High resolution sequence biostratigraphy: examples from the Gulf of Mexico Plio-Pleistocene

Abstract

Abstract High resolution sequence biostratigraphy provides a framework for the construction of palaeogeographic maps for each phase of relative sea-level change. The late Pliocene and Pleistocene of the Gulf of Mexico provides a case history of the integration of this methodology. The strata are abundantly fossiliferous and stratigraphically thick so that exploration well samples provide a record of glacial/interglacial cycles with a 200–300 ka frequency. The methodology developed is suitable for other stratigraphic intervals where microfossils are relatively abundant.