Why Environmental Sequence Stratigraphy?

Why Environmental Sequence Stratigraphy?

May be first, let's recall it’s derivative, Sequence Stratigraphy.

In the most basic terms, Sequence Stratigraphy is a study of sedimentary deposits with respect to depositional environments and changes in sea level, sediment supply, and sediment-storage area through time.

Sequence Stratigraphy is the means to understand the subsurface architecture of marine sediments on the basis of understanding how depositional environments (and the resulting sediments) shift and change as sea level rises and falls.

Environmental Sequence Stratigraphy is a subsurface characterization approach applied to hydrogeologic and environmental projects based on understanding the geology. This approach allows us to understand the architecture of the sedimentary succession beneath our sites; that is, recognition not only of coarse- and fine-grained sediments in the succession, but their geometries, continuity, variability, and uniformity.

Isn’t the name of the game: understanding subsurface relationships !?  It's more than just mapping a secondary attribute such as soil classification, permeabilities, or contaminant occurrence.  Understanding subsurface relationship relies fully discerning the SOLE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (i.e. depositional processes).  

So again, why Environmental Sequence Stratigraphy?   Call it anything you want.  Midwest GeoSciences Group has called it the “Sedimentary Stratigraphic Approach”, “Holistic Stratigraphy”, and “Holistic Hydrogeology” and we’ve even trademarked “Taking the Mystery Out of the Subsurface” along with creating an online training experience to do it.  

In the end, it’s the job we are hired to do as geoscience professionals: take the mystery out of the subsurface.