Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T18:21:28.825Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The New Stratigraphy and its promise for paleobiology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Steven M. Holland
Steven M. Holland*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2501. E-mail: stratum@gly.uga.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

If your undergraduate experience in stratigraphy was anything like mine, it was overwhelmingly dull. It was all about nomenclature and classification and endless lists of formation names. There were apparently no questions to be asked and the goal of stratigraphy was to devise boxes into which to place all types of geologic data. Notwithstanding the important work of correlation, the perception was that it was the sedimentologists who did the real science, science that focused on the processes of sediment accumulation and their controlling factors. Since then, stratigraphy has undergone a conceptual revolution, and it is necessary to examine how the field has changed and what those advances mean for paleobiology.

Type
Matters of the Record
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , Summer 1999 , pp. 409 - 416
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Abbott, S. T., and Carter, R. M. 1997. Macrofossil associations from Mid-Pleistocene cyclothems, Castlecliff Section, New Zealand: implications for sequence stratigraphy. Palaios 12:188–210.Google Scholar
American Commission on Stratigraphic Nomenclature. 1983. North American stratigraphic code. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 67:841–875.Google Scholar
Armentrout, J. M., and Clement, J. F. 1991. Biostratigraphic calibration of depositional cycles: a case study in High Island-Galveston-East Breaks areas, offshore Texas. Pp. 21–51in Armentrout, J. M. and Perkins, B. F., eds. Sequence stratigraphy as an exploration tool: concepts and practices. Gulf Coast Section SEPM Foundation, eleventh annual research conference, Program and abstracts.Google Scholar
Armentrout, J. M., Echols, R. J., and Lee, T. D. 1991. Patterns of foraminiferal abundance and diversity: implications for sequence stratigraphic analysis. Pp. 53–58in Armentrout, J. M. and Perkins, B. F., eds. Sequence stratigraphy as an exploration tool: concepts and practices. Gulf Coast Section SEPM Foundation, eleventh annual research conference, Program and abstracts.Google Scholar
Baum, G. R., and Vail, P. R. 1998. A new foundation for stratigraphy. Geotimes 43:31–35.Google Scholar
Berry, W. B. N., and Boucot, A. J. 1972. Silurian graptolite depth zonation. International Geological Conference 24th Session, section 7, Paleontology, pp. 59–65.Google Scholar
Bowring, S. A., and Erwin, D. H. 1998. A new look at evolutionary rates in deep time: uniting paleontology and high-precision geochronology. GSA Today 8:1–8.Google Scholar
Bowring, S. A., Grotzinger, J. P., Isachsen, C. E., Knoll, A. H., Pelechaty, S. M., and Kolosov, P. 1993. Calibrating rates of Early Cambrian evolution. Science 261:1293–1298.Google Scholar
Bowring, S. A., Erwin, D. H., Jin, Y. G., Martin, M. W., Davidek, K., and Wang, W. 1998. U/Pb zircon geochronology and tempo of the end-Permian mass extinction. Science 280:1039–1045.Google Scholar
Brett, C. E. 1995. Sequence stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and taphonomy in shallow marine environments. Palaios 10:597–616.Google Scholar
Brett, C. E. 1998. Sequence stratigraphy, paleoecology, and evolution: biotic clues and responses to sea-level fluctuations. Palaios 13:241–262.Google Scholar
Brett, C. E., Ivany, L. C., and Schopf, K. M. 1996. Coordinated stasis: an overview. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 127:1–20.Google Scholar
Dockery, D. T. III. 1986. Punctuated succession of Paleogene mollusks in the northern Gulf Coastal Plain. Palaios 1:582–589.Google Scholar
Donovan, A. D. 1993. The use of sequence stratigraphy to gain new insights into stratigraphic relationships in the Upper Cretaceous of the US Gulf Coast. Special Publications of the International Association of Sedimentologists 18:563–577.Google Scholar
Erdtmann, B.-D. 1976. Ecostratigraphy of Ordovician graptoloids. Pp. 621–643in Bassett, M. G., ed. The Ordovician System. Proceedings of a Palaeontological Association symposium, Birmingham, September, 1975. University of Wales and National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.Google Scholar
Goldman, D., Mitchell, C. E., and Joy, M. P.The stratigraphic distribution of graptolites in the classic upper Middle Ordovician Utica Shale of New York State: an evolutionary succession or a response to relative sea-level change? Paleobiology 25:273–294.Google Scholar
Goodwin, P. W., Anderson, E. J., Goodman, W. M., and Saraka, L. J. 1986. Punctuated aggradational cycles: implications for stratigraphic analysis. Paleoceanography 1:417–429.Google Scholar
Haq, B. U., Hardenbol, J., and Vail, P. R. 1987. Chronology of fluctuating sea levels since the Triassic. Science 235:1156–1167.Google Scholar
Hedberg, H. D., ed. 1976. International stratigraphic guide. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Holland, S. M. 1993. Sequence stratigraphy of a carbonate-clastic ramp: the Cincinnatian Series (Upper Ordovician) in its type area. Geological Society of America Bulletin 105:306–322.Google Scholar
Holland, S. M. 1995a. Sequence stratigraphy, facies control, and their effects on the stratigraphic distribution of fossils. Pp. 1–23in Haq, B. U., ed. Sequence stratigraphy and depositional response to eustatic, tectonic and climatic forcing. Kluwer Academic Publishing, Dordrecht, Netherlands.Google Scholar
Holland, S. M. 1995b. The stratigraphic distribution of fossils. Paleobiology 21:92–109.Google Scholar
Holland, S. M. 1996. Recognizing artifactually generated coordinated stasis: implications of numerical models and strategies for field tests. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 127:147–156.Google Scholar
Holland, S. M. 1997. Using time/environment analysis to recognize faunal events in the Upper Ordovician of the Cincinnati Arch. Pp. 309–334in Brett, C. E. and Baird, G. C., eds. Paleontological events: stratigraphic, ecological and evolutionary implications. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Holland, S. M., and Patzkowsky, M. E. 1999. Models for simulating the fossil record. Geology 27:491–494.Google Scholar
Jablonski, D., and Bottjer, D. J. 1991. Environmental patterns in the origins of higher taxa: The post-Paleozoic fossil record. Science 252:1831–1833.Google Scholar
Jacobs, D. K., Landman, N. H., and Chamberlain, J. A. Jr. 1994. Ammonite shell shape covaries with facies and hydrodynamics: iterative evolution as a response to changes in basinal environment. Geology 22:905–908.Google Scholar
Kidwell, S. M. 1991a. Condensed deposits in siliciclastic sequences: expected and observed features. Pp. 682–695in Einsele, G., Ricken, W. and Seilacher, A., eds. Cycles and events in stratigraphy. Springer, Berlin.Google Scholar
Kidwell, S. M. 1991b. The stratigraphy of shell concentrations. Pp. 211–290in Allison, P. A. and Briggs, D. E. G., eds. Taphonomy: releasing the data locked in the fossil record. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Lenz, A. C., and Xu, C. 1985. Graptolite distribution and lithofacies: some case histories. Journal of Paleontology 59:636–642.Google Scholar
Marshall, C. R. 1995. Distinguishing between sudden and gradual extinctions in the fossil record: predicting the position of the Cretaceous-Tertiary iridium anomaly using the ammonite fossil record on Seymour Island, Antarctica. Geology 23:731–735.Google Scholar
Marshall, C. R. 1997. Confidence intervals on stratigraphic ranges with nonrandom distributions of fossil horizons. Paleobiology 23:165–173.Google Scholar
Marshall, C. R., and Ward, P. D. 1996. Sudden and gradual molluscan extinctions in the latest Cretaceous of Western-European Tethys. Science 274:1360–1363.Google Scholar
McGhee, G. R. Jr., Bayer, U., and Seilacher, A. 1991. Biological and evolutionary responses to transgressive-regressive cycles. Pp. 696–708in Ricken, W. and Seilacher, A., eds. Cycles and events in stratigraphy. Springer, Berlin.Google Scholar
Miall, A. D. 1997. The geology of stratigraphic sequences. Springer, Berlin.Google Scholar
Miller, A. I. 1988. Spatio-temporal transitions in Paleozoic Bivalvia: an analysis of North American fossil assemblages. Historical Biology 1:251–273.Google Scholar
Miller, A. I. 1997. Coordinated stasis or coincident relative stability? Paleobiology 23:155–164.Google Scholar
Miller, A. I. 1998. Biotic transitions in global marine diversity. Science 281:1157–1160.Google Scholar
Mitchum, R. M., and Van Wagoner, J. C. 1991. High-frequency sequences and their stacking patterns: sequence-stratigraphic evidence of high-frequency eustatic cycles. Sedimentary Geology 70:131–160.Google Scholar
Morris, P. J. 1996. Testing patterns and causes of faunal stability in the fossil record, with an example from the Pliocene Lusso Beds of Zaire. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 127:313–337.Google Scholar
Olóriz, F., Rodriguez-Tovar, F. J., Marques, B., and Caracuel, J. E. 1993. Ecostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy in high frequency sea level fluctuations: examples from Jurassic macroinvertebrate assemblages. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 101:131–145.Google Scholar
Patzkowsky, M. E., and Holland, S. M. 1999. Biofacies replacement in a sequence stratigraphic framework: Middle and Upper Ordovician of the Nashville Dome, Tennessee, USA. Palaios 13 (in press)Google Scholar
Posamentier, H. W., and Allen, G. P. 1993. Variability of the sequence stratigraphic model: effects of local basin factors. Sedimentary Geology 86:91–109.Google Scholar
Posamentier, H. W., and James, D. P. 1993. An overview of sequence-stratigraphic concepts: uses and abuses. Pp. 3–18in Posamentier, H. W., Summerhayes, C. P., Haq, B. U. and Allen, G. P., eds. Sequence stratigraphy and facies associations. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford.Google Scholar
Sadler, P. M. 1981. Sediment accumulation rates and the completeness of stratigraphic sections. Journal of Geology 89:569–584.Google Scholar
Sadler, P. M. 1994. The expected duration of upward-shallowing peritidal carbonate cycle and their terminal hiatuses. Geological Society of America Bulletin 106:791–802.Google Scholar
Sageman, B. B., Kauffman, E. G., Harries, P. J., and Elder, W. P. 1997. Cenomanian/Turonian bioevents and ecostratigraphy in the Western Interior Basin: contrasting scales of local, regional, and global events. Pp. 520–570in Brett, C. E. and Baird, G. C., eds. Paleontological events: stratigraphic, ecological, and evolutionary implications. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Sepkoski, J. J. Jr., and Sheehan, P. M. 1983. Diversification, faunal change, and community replacement during the Ordovician radiation. Pp. 673–718in Tevesz, M. J. S. and McCall, P. L., eds. Biotic interactions in Recent and fossil benthic communities. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Shaw, A. B. 1971. The butterfingered handmaiden. Journal of Paleontology 45:1–5.Google Scholar
Sheldon, P. R. 1987. Parallel gradualistic evolution of Ordovician trilobites. Nature 330:561–563.Google Scholar
Sundberg, F. A. 1996. Morphological diversification of Ptychopariida (Trilobita) from the Marjumiid biomere (Middle and Upper Cambrian). Paleobiology 22:49–65.Google Scholar
Vail, P. R., Mitchum, R. M., and Thompson, S. 1977. Seismic stratigraphy and global changes of sea level, part 3: Relative changes of sea level from coastal onlap. In Clayton, C. E., ed. Seismic stratigraphy—applications to hydrocarbon exploration. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 26:63–81.Google Scholar
Vail, P. R., Hardenbol, J., and Todd, R. G. 1984. Jurassic unconformities, chronostratigraphy, and sea-level changes from seismic stratigraphy and biostratigraphy. In Schlee, J. S., ed. Interregional unconformities and hydrocarbon accumulation. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 36:129–144.Google Scholar
Van Wagoner, J. C. 1995. Sequence stratigraphy and marine to nonmarine facies architecture of foreland basin strata, Book Cliffs, Utah, U.S.A. In Van Wagoner, J. C. and Bertram, G. T., eds. Sequence stratigraphy of foreland basin deposits. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 64:137–224.Google Scholar
Van Wagoner, J. C., Mitchum, R. M., Campion, K. M., and Rahmanian, V. D. 1990. Siliciclastic sequence stratigraphy in well logs, cores, and outcrops. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Methods in Exploration Series, No. 7.Google Scholar
Wetzel, A., and Aigner, T. 1986. Stratigraphic completeness: tiered trace fossils provide a measuring stick. Geology 14:234–237.Google Scholar
Wignall, P. B., and Hallam, A. 1992. Anoxia as a cause of the Permian/Triassic extinction: facies evidence from northern Italy and the western United States. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 93:21–46.Google Scholar
Wilgus, C. K., Hastings, B. S., Kendall, C. G. S. C., Posamentier, H. W., Ross, C. A., and Van Wagoner, J. C., eds. 1988. Sea level changes: an integrated approach. SEPM Special Publication 42.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, B. H., Opdyke, B. N., and Algeo, T. J. 1991. Time partitioning in cratonic carbonate rocks. Geology 19:1093–1096.Google Scholar