Tides, tectronics and sedimentation

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Sedimentary rocks contain nearly our only record of the history of the Earth's surface, and host almost all of our petroleum and groundwater resources. Of all sedimentary deposits, those that accumulate in the coastal zone are the most complex because they are influenced by virtually all terrestrial and marine processes. While traditional facies and sequence-stratigraphic models allow us to identify and interpret most coastal deposits with at least moderate confidence and detail, those for tidal environments lack sophistication, in part because they have been overlooked. This has occurred because tidal facies models were among the first to be developed (e.g., that for tidal flats), and because most coastal zones are considered to be wave dominated. However, tidal processes operate in all marine coastal settings. Furthermore, it has been recognized recently that significant hydrocarbon reserves, including the Athabasca Oil Sands, occur in tidal deposits; thus, it imperative that we increase our understanding of this complex array of coastal environments. The interpretation of tidal deposits is inherently more complex than that of wave-dominated successions because of pervasive channeling and the non-monotonic changes in facies characteristics (i.e., there is no direct correlation with water depth as there is with wave-generated structures). The heterolithic nature of tidal deposits that occurs because of the stop-start nature of tidal currents makes it very difficult to extract hydrocarbons from such deposits. The research that I propose to undertake is designed to increase our fundamental understanding of the dynamics and facies architecture of tidal environments, by undertaking a unique, integrated examination of selected modern and ancient deposits, supplemented by experimental work. The research program is international in scope, utilizing the very best localities (many of them classic sites) from around the world, in order to maximize the value of the research. Study areas include modern deposits in South Korea and the eastern U.S., and ancient deposits in western Canada, Spain, Norway, and the western U.S. Six graduate students and 2-3 post-doctoral fellows will receive training in the course of this research.