Sequence Stratigraphy Course

Lesson 1 • Facies Concepts and Walther's Law

Defines facies, facies associations, and vertical stacking patterns. Walther's Law connects lateral facies belts to vertical successions observed in cores.

Lesson 2 • Depositional Environments Overview

Introduces continental, transitional, and marine settings and their characteristic facies. Links environment to the stratigraphic patterns examined later.

Lesson 3 • Subsidence, Accommodation, and Sedimentation

Explains tectonic subsidence, thermal subsidence, and sediment supply as controls on stratigraphic architecture. Sets up the accommodation concept central to sequence stratigraphy.

Lesson 4 • Sedimentary Rock Classification

Covers clastic, carbonate, and chemical rock types with diagnostic textures. Provides the lithologic vocabulary required throughout the course.

Lesson 1 • Sequence Boundaries and Unconformities

Defines type-1 and type-2 sequence boundaries and their correlative conformities. Students distinguish erosional truncation from conformable equivalents in seismic and outcrop.

Lesson 2 • Systems Tracts: Definition and Stacking

Defines lowstand, transgressive, and highstand systems tracts and their internal stacking patterns. Students predict reservoir and source rock distribution within each tract.

Lesson 3 • History and Evolution of the Discipline

Traces the development from seismic stratigraphy to modern sequence models. Contextualizes competing schools of thought students will encounter in literature.

Lesson 4 • Sequence Hierarchy and Cyclicity

Introduces first- through fifth-order sequences and their driving mechanisms. Hierarchy recognition guides correlation scale and exploration targeting.

Lesson 1 • Eustasy: Mechanisms and Magnitudes

Examines glacioeustasy, thermoeustasy, and aquifer eustasy with documented magnitudes. Provides the baseline for separating eustatic from tectonic signals in the record.

Lesson 2 • Tectonic Controls on Basin Architecture

Covers extensional, compressional, and strike-slip basin types and their subsidence histories. Tectonic setting determines the long-term accommodation framework for sequences.

Lesson 3 • Climate and Sediment Supply Variability

Links climate cycles to weathering, erosion, and sediment flux changes. Students assess how supply-driven sequences differ from accommodation-driven ones.

Lesson 4 • Carbonate Factory Responses to Controls

Explains how carbonate production rates respond differently to sea-level and climate than siliciclastics. Prepares students for carbonate sequence analysis in later chapters.

Lesson 1 • Seismic Geomorphology Applications

Uses time-slice and stratal-slice techniques to reveal ancient depositional systems. Geomorphologic patterns confirm systems tract interpretations and guide well placement.

Lesson 2 • Systems Tract Mapping in 3D Seismic

Applies systems tract concepts to 3D seismic volumes using horizon slices and attribute maps. Students delineate lowstand fans, shelf margins, and transgressive sheets.

Lesson 3 • Seismic Data Fundamentals

Reviews seismic acquisition, processing, and display conventions relevant to stratigraphic interpretation. Correct understanding of polarity and resolution prevents misidentification of surfaces.

Lesson 4 • Seismic Facies Analysis

Defines seismic facies using reflection amplitude, continuity, frequency, and geometry. Seismic facies map directly to depositional environments and systems tracts.

Lesson 1 • Identifying Key Surfaces in Wells

Applies criteria for sequence boundaries, flooding surfaces, and maximum flooding surfaces to log and core data. Students annotate well composite logs with stratigraphic surfaces.

Lesson 2 • Well-to-Well Stratigraphic Correlation

Constructs cross-sections correlating key surfaces across multiple wells. Correlation reveals basin-scale architecture and validates seismic interpretations.

Lesson 3 • Wireline Log Fundamentals

Reviews gamma ray, resistivity, neutron-density, and sonic log responses in key lithologies. Log literacy is prerequisite for all subsurface sequence interpretation tasks.

Lesson 4 • Log Motifs and Stacking Patterns

Interprets fining-upward, coarsening-upward, and blocky log motifs as systems tract indicators. Motif analysis links log data directly to sequence stratigraphic surfaces.

Lesson 1 • Fluvial and Alluvial Sequences

Examines how accommodation changes control fluvial architecture from amalgamated to isolated channel belts. Students predict net-to-gross ratios across accommodation cycles.

Lesson 2 • Deep-Water Systems and Lowstand Fans

Examines submarine fan architecture, channel-lobe complexes, and their sequence stratigraphic position. Lowstand fans are primary exploration targets in many basins.

Lesson 3 • Shelf and Slope Depositional Systems

Covers shelf-edge trajectories, slope instability, and sediment bypass during lowstands. Students predict where sand is delivered to the slope and basin floor.

Lesson 4 • Integrated Siliciclastic Case Study

Integrates seismic, well log, and core data to build a complete sequence stratigraphic model for a clastic basin. Students present a systems tract map with exploration implications.

Lesson 1 • Diagenesis and Sequence Boundaries

Links subaerial exposure, meteoric diagenesis, and dolomitization to sequence boundaries. Diagenetic overprinting affects reservoir quality and surface recognition.

Lesson 2 • Carbonate Case Study: Platform to Basin

Integrates outcrop, core, and seismic data to reconstruct a carbonate sequence stratigraphic model. Students map systems tracts from platform interior to basin floor.

Lesson 3 • Carbonate Systems Tracts

Applies lowstand, transgressive, and highstand concepts to carbonate platforms with production-rate modifications. Students identify highstand shedding and lowstand exposure.

Lesson 4 • Mixed Carbonate-Siliciclastic Systems

Examines how siliciclastic influx suppresses or modifies carbonate production during sea-level cycles. Students predict facies distribution in mixed systems.

Lesson 1 • Integrated Basin-Scale Sequence Model

Builds a basin-scale sequence stratigraphic model integrating all data types and controls. Students present an exploration-ready model with ranked prospects and next-step recommendations.

Lesson 2 • Play Fairway Analysis

Constructs play fairway maps using systems tract geometry and risk parameters. Students quantify geological risk for each play element using sequence-based criteria.

Lesson 3 • Stratigraphic Trap Identification

Identifies pinch-out, onlap, and truncation traps using sequence stratigraphic geometry. Stratigraphic traps are underexplored in many basins and require sequence-based methods.

Lesson 4 • Sequence Stratigraphy in Field Development

Applies sequence concepts to reservoir characterization, well planning, and production optimization. Intra-reservoir baffles and flow units correspond to sequence stratigraphic surfaces.