Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Highlights—Mixing it Up in the Neuquén Basin

High-resolution sequence stratigraphy can be challenging, but mixed carbonate-siliciclastic systems offer unique challenges, but at times unique insights as well.  In this paper, Schwartz et al. document outcrop and subsurface data from a Cretaceous proximal to distal transect of the Neuquén Basin of western Argentina, exploring controls on high-resolution stratal patterns. The results suggest transgressive carbonate hemicycles, overlain by storm- and wave-influenced siliciclastic shoreface deposits during regressions. The data suggest that autogenic or eustatic controls did not control facies patterns; rather changes in sediment supply related to more arid–more humid shifts are interpreted to control the patterns in these strata.  These results emphasize the potentially important role of climate shifts on stratigraphy, and highlights its potential use for correlation.



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