Abstract
A fundamental framework of the concept of sequence stratigraphy is discussed in this paper. Development of a depositional sequence is interpreted to be controlled by interaction between relative changes in sea level and sediment supply. Transgression-and-regression cycles and changes in paleowater depth are also a result of the two major controls, but are commonly misinterpreted to be equivalent to relative changes in sea level. The interaction of relative changes in sea level and sediment supply also control spatial variation in the onset of a regressive highstand deposit. This indicates that a maximum flooding surface is not necessarily synchronous. Variation in sediment supply is commonly estimated based on sedimentation rates. However, sedimentation rates are a result of aggradational stacking of deposits and are, in general, controlled by subsidence rates rather than only by sediment supply. Detailed identification and interpretation of depositional facies in stratigraphic successions seem to be critical to predict spatial and temporal variations in sediment supply in a sedimentary basin.
