Thresholds for Environmental
Signal Storage in Stratigraphy


Alluvial basins provide important records of climate and tectonic changes on Earth, as well as information about how land surfaces evolve under different boundary conditions. These deposits also contain important energy and water reserves and will serve as hosts for carbon capture and storage. Consequently our ability to reliably interpret and predict stratigraphic patterns is fundamentally important both scientifically and in its bearing on broader society. Building on earlier statistical studies, we are examining the fidelity of the stratigraphic record in laboratory and numerical experiments. In these experiments, we also quantify the depositional architecture that controls the 3D structure of the strata. This architecture is influenced by both stochastic (autogenic) and deterministic (allogenic) processes. Specifically, we are investigating the temporal and spatial scales necessary for changes in forcing conditions (including sea level and/or sediment flux) to be stored in the stratigraphic record. This work helps improve efforts at recovering signalss of changing boundary conditions in ancient basins, and modeling and predicting stratigraphy in alluvial basins.

Recent Manuscript Titles:

Cyclic water-sediment supply coarsens the temporal resolution of fluvio-deltaic strata

Field testing autogenic storage thresholds for environmental signals in the strata of the Mississippi delta

The incomplete record of autogenic processes on the limits on signal detectability

The degradation and detection of environmental signals in sediment transport systems