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1 Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
2 Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
A conceptual model is developed integrating the compaction process into a sequence stratigraphic framework, and incorporating an understanding of the ways that carbonate platforms respond to sea-level changes. The application of this model to a range of well-constrained examples allows examination of the compaction process within a high resolution temporal framework. This approach helps to gain a better understanding of the compaction process in the shallow subsurface. Conversely, the recognition of unconformities ‘enhanced’ by compaction-induced differential subsidence illustrates the dynamic and interactive role played by compaction during sequence development. It is this aspect of the compaction process, as a control of accommodation development, facies patterns and ultimately sequence architecture, that is the focus of interest here. Examples of compactionally ‘enhanced’ unconformities show compaction to be a dynamic process that can act as a primary control of sequence architecture and development. It is clear that compaction is a much underestimated process in extant sequence stratigraphic models.
