The Emptiness of the Stratigraphic Record: A Preliminary Evaluation of Missing Time In the Mesaverde Group, Book Cliffs, Utah, U.S.A

Research Article| June 01, 2014 The Emptiness of the Stratigraphic Record: A Preliminary Evaluation of Missing Time In the Mesaverde Group, Book Cliffs, Utah, U.S.A Andrew Miall Andrew Miall Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B1, Canada e-mail: miall@es.utoronto.ca Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Andrew Miall Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B1, Canada e-mail: miall@es.utoronto.ca Publisher: SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology Received: 26 Jul 2013 Accepted: 03 Mar 2014 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1938-3681 Print ISSN: 1527-1404 Copyright © 2014, SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) Journal of Sedimentary Research (2014) 84 (6): 457–469. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2014.40 Article history Received: 26 Jul 2013 Accepted: 03 Mar 2014 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Andrew Miall; The Emptiness of the Stratigraphic Record: A Preliminary Evaluation of Missing Time In the Mesaverde Group, Book Cliffs, Utah, U.S.A. Journal of Sedimentary Research 2014;; 84 (6): 457–469. doi: https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2014.40 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyJournal of Sedimentary Research Search Advanced Search Abstract: Observations of modern sedimentation rates in nonmarine and shallow-marine clastic environments indicate that deposits formed in comparable settings in the ancient record could accumulate in a fraction of the time that would appear to be available according to conventional chronostratigraphic dating methods. Typically as little as 10% of elapsed time is represented by sediment, the remainder by breaks in sedimentation, many of which are inconspicuous. An examination of the chronostratigraphy and sedimentary history of the Mesaverde Group of the Book Cliffs, Utah, U.S.A., confirms this pattern. Shoreface, deltaic, and nonmarine successions are considered to be particularly fragmentary. Ravinement surfaces may each account for up to 105 years of missing time. In the sedimentary record of shallow-marine and nonmarine deposits stratigraphic continuity is not to be expected, and calculation of time-related issues, such as mass-balance transport rates and the trajectories of shoreline transgression and regression, must take this into account. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.