The stratigraphic concept of a depositional sequence was introduced to the scientific literature by Peter Vail and his colleagues in the late 70s, building on the shoulders of giants like Chamberlain, Sloss and Wheeler. Since then, several papers compared and contrasted the original sequence-stratigraphic school published in the AAPG Memoir 26 in 1977 with other approaches to subdivide the geologic record, as well as, debating the model validity and impact on the community. At its core, the "model" is really a stratigraphic interpretation method, which was never explicitly documented in the literature. The objective of Sequence Stratigraphy of Siliciclastic Systems is to present the sequence stratigraphic method in its current form in an attempt to clarify its usage and application in diverse geologic data and depositional environments. This publication is the result of more than 3 decades of sequence stratigraphy research and application. The objective is to emphasize the most important aspects of Sequence Stratigraphy – a method to guide geologic interpretation of stratigraphic data (seismic profiles, well-logs, cores and outcrops) across scales (from local to regional and global) and depositional environments (from continental to deep marine).
This book in an 11" × 17" format is designed to be easily used for teaching or self-learning experiences. This second edition of the "Atlas" has been divided in 2 volumes – Exercises and Solutions – to make it easier to use the publication as text book for sequence stratigraphy courses in universities. Also, a new exercise was added and several of the existing exercises went through major updating and editing for this edition.