Fossil Groups

&
Zonal Schemes
Group Members

Muzmmil Saleem 04111613046

Chaudary Umer Ghaffar 04111613074

Ahmed Rafeh 04111613045

Asmad Hussain 04111613083

M. Tayyab Ali 04111613003

 Biostratigraphy
Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of
rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.
 Chrono stratigraphy
Chrono stratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that studies the age of rock strata in relation to time. The
ultimate aim of chrono stratigraphy is to arrange the sequence of deposition and the time of deposition of all
rocks within a geological region, and eventually, the entire geologic record of the Earth.
 seismic stratigraphy
The study of seismic data for the purpose of extracting stratigraphic information is called seismic stratigraphy.

Seismic stratigraphy has superceded biostratigraphy and now use as primary correlative tool.
But without the aid of biostratigraphy seismic stratigraphy is limited in complex areas.
So biostratigraphy with other dating methods such as isotope stratigraphy and megnetostratigraphy are still
playing important role in providing chronostratigraphic control to seismic correlations.
Fossil Groups

 Fossils are indicatore of processes and environments of deposition, as well as provide the
fundamental information of evolution of life on earth.
 The concept of biostratigraphy is based on the principle that organisms have undergoes
successive changes throughout geologic time.
 To date sequence boundaries and maximum flooding surfaces a high frequency of
chronostratigraphically significant fossil events is required.
 The most useful fossil are those which, evolved, exhibited distinct and rapid
morphological change, distributed widely, occur in sufficient abundance.
 Three most useful groups are;
1. Microfossils (Foraminifera, Ostracods, Diatoms, Calcareous alga etc)
2. Nanofossils (Coccoliths and Discoasters)
3. Palynomorphs (Dinoflagelettes, Chitinozoa, Acritarchs, Tasmanitids,Pollen and Spores.
Due to limitation of sample size in petroleum industry small fossils usually less than few mm
in diameter and as small as 4micrometer are widely used in biostratigraphy.
Small fossils usually occur in abundance in favorable paleoenviroment.
Fossil Groups
Fossil Preservation
 The actual fossil preservation of plants and animals is dependent upon the mineral and
organic construction of the organism, the environment it was deposited in and diagenetic
history after burial.
 The absence of expected marker fossils, either through biofacies restriction or non-
preservation, is a limitation common to biostratigraphic studies and a major hindrance to
interpretation.
Fossil zonation schemes

 The first appearance datum and the last appearance datum of a fossil species in the rock
record are useful markers for biostratigraphic correlation.
 Maximum abundance event is also often used (with caution).
 The full global range of fossil species may not be represented in every basin, due to local
environmental or geographical constraints.
 So biozones based on these inception or extinction events only have local correlative
value.
Biostratigraphic Resolution
 The chronostratigraphic resolution obtainable from fossil markers depends on the
geological period, the number of fossil groups used and the type of depositional
environment.
 The resolution of a fossil group is calculated by dividing the geological period by the
number of biozones in a particular global scheme.
 Local schemes usually are more refined and have greater chronostratigraphic resolution.
 Combined resolution from several fossil groups gives even greater resolution.
Biostratigraphic Resolution