Reprinted from: Coalson, E.B., Osmond, J.C., and Williams, E.T.

, 1997, Innovative applications of petroleum technology in the Rocky Mountain Area: Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, Denver, Colorado, p. 183-203

Correlation Strategies for Clastic Wedges

Timothy A. Cross and Margaret A. Lessenger Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401 (USA)

Abstract The Mesa Verde clastic wedge of the San Juan basin contains 15 genetic sequences arranged in seawardstepping (lower Mesa Verde) and landward-stepping (upper Mesa Verde) stacking patterns. Stacking patterns are associated with lithology and facies diversity of shoreface facies tracts, symmetries of stratigraphic cycles in continental and shallow marine strata, water depth of marine shelves, and lithology of shelf strata. The shoreface facies tract of seaward-stepping genetic sequences is a heterolithic mix of sand and mud, whereas shoreface sandstones of landward-stepping genetic sequences are homogeneous and mud free. Stratigraphic steps and risers which characterize the seaward-stepping lower Mesa Verde are associated with wave-dominated shoreface and tide-dominated bay facies, respectively. Stratigraphic cycles in continental and shelf strata originate at the vertical risers of the Point Lookout shoreface. Different correlation strategies must be applied to the seaward- and landward-stepping portions of clastic wedges. Shorefaces of seaward-stepping genetic sequences normally prograde over deep shelves below wave base and build their own shelf platform. Correlations within these follow original topographic profiles from the flat coastal plain (0.01 to 0.001), across the more steeply inclined (0.1 to 5) shoreface or deltafront, onto and across the intermediate gradient shelf. Shorefaces of landward-stepping genetic sequences prograde across shallow shelves within wave base. During progradation, sediment is winnowed from the shoreface and swept by the wave-base razor across the shallow shelf to distance sites below wave base. Normally the first site for sediment accumulation below wave base is beyond the depositional limit of the underlying shoreface. Correlations of landward-stepping genetic sequences follow the topographic profile of the coastal plain and shoreface or deltafront to a bypass surface on the top of the underlying genetic sequence, and then to an aggradational shelf cycle beyond the shoreface depositional limit of the underlying genetic sequence.

Introduction Cretaceous strata of the North American Western Interior occur in several basin-scale clastic wedges which correspond to long-term expansions and contractions of the Cretaceous Seaway (e.g., see summaries in Weimer, 1960; Armstrong, 1968; McGookey, 1972; Gill and Cobban, 1973; Kauffman, 1977; Lillegraven and Ostresh, 1990; Flores and Cross, 1991; Roberts and Kirschbaum, 1995). These clastic wedges contain variable mixtures of terrestrial, paralic (estuarine, bay, lagoonal, coastal marsh, barrier system), shoreface or delta front, and shelf strata. The shallow marine portions of these clastic wedges emanated from point sources (river mouths) or line sources (strand plains) in front of the Sevier foreland fold-and-thrust belt along the western margin of the seaway (Armstrong, 1968). Delta fronts or shorefaces prograded episodically across

marine shelves of variable water depths. Although the areal dimensions, stratigraphic thicknesses, facies tract volumes and stratigraphic geometries of these clastic wedges change along strike as a function of geographic variations in rates of subsidence and sediment supply, the wedges apparently record synchronous, basin-scale base-level oscillations (Gardner and Cross, 1994). Cretaceous clastic wedges of the Western Interior are representative of clastic wedges composed of terrestrial to marine shelf strata throughout the world. A knowledge of the behavior of stratigraphic process-response systems developed through study of these clastic wedges is applicable to other clastic wedges in other basins. Because of good outcrop exposures and closely spaced wells, these wedges have been and continue to be a source of stratigraphic insight and a testing ground for developing new methodologies of stratigraphic analysis

Clastic wedges are composed of some combination of seaward-stepping, landward-stepping and vertically stacked progradational/aggradational stratigraphic units, also termed genetic sequences. Cross (1988) showed that sediment volumes of facies tracts change regularly with changes in stacking patterns. Numerous other sedimentologic and stratigraphic attributes also change regularly with the variations in sediment volumes in facies tracts, and are predictable from the geometric stacking pattern of genetic sequences. For example, Cross et al. (1993) showed regular relationships between sediment volume in facies tracts, degree of facies diversity and lithologic heterogeneity, degree of preservation of original geomorphic elements, stratigraphic architecture, facies associations and successions, and stratigraphic control on geomorphic elements which occupy environments. This report adds to the types of observed associations between stacking patterns and stratigraphic and sedimentologic attributes through analysis of the Mesa Verde (Campanian) clastic wedge in the San Juan basin. We show that shorefaces sandstones of landwardstepping genetic sequences are mud free, in contrast to heterolithic seaward-stepping shorefaces. Shelf strata of seaward-stepping genetic sequences are mud rich because the shorefaces prograded into deep shelves below wave base and the shoreface filter was less effective. By contrast, shelf strata of landward-stepping genetic sequences are sand rich because the shorefaces prograded across shallow shelves within wave base and the shoreface filter was more effective. Symmetries of stratigraphic cycles in continental and shallow marine strata change as a function of geographic proximity to positions where shoreface aggradation: progradation ratios change. We recognize as a regular stratigraphic motif that wave-dominated, open-ocean-facing shorefaces alternate with coarser grained (reservoir quality), tidal-dominated sandstones of embayed coastlines. The former is a product of lower accommodation:sedi-ment supply ratio during base-level fall, whereas the latter occurs during base-level rise when the shoreface aggradation:progradation ratio and accommodation increase. This stratigraphic couplet occurs at all spatial and temporal scales. A second purpose of this report is to discuss the stratigraphic process-response system which is genetically responsible for these observed associations between stacking patterns and sedimentologic and stratigraphic attributes. One important new element we rec-

ognize is the wave-base razor which creates sediment bypass across marine shelves with variable efficiency related to stacking pattern. This extended understanding of the behavior of the stratigraphic process-response system leads to the definition of specific and different correlation methods which must be applied to strata with different stacking geometries. Stratigraphic cycles in continental and shelf strata originate by changes in shoreface aggradation:progra-dation ratios, by staircase-like climb and geographic shifts of facies tracts, and by variable efficiency of sediment bypass across shelves. The character of these processes tends to be associated with different stacking geometries. Because stratigraphic cycles are manifestations of variable combinations of these processes, specific correlation methods must be applied in different stratigraphic situations. Correlations of stratigraphic cycles across continental, paralic, shoreface and shelf facies tracts are robust if the stratigraphic process-response system is understood.

Lithostratigraphy of the Mesa Verde Clastic Wedge The clastic wedge of the Mesa Verde Group, San Juan basin, southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico, comprises five formations (Sears, Hunt, and Hendricks, 1941; Beaumont, Dane and Sears, 1956; Hollenshead and Pritchard, 1961; Molenaar and Baird, 1992; Figure 1). The lower part of the Mesa Verde consists of three time-equivalent lithostratigraphic units: continental mudstones, paper shales, coals and sandstones of the Menefee Formation; shoreface and tidal sandstones of the Point Lookout Formation; and shelf mudstones of the Mancos Shale. The upper part of the Mesa Verde also comprises three time-equivalent lithostratigraphic units: continental mudstones, paper shales, coals and sandstones of the Menefee Formation; shoreface and tidal sandstones of the Cliff House Formation, and shelf fine sandstones of the Lewis Shale. Progradational/aggradational units, or genetic sequences, contain a spectrum of continental, paralic, shallow marine and shelf facies tracts which accumulated during the same time interval. In the lower Mesa Verde the genetic sequences are seaward stepping, and in the upper Mesa Verde they are landward stepping. These stacking patterns are recognized by progressive seaward (seaward-stepping lower Mesa Verde) and landward (landward-stepping upper Mesa Verde) dis-

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SW Cliff House Sandstone Lewis Shale Upper Menefee Lower Menefee NE

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ut Sandston

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Figure 1. Diagram of the stacking patterns of genetic sequences in the Mesa Verde Group, and the temporal relations among the five formations which compose it.

placements of facies tracts. At the landward and seaward turnaround point from one stacking direction to the other, the genetic sequences are stacked vertically. The stacking pattern of the Mesa Verde is typical of many clastic wedges, although some contain only seaward- or landward-stepping genetic sequences. The data base for this study consists of two regional, dip-oriented well-log cross sections of the Mesa Verde Group. One is a along the northwest margin of the San Juan basin, and the other is through the axis of the basin. In addition to the well-log cross sections, outcrops were studied in Mancos and Chaco Canyons, Disappointment Valley, Chromo anticline, Mesa Verde National Monument and several other localities along the outcrop belt (Figure 2). Two cores (Keighin, Zech and Wright-Dunbar, 1993) were examined and used to calibrate well-log signatures to facies and facies successions. One of the cross sections (Plates A and B which appear on the CD) is close to and parallel with outcrops in Mancos Canyon. It contains 62 wells spaced about 1 mile apart where well control is dense, and 1.5 to 3 miles apart where well control is more sparse (southern and northern ends of the cross section). To maintain correct scale, wells were projected orthogonally into the line of cross section which is parallel to depositional dip (progradation to the northeast). The cross section is presented at two scales. The cross section at the 1:48,000 scale (Plate A) shows facies tracts and cycles through most wells, Some wells were elimi-

nated where they overlapped when plotted at this scale. The cross section at 1:24,000 scale (Plate B) contains all of the wells in the center of the cross section, and shows stratigraphic correlations through all facies tracts. Additional wells within a swath about 6 miles broad were used to loop-tie stratigraphic correlations. At the landward (southwest) limit of the cross section, the Mesa Verde Group consists of Mancos shelf mudstone, Point Lookout shoreface sandstone and Menefee continental strata. Cliff House shoreface sandstones are absent because the cross section extends beyond the landward limit of Cliff House shoreface deposition. With the exception of the southwest end of the cross section, all lithostratigraphic units of the Mesa Verde Group are present in the rest of the cross section. The cross section ends about 10 miles (16 km) landward of the seaward depositional limit of the Point Lookout shoreface and the turnaround to the landwardstepping Cliff House shoreface. There is no well control along the line of the cross section beyond the southern and northern limits of the cross section. The stratigraphic datum for the cross section is an interval of high gamma-ray inflection at the base of a succession of seaward-stepping progradational/aggradational units above the Lewis Shale. It is interpreted as the downlap stratigraphic interval (surface) of the overlying Fruitland/Pictured Cliffs clastic wedge. Use of this datum maintains visually correct stratigraphic geometries in the Mesa Verde. Cliff House sandstone benches have flat bases and tops except at their land-

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Figure 2. Base map of the San Juan basin showing locations of the dip-oriented stratigraphic cross sections, the outcrop belt (shaded) of the Mesa Verde Group, and Mancos and Chaco Canyons. The mapped position of the seaward depositional limit of Point Lookout and Cliff House shorefaces (turnaround) also is shown.

ward and seaward depositional limits. Point Lookout shoreface sandstones also have flat bases and tops, and pronounced vertical risers (discussed subsequently). Strata and stratigraphic correlations in the Menefee are horizontal. These geometries are identical to those observed in outcrop, and therefore the datum is satisfactory for this presentation.

tions produced during base-level cycles. Base-level cycles are manifested by stratigraphic cycles observed in vertical profiles and by their coincident genetic sequences observed in three dimensions. Base-level cycles are considered synchronous throughout the basin and are the basis for correlation. The convention adopted in this presentation (Plate A) is that base-level fall and rise triangles are shown where stratigraphic units were confidently recognized and correlated. Absence of triangles indicates the stratigraphic unit could not be identified confidently and independently from the well-log signatures alone. Nevertheless, correlations of the 15 stratigraphic units were carried through most wells. Correlations were loop-tied with other wells along a swath about six-miles broad, parallel to the line of section.

Recognition and Correlation of Stratigraphic Units Fifteen progradational/aggradational stratigraphic units (genetic sequences) are recognized, nine in the lower Mesa Verde and six in the upper Mesa Verde. Each genetic sequence corresponds to either a riser in the seaward-stepping Point Lookout or to a landward step of a new Cliff House shoreface bench. Each contains continental, paralic, shoreface and marine-shelf strata. Stratigraphic correlations extend across all facies tracts. No through-going unconformity is recognized in the Mesa Verde clastic wedge. Several small surfaces of unconformity or sediment bypass occur in the three or four most landward wells (left side, southwest) of the cross section (Plate A), but their exact positions are uncertain; these merge basinward into conformable strata. Stratigraphic cycles are recognized from facies assemblages and vertical facies successions inferred from core-calibrated well-log signatures. Facies assemblages and vertical facies successions record the regular oscillations of accommodation: sediment supply condi-

Genetic Sequences in the Lower Mesa Verde Genetic sequences in the lower Mesa Verde are arranged in a seaward-stepping stacking pattern, and display variable aggradation:pro-gradation ratios. The Point Lookout shoreface prograded in a staircase fashion across the basin, as a series of steps and risers (Figures 1 and 3; Plates A and B). There are no significant transgressions across the shoreface, and the shoreface strata always are overlain by continental or paralic strata. This is in contrast to some other clastic wedges in which a portion of the shoreface of each genetic sequence is transgressed and buried by the shallowingup profile of another shoreface progradation, while

Riser Hi A:P

Step Low A:P

Figure 3. Diagram of the stepped geometry of Point Lookout progradation consisting of alternating steps and risers. The steps have a low aggradation:progradation ratio and the top of the shoreface facies tract is essentially horizontal. The risers have a high aggradation:progradation ratio and the shoreface (or tidal substitute) rises stratigraphically over short ( 2 km) distances. The stepped geometry originates stratigraphic cycles which can be correlated across continental, shoreface and shelf facies tracts. Behind each riser is a new stratigraphic cycle of continental Menefee, and in front is a new stratigraphic cycle of Point Lookout shoreface and Mancos shelf mudstone.

maintaining the seaward-stepping stacking pattern. The Point Lookout shoreface correlates horizontally as a bench for several miles (the step), and then it rises stratigraphically (the riser) 50 to 70 feet (15 to 21 m) over a short distance ( 2 km). The long steps formed during times of shoreface progradation with little aggradation (low aggradation:progra-dation ratio). The short risers formed during times of shoreface aggradation plus progradation (high aggradation:progradation ratio). With the exception of the extreme southwestern (landward) end of the cross section, this step-rise-step-rise motif is remarkably consistent across the basin. In the southwestern end of the cross section, the Point Lookout prograded with high aggradation:progra-dation ratios. As a consequence, in this part of the Point Lookout the steps are shorter. Aggradation:progradation ratios are measured by connecting points of equal paleoelevation

(paleobathymetry) on successive clinoforms along one or more genetic sequences (see description in Sonnenfeld and Cross, 1993). The trajectory of the line joining these points defines the aggradation:progradation ratio or gradient on a correctly scaled cross section. Limits of facies tracts or boundaries between facies tracts which occupy consistent bathymetric positions are chosen, such as boundaries between land and sea (paleoshorelines), or boundaries between upper and lower shoreface facies tracts, or inflection points on clinoforms. The changes in aggradation:progradation ratio initiate stratigraphic cycles which were correlated landward into continental facies tracts and seaward into shelf facies tracts. Continental and/or paralic strata fill the space formed behind each riser and a new stratigraphic cycle originates as the aggradation:progradation ratio increases. This increase creates an increase in accom-

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Figure 4. Detail from Plate A of a stratigraphic rise in the Point Lookout shoreface, and the creation of a stratigraphic cycle in continental and shoreface facies tracts. Correlations within the shoreface facies tract define clinoform angles of 1/6 of one degree.

modation space and changes the accommodation:sediment supply ratio. The new stratigraphic cycle is expressed in the shoreface (or paralic) and shelf facies tracts at each riser by a change in clinoform angle and spacing (Figure 3). Clinoforms become more closely spaced in the riser area because the increased storage capacity in uphill environments decreases the sediment mass available for deposition along the lower shoreface and shelf clinoforms. Along the steps (low aggradation: progradation ratio), clinoform spacing increases because more sediment volume is bypassed through continental environments and accumulates in the shoreface and shelf. Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the Point Lookout The changes in aggradation:progradation ratio from step-to-riser-to-step are reflected by contrasting sedimentologic and stratigraphic attributes of shoreface and paralic strata in the different stratigraphic positions.

Along the stratigraphic steps, where the shoreface progrades with little or no aggradation, the small-scale shoaling-upward stratigraphic cycles formed by episodic shoreface progradation are well organized. The shoaling-up (sandying-up in well-log profile) character of each is distinct, and successive cycles are progressively sandier (Figure 4). These small-scale cycles reflect the episodic progradation of wave-dominated, open-ocean-facing shorefaces. The coastlines of these shorefaces were straight as indicated by maps of the landward and seaward depositional limits of individual shoreface packages (this study; Devine, 1980; Zech, 1982), and by absence of embayment facies in Mancos Canyon outcrops. At the geographically abrupt stratigraphic rises, the small-scale stratigraphic cycles have a more vertically stacked appearance (the initiation and termination points of successive cycles tend to have approximately the same API readings on the gamma-ray log), or someN31 N32

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times even a fining-up signature. Some individual small-scale cycles are more symmetric than the typical base-level fall asymmetry of most shoreface cycles. In outcrop, coarser grained (1 to 1.5 phi units), tidally dominated sandstones, rather than wave-dominated shoreface sandstones, occupy the positions of stratigraphic rise. Stratigraphic risers in the Point Lookout are associated with the development of embayed coasts which replace straight, open-ocean-facing, wave-dominated shorefaces characteristic of the stratigraphic steps. The development of embayed coasts causes a change in facies assemblage in the risers, which contain strata reflecting dominance of tidal currents. These changes in cycle stacking pattern, cycle symmetry, and inferred sedimentologic character of sandstones at the positions of the risers and steps are considered the manifestations of variable aggradation created by variable rates of stratigraphic rise. The alternations of increasing and decreasing aggradation:progradation ratios record the unidirectional increases and decreases of the accommodation:sediment supply ratio during stratigraphic base-level cycles. With the exception of the southwestern end of the cross section, stratigraphic steps and rises have remarkably consistent dimensions. This consistency suggests that the combination of stratigraphic processes which produced base-level cycles were consistent in magnitude and duration during much of the time the lower Mesa Verde accumulated. Also, as discussed subsequently, the elevation change in the Point Lookout risers is essentially identical to the thickness of Cliff House benches and stratigraphic cycles in the upper Mesa Verde. Estimation of Shoreface-Shelf Clinoform Angles and Depth to Wave Base in the Lower Mesa Verde Because of the heterolithic character of the Point Lookout shoreface and its division into small-scale stratigraphic cycles recording episodic progradation, it is relatively easy to measure angles of shoreface clinoforms. Clinoforms are coincident with the geomorphic surfaces of shoreface-to-shelf depositional profiles (Campbell, 1967). However, stratigraphic and facies resolution gradually diminish from the shoreface into the marine shelf mudstones, and clinoforms are difficult to correlate with confidence. Clinoforms of the Point Lookout shoreface are inclined at about 1/6 of 1

degree, or 0.16 (Figure 4). Clinoforms in the Mancos shelf mudstones appear slightly flatter, but lack of facies resolution and uncertainty in correlation preclude a more definitive measurement. Measuring depth to wave base is difficult with welllog data because sedimentologic attributes used to define wave base (presence of particular wave-generated sedimentary structures) are not recorded by well-log electrofacies. Measuring depth to wave base has not been possible in the field because the lateral extent of shoreface clinoforms is greater than outcrop continuity. A common way to estimate depth to wave base is to measure the vertical distance between sedimentologic wave base and the beach through a succession of small-scale shoreface shingles. However, the very lowangle shingling of clinothems in the Point Lookout and the consequent vertical superposition of shoreface profiles make this method of estimation unreliable. Depth to wave base was measured using the following procedure and assumptions. In many well logs, there is a change in well-log signature from disorganized shoaling-upward cycles to a succession of shoaling-upward cycles which show a good organization of progressive loss of mud and progressive increase of sand. This change in character is taken as the transition from shelf to wave-worked shoreface toe. The top of the shoreface usually is obvious. With these vertical limits established, cycles within the Point Lookout were correlated between closely spaced wells. Assuming the correlations and the arbitrary pick of the base of the shoreface are correct, the vertical elevation change along a clinoform from the beach to the shoreface toe is the measure of depth to wave base; this depth is approximately 65 feet (20 m). Menefee/Point Lookout Correlations A new stratigraphic cycle is developed at each stratigraphic riser of the Point Lookout shoreface. Correlations of continental Menefee with Point Lookout shoreface and paralic strata are established at these positions where the Point Lookout steps upward in stratigraphic rise. Positions of risers in shoreface and paralic strata typically are conspicuous, although ambiguity of facies inferred from well-log signatures in some wells produces ambiguity in locating the exact boundary of the riser.

Correlations within the continental Menefee are typically easiest near risers of the shoreface, and become progressively more difficult and lose resolution farther landward. Within the first several miles behind the riser, continental strata display a conspicuous baselevel rise asymmetry (Figure 4). Typically, well log signatures suggest a basal surface of erosion or bypass overlain by a 35 feet thick amalgamated channelbelt sandstone capped by floodplain facies. This facies succession is confirmed in Mancos Canyon outcrops, although we were not able to also demonstrate its stratigraphic association with a shoreface riser. Farther landward, the continental stratigraphic cycle becomes progressively more symmetric with the progressive addition of base-level fall strata in replacement of the baselevel fall surface of bypass or unconformity farther downhill. This landward change from prominent base-level rise asymmetry to more symmetrical continental cycles may suggest that subsidence rates are greater to the southwest so that continental strata are preserved during both base-level fall and rise times. An alternative explanation is that the observed change in symmetry may be a product of masking effects near the riser. A sea-level rise may trigger a strong aggradational response in the coastal plain which is transmitted uphill a limited distance. Beyond that limit the response to the triggering process is less intense and coastal plain aggradation is differentiable into half cycles of increasing and decreasing accommodation. In the lower coastal plain immediately behind the stratigraphic rise of the shoreface, some base-level fall strata probably exist in the stratigraphic cycle but they are not always resolved because the aggradational response to sea-level rise overwhelms and masks stratigraphic and sedimentologic responses to decreasing accommodation during base-level fall. These two explanations are not mutually exclusive. In some genetic sequences, the stratigraphic cycles in continental strata are symmetric as far as the unit was correlated. In other genetic units, the symmetric cycle divides landward into two stratigraphic cycles, each displaying base-level rise asymmetry (Plate A). Where developed, the two base-level rise asymmetric cycles transform again into a single symmetric cycle farther landward. It is uncertain whether the two apparent base-level rise asymmetric cycles are legitimate base-level cycles which are not resolved farther downhill, or whether the facies successions producing the

well-log signatures give a false reading of two stratigraphic cycles when only one is present. Since the two apparent cycles are approximately the same thickness as a riser and as the rest of the genetic sequence, they were combined into a single cycle which was correlated into the shoreface facies tract. Correlations through the lower Menefee are reasonably stable across most of the cross section. Correlations are most robust and confident in the first 10 to 15 miles (16 to 24 km) landward of each stratigraphic step upward of the Point Lookout. Correlations in the southwest part of the cross section were difficult and uncertain. Lateral variations in cycle thickness on the order of 20 feet (7 m) are at the limit of correlation resolution and establish the maximum level of uncertainty in lower Menefee correlations. The lateral thickness variations of stratigraphic cycles cause undulations in correlations which are not visually obvious in Mancos Canyon, and therefore they are suspect. Rather than smooth the correlations to make them more visually attractive, the cycles as interpreted from well-log signatures are shown on the cross section. Thus, consistency in application of criteria for picking cycles is maintained, and level of uncertainty (noise in the accuracy of correlations) is shown visually. Besides the paucity of wells and the lack of gammaray well logs, part of the difficulty in correlating continental strata in the southwest part of the cross section is attributed to the change in facies composition of the lower Menefee. In most of the basin, the Menefee contains alternations and successions of multiple facies, including wet and dry floodplain mudstones, lake mudstones and fine sandstones, coal, lacustrine paper shales, amalgamated channelbelt sandstones, and crevasse splay/crevasse channel complexes. To the southwest, facies diversity decreases, and the Menefee consists principally of dry floodplain mudstones, soils, thin channel sandstones, and perhaps some minor wet floodplain or lake mudstones. With the reduced facies diversity, stratigraphic cycles are more difficult to resolve. Another cause of ambiguity in Menefee correlations in the south is the occurrence of multiple baselevel-fall surfaces of erosional unconformity. Working from the top down and from the bottom up through the Menefee, it becomes obvious that there are numerous, small unconformities within the Menefee. Neither these unconformities nor the stratigraphic cycles which they must bound were correlated with confidence in the southern part of the cross section.

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Point Lookout/Mancos Correlations Like many seaward-stepping genetic sequences in clastic wedges, the Point Lookout shoreface prograded onto a marine shelf that was below storm wave base. This configuration is common because the seawardstepping stacking pattern often follows a period of subsidence and sediment compaction with reduced sediment accumulation on the shelf. During this period of reduced sedimentation on the shelf, there is a landward shift in sites of sediment storage. This occurs either when there is an abrupt transgression and landward shift of environments, or when a series of landward-stepping progradational/aggradational events move the shoreline episodically landward. In either case, sediment is stored upslope in more landward environments, the shelf subsides without compensating sediment influx, and the water over the shelf deepens. Correlations within the Point Lookout shoreface and into the Mancos shelf mudstones follow the inclined depositional surfaces of clinoforms. The inclined surface of the shoreface extends from the shoreline to storm wave base. It is the steepest part of the shoreline-to-shelf profile. The shoreface profile is dynamically maintained by the relative balance between sediment input, which tends to reduce the gradient, and modification by currents and waves, which tends to increase the gradient. Generally, more intense waves and currents produce steeper shorefaces. The shoreface clinoforms extend continuously into lower gradient depositional surfaces of the shelf. Because the gradient of the shoreface is hydrodynamically maintained, a shoreface cannot prograde unless the shelf platform over which it progrades is at wave base. If the platform in front of the shoreface is below wave base, sediment flushed through the shoreface accumulates on the shelf until a nearby portion of the shelf is within or at wave base. At that time the shoreface may prograde by incremental additions of sediment upon the inclined shoreface surface. If a shoreface progrades into a shelf below wave base, it must build its own platform into wave base as it progrades. As the Point Lookout shoreface prograded, a shallow shelf platform of Mancos strata was dynamically constructed in front of it. This is accomplished by maintaining a stratigraphic coupling between the shelf below storm wave base and the shoreface. The two environments are coupled by a stream of sediment flushed through the shoreface and redistributed downslope

across the shelf by storm waves, currents and sediment gravity flows. Each incremental addition of sediment to the shoreline-to-shelf profile creates a stratum parallel to the topographic profile (Figure 3). The gradient of this profile is controlled by the balance between the rate of sediment input and the rate of sediment resuspension and transport, which is a function of the hydrodynamic energy regime. Typical gradients are tenths of a degree to a few degrees, but the range is from about 0.05 to 8. The succession of incrementally added layers form the clinoforms of progradation. Stratigraphic correlations within seaward-stepping shoreface-to-deep shelf facies tracts must follow the continuous stratigraphic clinoforms which are coincident with topographic gradients (typically 0.2 to 2) over distances of miles and thicknesses (water depths on geomorphic profiles) of 30 to 100+ m. Thus, all correlations through the shoreface to shelf facies tracts must be continuous and inclined at shallow, but stratigraphically significant, angles. Clinoforms, and therefore correlations, through the shoreface are more steeply inclined than clinoforms and correlations across the shelf; and both are coincident with original topographic surfaces. Seaward Depositional Limit of the Point Lookout and Turnaround to the Cliff House Shorefaces The Point Lookout shoreface progrades episodically across the San Juan basin for more than 200 km with the geometry of steps and risers. At the seaward depositional limit of the Point Lookout shoreface, there is a change in the stacking pattern of genetic sequences from seaward stepping to landward stepping. At this turnaround in stacking patterns, the shoreface sandstones of the Point Lookout stack up before they are transgressed and buried by sandstones of the first Cliff House shoreface progradation, Reservoir-quality sandstones in the two vertically stacked shorefaces at the turnaround position are about 70 m thick. This type of increased thickening of shoreface sandstones at turnaround points in stratigraphic units of all scales is a typical stratigraphic response to the creation of a dynamic balance between subsidence and sediment supply. Contrary to the commonly held notion that shoreface sandstone thickness decreases towards the depositional limit of progradation, shoreface sandstones normally thicken and stack vertically at this position. Essentially sediment is added to the shoreface at a re-

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duced rate which allows for higher rates of aggradation with little progradation. In the northeastern part of the San Juan basin, well control ends about 10 miles (16 km) landward of the turnaround point in stacking patterns, or seaward depositional limit of the Point Lookout shoreface. It is therefore not possible to observe the number and positions of stratigraphic steps and risers beyond the limits of the cross section. However, consistency in cycle symmetry of continental strata behind stratigraphic risers is a good proxy when direct observation is not possible. At the northeastern end of the cross section two asymmetric base-level rise cycles occur in continental strata above the last recorded Point Lookout shoreface. By analogy with the rest of the cross section, these two stratigraphic cycles indicate the existence of two more stratigraphic risers in the Point Lookout before the turnaround. The seaward progradational limit of the Point Lookout and the turnaround to the landward-stepping Cliff House is established by interpolation between outcrops (Figure 2). The turnaround is exposed in Disappointment Valley to the north of the cross section. The turnaround also is exposed near the axis of the Chromo anticline south of Chromo, CO. A thin Menefee separates a Cliff House from a Point Lookout shoreface in outcrops along the Piedra River west of Pagosa Springs, CO, but farther east the same stratigraphic interval is occupied by undifferentiated Mancos/Lewis shelf strata. East of Dulce, NM, the Pictured Cliffs shoreface sandstone overlies thick, undifferentiated Mancos/Lewis shelf strata, meaning that this position is beyond the depositional limit of the Point Lookout shoreface. These outcrops establish the seaward progradational limit of the Point Lookout along the northeast side of the San Juan basin. The strike of the paleoshoreline is mapped with a northwest-southeast orientation between Disappointment Valley and Chromo anticline (Figure 2).

aggrades, filling accommodation space landward of the landward-retreating coastline. The straight coastline of the open-ocean-facing Cliff House shoreface is transformed into a more embayed coastline where tidal currents and storm waves redistribute sediment. At the landward limit of transgression, embayments fill with sediment and a new shoreface profile forms in the embayment. Shoreface progradation, at first with considerable aggradation, begins anew and the coastline is transformed back into a straight, high-energy, wavedominated shoreface. The transgression, the landward step, and the initial high aggradation:progradation ratio of the shoreface is coincident with a new stratigraphic cycle in the coastal plain (Menefee Formation) and the shelf (Lewis Shale). As with the alternating steps and risers in the Point Lookout, the landward-stepping benches of the Cliff House shorefaces initiate stratigraphic cycles which are correlatable into the shelf and continental facies tracts and which are related to stratigraphic baselevel cycles of increasing and decreasing accommodation:sediment supply conditions. The first Cliff House bench at Disappointment Valley is stacked on top of the Point Lookout shoreface. With the exception of this first bench, which is about 65 feet (20 m) thick, Cliff House benches are consistently about 50 feet (15 m) thick. After the vertical stack of the first Cliff House bench above the Point Lookout, transgression moved the strandline 40 miles (64 km) to the southwest before another Cliff House shoreface was developed by progradation. This transgression placed shelf fine sandstones of the Lewis Formation directly on top of Menefee continental strata. The seaward depositional limit of the second Cliff House bench occurs 32 miles (51 km) landward from the turnaround point. Over this 32 mile distance, there is no intervening Cliff House shoreface sandstone between the Menefee and the Lewis Formations. Beginning with the second bench, successive landward-stepping Cliff House benches are offset by smaller distances. But there are still a few zones where the Cliff House is missing and the Lewis Formation overlies continental strata of the Menefee. At the top of the Mesa Verde, the landward-stepping stacking pattern is interrupted by three seawardstepping progradational/aggradational units which are designated the La Ventana Tongue in stratigraphic literature (Fassett, 1977; Palmer and Scott, 1984;

Genetic Sequences in the Upper Mesa Verde Genetic sequences in the upper Mesa Verde have a landward-stepping stacking pattern displayed most conspicuously by landward-stepping benches of Cliff House shoreface sandstones. Each landward step is initiated by a transgression across the shoreface and coastal plain strata. During the transgression the coastal plain

12

Molenaar and Baird, 1992). Above these three units there is another transgression which places marine mudstone directly over continental Menefee until the first shoreface sandstone of the Fruitland/Pictured Cliffs clastic wedge. After that, the Fruitland/Pictured Cliffs clastic wedge prograded across the Lewis sea farther than the Mesa Verde clastic wedge. Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the Cliff House Shoreface Unlike the heterolithic Point Lookout shoreface, Cliff House benches are composed of homogeneous mud-free sandstones dominated by amalgamated hummocky and swaley cross stratification. Within about 3 km of their landward depositional limits, Cliff House benches are composed of alternating storm-generated and tidal-current-generated facies. Seaward of this, they contain exclusively high-energy wave-generated sedimentary structures. In analogy with the alternating wave- and tidal-dominated strata of the Point Lookout associated with changes in aggradation:progradation ratios, the smaller scale alternations near the landward depositional limits of Cliff House shorefaces also record high-frequency base-level cycles. The initiation of each Cliff House shoreface occurs near the change from increasing to decreasing accommodation:sediment supply conditions at the frequency of the landward-stepping genetic sequences. Cliff House benches are consistently about 50 feet (15 m) thick. The width of the shoreface facies tract of Cliff House benches is about 8 to 11 miles (13 to 18 km). Continental and shelf cycles should have comparable thicknesses because each landward step of the shoreface facies tract is coincident with a stratigraphic cycle across all preserved facies tracts. Because the Cliff House shoreface benches are more homogeneous and for the most part lack shale breaks along clinoforms, stratigraphic correlations within the Cliff House were not attempted in this basin-scale correlation. However, it should be possible to identify and follow some clinoforms in a reservoir-scale study with closely spaced wells. Correlation strategy within Cliff House shoreface strata is identical to correlation strategy within the Point Lookout shoreface. However, correlations into the Lewis shelf strata are dramatically different. Cliff House/Lewis Correlations: The Wave-Base

Razor In contrast with shorefaces of seaward-stepping genetic sequences which prograde onto shelves where the seafloor is below wave base, shorefaces of landward-stepping sequences prograde across shallow, very low-gradient platforms where the seafloor is within wave base. This difference is a direct consequence of the geometric stacking pattern. The differences in geometry require different correlation strategies. They also produce lithologic and volumetric differences in shelf strata which are important for exploration. The shoreface of a landward-stepped genetic sequence progrades over the transgressed top of the shoreface and coastal-plain facies tracts of the underlying progradational/aggradational unit. Gradients of coastal plains are on the order of 0.01 to 0.001. Transgressive surfaces with or without erosion (ravinement and flooding surfaces) developed upon the top of the underlying progradational/aggradational unit have similar gradients. Thus when a genetic sequence is flooded during marine transgression, its top becomes the lowgradient downlap surface for the prograding shoreface of the next (younger) landward-stepped genetic sequence. Transgression of the coastal plain produces not only a flat platform, but also a shallow-water platform across which the shoreface of the next landward-stepped genetic sequence progrades. The low-gradient platform rarely is covered by water deeper than wave base during a transgression, before the shoreface of the next genetic sequence begins to prograde across the platform. The shelf of a landward-stepped progradational/ aggradational unit is a flat platform several kilometers wide (the distance of the transgression over the underlying genetic sequence) which ends with a down-tothe-basin step (Figure 5) to the top of the next older genetic sequence. The step is created by the topographic slope of the shoreface at its seaward limit of progradation, and the elevation change equals the thickness of the genetic sequence. In summary, the bathymetric profile of landwardstepped genetic sequence begins with an inclined shoreface surface extending from the shoreline to the top of a flat platform within wave base. From the toe of the shoreface, the flat, shallow-water platform extends for several kilometers within wave base. At the seaward end of the platform is a topographic escarpment (the

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Shoreface Progradation Across a Shelf Below Wave Base

Wave Base

Shoreface Progradation Across a Shelf Within Wave Base

Bypass

Wave Base

Figure 5. Comparison of sediment distribution in shallow and deep shelves during shoreface progradation. Top. Shorefaces which prograde into shelves below wave base distribute sediment across the shelf and dynamically construct a platform for progradation. The shoreface and shelf environments are stratigraphically coupled by this stream of sediment through the shoreface onto the shelf. Each incremental addition of sediment to the shoreline-to-shelf profile creates a stratum parallel to the topographic profile. Shoreface progradation cannot occur until the shelf platform immediately in front of it is at or within storm wave base. Deep-water shelves below storm wave base are typical of seaward-stepping stacking patterns. Bottom. When a shoreface progrades onto a shallow shelf within storm wave base, the shelf surface is a bypass zone where sediment is remobilized and scraped seaward by the wave-base razor. This situation is typical of landward-stepping genetic units where the shelf surface is the transgressed very low-gradient surface of continental and shoreface strata in the underlying genetic sequence. Sediment swept across the shallow shelf ultimately accumulates in areas where the shelf is below wave base. In landward-stepping genetic sequences, the next repository below wave base is the platform on top of the next older genetic sequence.

down-to-the-basin step formed by the last shoreface profile of the underlying genetic sequence). At the base of the escarpment is a shelf basin below wave base on the top of the next older genetic sequence (Figure 5). The shallow bathymetry and stepped geometry of landward-stepping genetic sequences control the position of marine sediment accumulation and the geometry of clinoforms. As a shoreface progrades across the flat, transgressed surface of the underlying genetic sequence, the shoreface toes are at or within wave base. Wave base is the effective limit to which sediment may aggrade on shelves. Sediment within wave base is remobilized during storms and swept to sites below wave base where it may accumulate. Since the seafloor over which a landward-stepped shoreface progrades is within

wave base, little sediment can accumulate on the shelf platform. If there is a zone between wave base and the top of the platform, then sediment will accumulate in thin, aggradational, asymmetrical or symmetrical shelf cycles. Otherwise, sediment is swept across the platform to the down-to-the-basin step at the depositional limit of the underlying shoreface. This process of repeated shaving off the top of the platform through remobilization and removal of sediment by storms is termed wave-base razoring and the agent is the storm wave-base razor. One consequence of wave-base razoring for stratigraphic correlation is that shoreface clinoforms may have no time-equivalent strata on the shallow shelf platform over which the shoreface is prograding (Figure

14

6). If the shoreface clinoforms have stratigraphic equivalents on the shelf platform, it is likely that they are displaced seaward from the toe of the coeval shoreface clinoform. In either case, there is no physical connection, other than a surface of nondeposition (bypass) or erosion, between coeval shoreface and shelf strata. This lack of physical connection between shoreface and shelf strata means that the two environments are decoupled stratigraphically, even though they share a common geomorphic profile. Multiple shoreface clinoforms merge into a single bypass surface on top of the shallow shelf platform. In summary, the bypass surface is time-equivalent to the shoreface and the correlation strategy is to connect a shoreface rock body with a surface of stratigraphic discontinuity on the shallow shelf platform (Figure 6). A second implication that wave-base razoring has for stratigraphic correlation arises from mass balance considerations. Sediment swept by the wave-base razor across the shallow platform reaches the down-tothe-basin step at the depositional limit of the underlying shoreface (Figures 5 and 6). Beyond this escarpment is a shelf basin on the top of the platform of the next older genetic sequence. Sediment accumulates in this shelf basin because the seafloor is below wave base. Thus, the wave-base razor bypass surface connects an aggradational stratigraphic cycle of shelf strata with its coeval progradational shoreface cycle.

The aggradational shelf strata of one genetic sequence occur at the same stratigraphic level as the shoreface facies tract of the underlying unit. It is very tempting, and common practice, to correlate stratigraphically straight across from progradational shoreface strata into aggradational shelf strata as depicted in Figure 7. However, this correlation strategy incorrectly equates strata of different ages and produces several impossible relationships. By nature, each shoreface clinoform extends from the shoreline onto the shelf, and facies must change transitionally from foreshore to shelf within clinothems reflecting the change in bathymetry along clinoforms. Since clinoforms must extend from shoreline into the shelfthat is, there must be coeval shoreface and shelf stratathis incorrect correlation method (Figure 7) requires a gradual reduction in angle of the shoreface clinoforms to zero degrees. Clinoforms in landward positions correlate with strata toward the base of the shelf section, but clinoforms toward the seaward limit of the shoreface correlate with strata at the top of the shelf cycle. As the shoreline to shelf clinoforms decrease in gradient, the water depths to the seafloor in the shoreface and shelf environments become identical and approach zero. This geometry also requires the shelf to fill to sea level while maintaining differentiation of shelf and shoreface facies tracts, another impossible requirement of this incorrect correlation strategy.

GS3 GS2 GS1

Rock Surface

Correlation Strategy
Rock

Figure 6. Illustration of correlation strategy for shoreface to shelf strata in three landward-stepping genetic sequences. Because the shoreface of GS3 progrades across a shelf within storm wave base formed by the low gradient top of GS2, the shelf surface is a bypass zone. Sediment swept across this shallow shelf accumulates on the platform on top of GS1, beyond the seaward depositional limit of the shoreface of GS2. This establishes a correlation strategy for the shelf and shoreface facies tracts of landward-stepping genetic sequences. The shoreface of GS3 is correlated to a bypass surface on top of GS2, and then to shelf strata on top of GS1, which are at the same stratigraphic level as the shoreface of GS2.

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Figure 7. Alternative, incorrect correlation method for shoreface to shallow shelf strata. Each shoreface clinoform continues into shelf strata and a facies change occurs within the clinothems (Captain Marvel Shazam pattern). This requires a gradual reduction in angle of the shoreface clinoform to zero, filling of the shelf to sea level, and facies in both shoreface and shelf facies tracts deposited in the same water depths.

This incorrect correlation strategy not only produces the impossible relations reviewed above, but it is contravened by the following direct observations. First, clinoforms within the Cliff House shorefaces, even though often visually subtle, are steeper than clinoforms within the Point Lookout. Second, stratigraphic cycles in Lewis shelf strata in front of Cliff House shoreface benches are the same thickness as the Cliff House benches. If they are the same age they should have been deposited in identical water depths, yet they are distinctly different facies; the shelf strata have numerous sedimentologic features which clearly indicate deposition in deeper water than the Cliff House sandstones. A series of shoreface to shelf clinoforms which progress from shoreline to deeper water on the shelf must always produce a succession (or stratigraphic cycle) of thinner shelf strata than of shoreface strata; yet the stratigraphic cycles in the Cliff House and Lewis are comparable in thickness. The correct correlation strategy, depicted schematically in Figure 6 and on a portion of the well-log cross section shown in Figure 8, follows the shoreface clinoforms to a sediment bypass surface along the top of the underlying genetic sequence. There may be a thin shelf cycle well seaward of the seaward limit of its contemporary shoreface, in which case the shoreface clinoforms are traced to a bypass surface and then to a thin aggradational cycle on the top of the underlying progradational/aggradational unit. The bypass surface and/ or the thin shelf cycle is followed to the last shoreface clinoform of the underlying unitthe next down-tothe-basin stepwhere a thick shelf cycle of the same age fills the topographic basin in front of the shoreface of the underlying unit. Wave-base razoring is not necessarily restricted to

landward-stepping genetic sequences. The step-andriser geometry of the Point Lookout shoreface is only one standard motif of seaward-stepping genetic sequences in clastic wedges. In another common stratigraphic motif, seaward-stepping genetic sequences are more vertically stacked and are separated over a portion of their length by transgressive surfaces. A portion of the shoreface and coastal plain of one genetic sequence is transgressed and buried by the shallowingup shoreface progradation of the next younger genetic sequence. In these cases, if the transgression does not produce a deep-water shelf (a seafloor below wave base), then the wave-base razor will sweep sediment from the top of the older genetic sequence and deposit the sediment beyond the depositional limit of its shoreface. Wave-base razoring has important implications for computer-based stratigraphic modeling. Wave-base razoring produces a geometry and stratigraphic decoupling that cannot be modeled with a simple clinoform. A simple clinoform, whether constructed geometrically, by a diffusion algorithm, or by some other equation, cannot reproduce the geometry of landwardstepping genetic sequences observed in the Mesa Verde, and it cannot simulate the stratigraphic process-response system. The process of wave-base razoring (and the process of shoreface filtering discussed below) require a different modeling approach. Contrasting Lithologies of the Point Lookout and Cliff House Shorefaces: A Response to the Shoreface Filter As previously discussed the seaward-stepping Point Lookout shoreface is heterolithic, and clinothems are rendered conspicuous by the mudstone partings and sandying-up facies successions. In the Point Lookout,

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N25 N26 N27 N28 N29 N30 1 mile N31 N32 N33 N34

0.1 0.5 1

2 Scale = 1:24000 Vertical Exaggeration = 20X

Figure 8. Cliff House to Lewis correlations of landward-stepping genetic sequences. Cliff House shoreface benches are yellow surrounded by a line of another color. The time-equivalent Lewis shelf cycles are shown in the same color as the line around the shoreface. Strata composing the shelf cycles are connected to the Cliff House shoreface by a bypass surface on the top of the next older Cliff House shoreface.

shoreface shingles are well preserved, many bedforms are fully preserved, and many of the storm sandstones are mud-draped. These attributes indicate only moderate reworking, winnowing and cannibalization of shoreface sediment by waves and currents. By contrast, the landward-stepping Cliff House shoreface sandstones contain almost no clay or silt, either as disseminated particles or as drapes. Instead, the Cliff House shoreface consists almost entirely of homogeneous, amalgamated hummocky and swaley cross-stratified sandstone. Clinoform bedding is difficult to detect. These attributes indicate that waves and currents were effective in winnowing, cannibalizing and reworking the shoreface. On shorefaces and deltafronts there is a continual contest between processes bringing sediment to the depositional surface and processes removing sediment from it. In all cases of progradation, the result is net sediment accumulation, or progradation would not occur and there would be no stratigraphic record. But, the balance between the processes determines the degree of homogenization and cannibalization, the volume of sediment stripped from the shoreface and transported to the shelf, and the grain size distribution of the sediment transported to the shelf.

These combined processes of erosion, transport and deposition create a hydrodynamic shoreface filter. The efficiency of the shoreface filter is related directly to the strength of waves and currents impacting the shoreface and the gradient of the shoreface surface. Efficiency is measured by the volume of sediment remobilized, winnowed and removed from the shoreface per unit time. The effectiveness of the shoreface filter is a function of the balance between the efficiency of the shoreface filter and the volume of sediment per unit time introduced to the shoreface. Effectiveness is measured by the degree of sedimentologic homogenization, winnowing and sorting. Given the same hydrodynamic regime and the same efficiency of the shoreface filter, a shoreface receiving a greater sediment load per unit time will be more heterolithic than one receiving less sediment. Or, given the same sediment supply rate, a more efficient shoreface filter is more effective in producing a sedimentologically more homogeneous shoreface. We cannot tell from sedimentologic attributes alone what combinations of sediment supply, hydrodynamic regime and gradient produced a more homogeneous or more heterogeneous shoreface. However, the contrast between the heterolithic Point Lookout and the sandy,

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N33 N34 N35 N36 N37 N38 N39 N40 N41 N42 N43 N44 N45 N46 N47 N48 N49 N50

homolithic Cliff House clearly indicate that the Point Lookout had a higher sediment influx relative to wave efficiency than did the Cliff House. Using our inverse stratigraphic model (Cross and Lessenger, submitted), we can measure both the volumes of sediment transported to the shelf and the shoreface filter efficiency. Results of the inverse modeling, in which the filtering efficiency was an inverted parameter, indicate that the filtering efficiency, not just effectiveness, was substantially greater in the Cliff House than in the Point Lookout (Figure 9). Of the total marine sediment (shoreface, sediment distributed by the wave-base razor to the shelf above wave base, and shelf below wave base) in Point Lookout progradational/aggradational units, about 13% is stored in the shoreface plus shallow shelf, and the rest is delivered to the shelf below wave base. Of the total marine sediment in Cliff House progradational/aggradational units, about 2% is stored in the shoreface plus shallow shelf, and the rest is delivered to the shelf below wave base. The efficiency and effectiveness of the shoreface filter directly impacts the composition and volume of sediment transported to and across the shelf. Shelf sediments derived from a more efficient and/or more ef-

fective shoreface filter will be sandier and volumetrically greater than shelf sediments passed through a less efficient and/or less effective shoreface filter. This explains the difference in texture and composition of the Mancos and Lewis shelf strata. Strata composing the long, low-angle clinothems of the seaward-stepping Mancos shelf are muddy, lack sand and are rich in organic matter. By contrast, strata of the landward-stepping Lewis shelf are sandy and lack significant organic detritus. Shelf sandstones in front of landward-stepping shorefaces have exploration potential, whereas shelf mudstones in front of seaward-stepping shorefaces are better source rocks. Cliff House/Menefee Correlations Correlation strategy in the Cliff House/Menefee is essentially the same as in the Point Lookout/Menefee. The stratigraphic rise associated with each landwardstepping Cliff House bench is similar to the stratigraphic rise associated with each riser in the Point Lookout. In both cases the response in continental environments is to aggrade sediment in a base-level rise cycle near the coast, and in more symmetrical cycles farther landward. Correlations in the Lewis

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Landward Stepping 2:98

Seaward-Stepping 13:87

Figure 9. Efficiency of the shoreface filter in landward- and seaward-stepping genetic sequences as determined by stratigraphic inversion. Landward-stepping Cliff House shoreface sandstones are homolithic and show abundant evidence of reworking, cannibalization and amalgamation of bedforms. By contrast, the shoreface of the seaward-stepping Point Lookout is heterolithic and contains ample evidence of good preservation of original geomorphic elements. Thus, sedimentologic data indicate the shoreface filter was more effective in the Cliff House than in the Point Lookout. However, the efficiency of the shoreface filter cannot be measured by sedimentologic information. The inverse model indicates that the shoreface filter was more efficient in the Cliff House shoreface than in the Point Lookout shoreface. Of the total marine sediment in Point Lookout progradational/aggradational units, about 13% is stored in the shoreface plus shallow shelf, and the rest is delivered to the shelf below wave base. Of the total marine sediment in Cliff House progradational/aggradational units, about 2% is stored in the shoreface plus shallow shelf, and the rest is delivered to the shelf below wave base.

The Lewis consists of usually conspicuous shallowing-up, base-level-fall asymmetric stratigraphic cycles and a lesser number of more symmetric cycles. Correlations are flat to very low angle within the Lewis. The effectiveness of the wave-base razor in controlling stratal geometries within the Lewis are best displayed in the upper half of the Lewis. As Cliff House shorefaces stepped progressively farther landward, the wave-base razor continually remobilized and swept sediment across the shelf to positions where the shelf seafloor was below wave base. In the upper part of the Lewis, there are several toplapping clinoforms which form landward-tapering, seaward-expanding offlapping wedges. These reflect the efficiency of the wave-base razor in planing off the shelf and carrying sediment to deeper portions of the shelf, and keeping the shelf shallow during part of Cliff House time. In front of and upon the toes of Cliff House shorefaces are anomalous, deepening-up stratigraphic cycles which are lensoid in cross section. The bases are flat where they overlie the top of the Cliff House shoreface toes and Lewis shelf stratigraphic cycles. The tops of the lenses are convex up. They extend about 1 to 3 miles

(1.5 to 5 km) in dip direction. These lenses only occur at the seaward depositional limit of Cliff House shoreface benches. They are interpreted as the sediment scraped off the shoreface during transgression and transported to the escarpment at the toe of the shoreface by the wave-base razor.

The Wave-Base Razor as an Alternative Origin of Lowstand Sandstones The narrow shoreface facies tract in landward-stepping shorefaces suggests that a large volume of sediment, primarily sand, was filtered through the shoreface and transported to and across the shelf. The continuity and constant thickness of shelf cycles within the Lewis further attest to large-volume sediment filtering and bypass. By contrast, much more total sediment and more sand is stored in the shoreface facies tract of the seaward-stepping Point Lookout. These differences have implications for the possible origin of sandstone bodies within shelf strata interpreted as lowstand deposits..

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The efficiency of the wave-base razor to bypass sediment across shelves is related to water depth. The wave-base razor is most efficient in shallow-water shelves, which tend to be associated with landwardstepping stacking patterns of genetic sequences. In these conditions, sediment is swept across the shallow shelves and accumulates in slightly deeper water long distances (10-50 km) from the shoreline. Stratigraphic correlation strategies of landward-stepping genetic sequences must connect two laterally continuous rock masses (shoreface and shelf sandstones) with a surface of bypass, whereas correlations of seaward-stepping genetic sequences normally follow original depositional profiles from the land onto the shelf. A succession of landward-stepping genetic sequences produces a succession of shallowing-up sandstones on the shelf that might be misinterpreted as lowstand deposits or as beheaded shorefaces. The intervening surfaces of bypass might be misinterpreted as subaerial unconformities or sequence boundaries.

near the risers. They become progressively more symmetrical landward of the risers. These observations indicate that the stratigraphic process-response system is well organized and well behaved, At this time the causality of that behavior is not known. Stratigraphic responses to processes may be direct, or they may result from more complex nonlinear dynamical interactions where thresholds, feedback systems and buffering regulate the responses. Regardless of the imperfection of our current knowledge about causality, a set of unknown sedimentologic and stratigraphic attributes is predictable from a knowledge of other attributes. Different correlation strategies must be applied to the seaward- and landward-stepping portions of clastic wedges. Correlations within seaward-stepping genetic sequences follow original topographic profiles from the flat coastal plain (0.01 to 0.001), across the more steeply inclined (0.1 to 5) shoreface or deltafront, onto and across the intermediate gradient shelf. Because seaward-stepping shorefaces generally prograde across relatively deep shelves below wave base, they build their own shelf platform and stratigraphic correlations are coincident with depositional topographic profiles. In the seaward-stepping Point Lookout the shoreface progrades like a staircase, as a series of flat steps and vertical risers. Each vertical riser initiates a new genetic sequence in the coastal plain, shoreface and shelf facies tracts. Stratigraphic correlations of each genetic sequence across these facies tracts also follow original topographic profiles. Unlike the shorefaces of seaward-stepping genetic sequences which usually prograde across deep shelves, shorefaces of landward-stepping genetic sequences prograde across shallow shelves within wave base. The shallow water shelf in front of a prograding shoreface is a product of marine transgression over the flat coastal plain and shoreface facies tracts of the underlying genetic sequence. During progradation, sediment is winnowed from the shoreface and swept by the wave-base razor across the shallow shelf to sites below wave base. The wave-base razor prevents sediment from accumulating on the shelf except as thin, offlapping aggradational shelf cycles. Normally the first site for sediment accumulation below wave base is beyond the depositional limit of the underlying shoreface. Correlations of landward-stepping genetic sequences follow the topographic profile of the coastal plain and shoreface or deltafront to a bypass surface on the top of the underly-

Conclusions This and previous studies have demonstrated that stratigraphic and sedimentologic attributes of all scales are remarkably well organized and respond similarly to changes in accommodation: sediment supply conditions. As attributes of one scale change transitionally from one state to another, attributes of other scales have parallel transitional changes. In the Mesa Verde, largescale stacking patterns of genetic sequences are associated with lithology and facies diversity of shoreface facies tracts, symmetries of stratigraphic cycles in continental and shallow marine strata, water depth of marine shelves, and lithology of shelf strata. The shoreface facies tract of seaward-stepping genetic sequences is a heterolithic mix of sand and mud, whereas shoreface sandstones of landward-stepping genetic sequences are homogeneous and mud free. Stratigraphic steps and risers which characterize the seaward-stepping Point Lookout are associated with wave-dominated shoreface and tide-dominated bay facies, respectively. The changes in facies reflect changes in the geomorphology of the coastline which responds to the changes in the accommodation: sediment supply ratio during baselevel cycles. Stratigraphic cycles in continental strata originate at the vertical risers of the Point Lookout shoreface, and are strongly base-level-rise asymmetric

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ing genetic sequence, and then to an aggradational shelf cycle beyond the shoreface depositional limit of the underlying genetic sequence.

Acknowledgments This work was supported by the CSM Brent/Mesa Verde Consortium members: Elf Norge, Mobil Norway, Norske Conoco A/S, Saga Petroleum and Statoil. We very much appreciate their support.

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