Offered through South Dakota School of Mines and Technology/Black Hills Natural Sciences Field Station
- May 29 – June 18 (4 Credits)
- Four Credit: $4695
Information and Registration:
- For course details contact Dr. William Little, Owner LGC: wwlittle@gmail.com
- For registration information contact Dr. Nuri Uzunlar, Director SDSCMT/BHNSFS: nori.uzunlar@sdsmt.edu
- SDSMT Website Link
Who Should Attend:
This course is designed as a capstone experience for junior- and senior-level undergraduate students majoring in geology, who have a basic understanding of depositional systems and stratigraphic principles but desire a stronger working knowledge of sequence stratigraphy through a hands-on field experience. In addition to enhancing a student’s knowledge of sequence stratigraphy, this camp is designed to help the student develop solid critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills, as well as proper application of the scientific method.
Course Description:
The Book Cliffs, Utah have become the premier locality globally for field teaching of sequence stratigraphy. Continuous, well-exposed and easily-accessible outcrops make it possible to analyze facies relationships of stratigraphic sequences in great detail, both in terms of lateral variation (systems tracts) and vertical stacking patterns (parasequences). Most significant clastic depositional systems are represented, including meandering, braided, and anastomosed fluvial; fluvial- and wave-dominated deltas; transgressive and regressive shorefaces; tidally-dominated estuaries; and “deep-water” mudstones. This makes the Book Cliffs an excellent classroom to study the interrelationship between eustatic and tectonic development of accommodation space and subsequent filling by clastic sediment.
The Book Cliffs region is often cited as an analog for subsurface exploration, particularly in foreland basins, and sequence stratigraphy has become one of the leading methods for correlating and mapping depositional packages, leading to significant discoveries of petroleum in fields that had been abandoned, as well as new discoveries. To that end, this course is directly applicable to the exploration, characterization, simulation, and development of petroleum reservoirs. Because of its impact on fluid migration and the importance of determining migratory paths for mineral-bearing solutions, groundwater flow, and tracing of contaminant migration, sequence stratigraphy is also becoming more widely applied to the fields of mining geology and hydrology. This course gives participants an opportunity to view sequence stratigraphic features directly in outcrop, giving a better perspective when making similar interpretations based on cores, logs, and seismic sections.
Exercises include measurement of stratigraphic sections, drafting of stratigraphic columns, correlation of columns, creation of regional cross sections, development of detailed outcrop facies maps, logging core, and completion of formal reports and oral presentations. Exercises become progressively more complex throughout the camp, with a final comprehensive/unifying project.
Course Outcomes:
- Develop a strong, working understanding of concepts and principles associated with sequence stratigraphy (e.g. significant surfaces, systems tracts, stacking patterns, relationships between space production and filling).
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Examine and interpret vertical and lateral variations in stacked parasequences through recognition and analysis of facies and facies associations.
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Measure and correlate multiple sections within a single parasequence to illustrate the concept of a systems tract.
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Map individual parasequences along depositional dip to illustrate lateral facies changes from coastal plain fluvial environments through shoreface/deltaic systems to the basinward pinchout into marine deposits.
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Produce outcrop facies maps (architectural analyses) of full depositional sequences.
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Distinguish between auto- and allogenic depositional controls (base level, eustasy, tectonics, compaction, climate) in sequence development.
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Construct facies models for a variety of clastic depositional systems.
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Apply sequence stratigraphic concepts to both outcrop and core.
- Use multiple-working hypotheses to demonstrate the possibility of more than one reasonable interpretation for the same succession.
Prerequisites:
Physical geology, historical geology, mineralogy, petrology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, and structural geology. Exceptions considered.
