Quantifying heterogeneity in beach-shoreface complexes with changing tidal and fluvial influence

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Paleoenvironmental interpretations of sedimentary rocks deposited in marginal-marine settings have traditionally relied upon qualitative comparisons of sedimentological and ichnological characteristics to idealized analogs of wave-, tide-, and river-dominated (WTR) end-member environments. By contrast, the vast majority of the world's sedimentary rocks were deposited on coastlines that were affected by two or three depositional processes, and hence, end-member models cannot be applied. While a range of mixed influence models have been recognized, the continued subdivision of such environments will theoretically result in an infinite number of analogs. As such, it is necessary to move away from such qualitative analogs and move towards process-based models, quantitative datasets, and numerically based classification schemes.