Two models: global sea-level change and sequence stratigraphic architecture

Two different conceptual models underlie the application of sequence stratigraphy by Exxon stratigraphers and later researchers. One, the global sea-level model (GSM), relates to presumed sea-level behaviour through time; the other, the sequence stratigraphic model (SSM), relates to the stratigraphic record produced during a single cycle of sea-level change. Though the two models are inter-related they are logically distinct, and it is important to test them separately. A summary is presented of the nature of the two models, and of the nomenclature that is used in their description. It is concluded (a) that the global sea-level model comprises an assembly of local relative sea-level events which are widely recognisable within their parent sedimentary basin; and (b) that the sequence stratigraphic model is robust, and its application is therefore an insightful way to approach the interpretation of sedimentary rocks. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.