William Smith Meeting 2014:
The Future of Sequence Stratigraphy: Evolution or Revolution?
This meeting brought together a diverse range of sedimentary geologists to foster a critical examination of the current state of the sequence stratigraphic model, and to highlight robust new methods, concepts and protocols that could evolve or maybe even potentially revolutionize stratigraphic understanding and prediction.
Developments in this area seem likely to come from a combination of outcrop, geostatistical / stochastic approaches, physical experiments including large flume tank studies, and numerical approaches to the modelling of erosion-transport-depositional systems, all under the umbrella of the Landscape Into Rock concept. However, presentation of brand-new innovative methods, including cross-disciplinary methods that bring in ideas from other branches of science, was also encouraged.
The meeting was organized into a series of themed sessions, with an emphasis on provocative but practical presentations. Presentations were scheduled to ensure there is plenty of time to debate all the issues raised in the meeting. In a final session, the conveners chaired a discussion targeted at achieving a consensus view on how the subject should move forward.
Conference Sessions:
- Sequence Stratigraphy assumpions and methods
- Sea level and Geodynamics
- Multiple Controls
- The impact of variable sediment flux
- What next for sequence stratigraphy? Evolution or revolution?
Keynote Speakers
-
Ron Steel, University of Texas & University of Aberdeen: William Smith lecture: The Sequence Stratigraphy Revolution
- Henry Posamentier, Chevron: How has Sequence Stratigraphy delivered on its promise? Insights from seismic data
- Mike Gurnis, Caltech: Is there a stable reference frame for eustasy?
- Tetsuji Muto, University of Nagasaki: The autostratigraphic view of non-uniqueness
- Rob Gawthorpe, University of Bergen: A 'source-to-sink' perspective on Sequence Stratigraphy: Accommodation vs sediment supply as drivers of depositional sequences
Convenors
- Professor Peter Burgess (Royal Holloway University London)
- Professor Philip Allen (Imperial College London)
- Professor Paul Wright (PWGC ltd)
William Smith Lecture: The Sequence Stratigraphy Revolution
The 2014 William Smith lecture was given by Ron Steel (University of Texas & University of Aberdeen) on 22 September.