COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Model-Assisted Comparative Sequence Stratigraphy

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One of the most intriguing aspects of the geologic record of global change is the role of orbital forcing in ice volume fluctuations. While the variation in solar insolation resulting from perturbations in the Earth's orbit are relatively small and average out over the year, their effect on global ice volume is quite large. The Miocene is an especially interesting period of global change. Early Miocene oceanic deep water temperatures were much warmer than today. The middle to late Miocene encompasses a major transition toward conditions more like today. Recent studies indicate the mechanism linking Miocene deep water temperatures and global ice volume were quite different from the late Pleistocene. Collaborative research shall achieve an integrated, internally consistent interpretation regarding orbital forcing of Miocene eustasy and resulting sequence stratigraphy of the Baltimore Canyon Trough and the Northwest Gulf of Mexico Basin. Central to this undertaking is the STRATA-various computer program, which has been developed specifically to perform two- and three-dimensional forward modeling of clastic sedimentation within the context of high-frequency glacioeustatic sea level fluctuations. The Miocene sequences of the Baltimore Canyon Trough and the Northwest Gulf of Mexico Basin offer differing and complementary challenges and opportunities. The former is a thinner section, offering better resolution in higher frequency seismic data whereas the latter is thicker, more complete, and has a higher density of well log information available. Both sequences must be affected by the same Miocene glacioeustasy. Can stratigraphy be resolved down to the 10,000 year event level predicted by orbital forcing? More precise and quantitative solutions to stratigraphic problems shall create the framework within which to document the geologic record of global change.