top of underlying Highstand succession.
A sharp-based sandstone wedge deposited during forced-regression. This exposure at Expedition Fiord, Axel Heiberg Island. RSME = Regressive surface of marine erosion; FS = marine flooding surface, HST = top of underlying Highstand succession.
Sequence 3. Downlap surface with basinward progradation of mudstone fine-grained sandstone.
Sequence 3. Downlap surface with basinward progradation of mudstone fine-grained sandstone.
Another view of the downlap surface.
Another view of the downlap surface.
Sequence 3: Strongly aggradational HST, shelf parasequences, South Bay, Ellesmere Island.
Sequence 3: Strongly aggradational HST, shelf parasequences, South Bay, Ellesmere Island.
Sequence 3: Shelf parasequences, mostly HST, thin TST, and MFS that corresponds with the resistant top of each cycle. For an overview see the image above. South Bay
Sequence 3: Shelf parasequences, mostly HST, thin TST, and MFS that corresponds with the resistant top of each cycle. For an overview see the image above. South Bay
Sequence 3: A great example of a higher-order subaerial sequence boundary (SB) (top of coal seam), thin TST muddy sandstone, MFS, and HST. The orange blobs are mineralized tree roots. It's also a much younger me. Strathcona Fiord, Ellesmere Island.
Sequence 3: A great example of a higher-order subaerial sequence boundary (SB) (top of coal seam), thin TST muddy sandstone, MFS, and HST. The orange blobs are mineralized tree roots. It’s also a much younger me. Strathcona Fiord, Ellesmere Island.
Sequence 3, a different perspective of above image.
Sequence 3, a different perspective of above image.

Bowser Basin

Mid-shelf parasequences with well defined MFS, transgressive surfaces, and TSTs - see following image. Tsatia Mountain, Bowser Basin.
Mid-shelf parasequences with well defined MFS, transgressive surfaces, and TSTs – see following image. Tsatia Mountain, Bowser Basin.
Closer view of a mid-inner shelf parasequence, Tsatia Mountain, Bowser Basin. The coarsening upward HST is capped by a pebbly, fossiliferous TST and MSF. The transgressive surface is one of marine erosion during changing wave-base.
Closer view of a mid-inner shelf parasequence, Tsatia Mountain, Bowser Basin. The coarsening upward HST is capped by a pebbly, fossiliferous TST and MSF. The transgressive surface is one of marine erosion during changing wave-base.
Detail of the top HST, transgressive surface (of erosion), the fossiliferous, pebbly TST (ammonites and bivalves), a calcareous mudstone that is part of the condensed TST stratigraphy when terrigenous sediment input was at its lowest, the MFS, and succeeding HST. Tsatia Mountain, Bowser Basin.
Detail of the top HST, transgressive surface (of erosion), the fossiliferous, pebbly TST (ammonites and bivalves), a calcareous mudstone that is part of the condensed TST stratigraphy when terrigenous sediment input was at its lowest, the MFS, and succeeding HST. Tsatia Mountain, Bowser Basin.
The Tsatia Mountain section contains some shelf parasequences that are truncated by lowstand, channelized fluvial sandstone - the LST. The TST is a thin, pebbly mudstone similar to that in the image immediately above. Bowser Basin.
The Tsatia Mountain section contains some shelf parasequences that are truncated by lowstand, channelized fluvial sandstone – the LST. The TST is a thin, pebbly mudstone similar to that in the image immediately above. Bowser Basin.
Closer view of the abrupt contact between the erosional base of the LST fluvial channel, and the preceding shelf parasequence. Tsatia Mountain, Bowser Basin.
Closer view of the abrupt contact between the erosional base of the LST fluvial channel, and the preceding shelf parasequence. Tsatia Mountain, Bowser Basin.

Pleistocene-Recent

Wave erosion of Late Quaternary tidal flat and salt marsh - mangrove deposits at two locations: left – an estuary in Auckland Harbour (New Zealand), and the Galveston coast. The ravinement surface in both examples is at the level of the modern beach-tidal flat. The resulting stratigraphy will present in ascending order as tidal flat or beach sands, overlain by a thin remnant of salt marsh mud, the scoured (wave) ravinement surface, overlain by beach or subtidal deposits
Wave erosion of Late Quaternary tidal flat and salt marsh – mangrove deposits at two locations: left – an estuary in Auckland Harbour (New Zealand), and the Galveston coast (below). The ravinement surface in both examples is at the level of the modern beach-tidal flat. The resulting stratigraphy will present in ascending order as tidal flat or beach sands, overlain by a thin remnant of salt marsh mud, the scoured (wave) ravinement surface, overlain by beach or subtidal deposits
Wave erosion of Late Quaternary tidal flat and salt marsh - mangrove deposits at two locations: left – an estuary in Auckland Harbour (New Zealand), and the Galveston coast. The ravinement surface in both examples is at the level of the modern beach-tidal flat. The resulting stratigraphy will present in ascending order as tidal flat or beach sands, overlain by a thin remnant of salt marsh mud, the scoured (wave) ravinement surface, overlain by beach or subtidal deposits
Wave erosion of Late Quaternary tidal flat and salt marsh – mangrove deposits at two locations: left – an estuary in Auckland Harbour (above, New Zealand), and the Galveston coast. The ravinement surface in both examples is at the level of the modern beach-tidal flat. The resulting stratigraphy will present in ascending order as tidal flat or beach sands, overlain by a thin remnant of salt marsh mud, the scoured (wave) ravinement surface, overlain by beach or subtidal deposits
Lowstand surface in a coastal dune complex. Valley (outlined) eroded into Pleistocene coastal dunes during sea level lowstand. The valley was later filled by a younger dune complex as sea level rose. Kariotahi, New Zealand
Lowstand surface in a coastal dune complex. Valley (outlined) eroded into Pleistocene coastal dunes during sea level lowstand. The valley was later filled by a younger dune complex as sea level rose. Kariotahi, New Zealand
A swath of beach gravels driven by storms over the adjacent salt marsh. Cobequid Bay, an inlet in Fundy Bay, Nova Scotia. Landward migration of the beach can potentially remove all or some of the underlying salt marsh deposits. An analogue for a storm-driven ravinement surface.A swath of beach gravels driven by storms over the adjacent salt marsh. Cobequid Bay, an inlet in Fundy Bay, Nova Scotia. Landward migration of the beach can potentially remove all or some of the underlying salt marsh deposits. An analogue for a storm-driven ravinement surface.
A swath of beach gravels driven by storms over the adjacent salt marsh. Cobequid Bay, an inlet in Fundy Bay, Nova Scotia. Landward migration of the beach can potentially remove all or some of the underlying salt marsh deposits. An analogue for a storm-driven ravinement surface.

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A classic topographic expression of resistant regressive sandstone cycles, each culminating in a maximum flooding surface in parasequences from the Jurassic Bowser Basin, northern British Columbia. The MFS in the foreground occurs just above the prominent bench where it is overlain by coarsening upward shale-sandstone of the succeeding regression. At least four such packages are present in this view (arrows indicate approximate MFS positions). Maximum regressive surfaces are also present below the MFS, as shown in the previous image. In each cycle, the transgressive package accounts for 10% or less of the total cycle thickness.
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