Stratigraphic Column Designer
Publication-standard stratigraphic columns with a written interpretation.
Draws stratigraphic columns in the layout used in journals and basin studies: ICS chronostratigraphy, group and formation, depth scale, FGDC lithology patterns, unconformities and hiatuses, depositional environment and petroleum-system elements, followed by an automatic stratigraphic description and interpretation.
Overview
Units are entered from the top of the section downward. Each unit carries an ICS 2023 age, group, formation, primary and secondary lithology, thickness, texture, resistance, lower contact, sedimentary structures, fossils, petroleum role and an event or comment. Consecutive units of the same system, series, stage, group, formation or event are merged into one cell, as in published charts.
The column is followed by a written description: the general framework, a lithostratigraphic description of each formation from oldest to youngest, the depositional evolution, the stratigraphic breaks with the missing time computed from ICS boundaries, and the petroleum system.
What you enter · What you get
What you enter
- Column title, location or well, data source
- Age (system, series, stage), group and formation per unit
- Lithology, thickness, texture, resistance and lower contact
- Sedimentary structures, fossils, petroleum role and events
What you get
- Stratigraphic column with merged age and formation cells, depth scale and explanation
- Unconformities drawn across the chart and hiatus intervals
- Stratigraphic description and interpretation
- SVG, PNG, CSV and PDF report
How it works in the field
Method and equations
Chronostratigraphy
Systems, series and stages with their numerical boundaries and colours follow the ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart (v2023/09). The traditional Tertiary may replace Paleogene and Neogene in the system column. The time missing at an unconformity or hiatus is the difference between the base age of the unit above and the top age of the unit below.
Lithology and contacts
Lithology patterns and colours follow FGDC-STD-013-2006. The lithology column may be uniform, as in basin charts, or scaled to weathering resistance or grain size, as in field logs. Unconformities are drawn as red wavy lines across all columns.
Interpretation
Depositional environments are inferred from lithology, structures and fossils. Vertical changes between consecutive units are read as transgressive or regressive trends, basin restriction, and fining- or coarsening-upward successions. Reservoir and seal units in vertical contact are reported as reservoir–seal pairs.
Who uses it
Standards and references
- Cohen, K.M., Finney, S.C., Gibbard, P.L. & Fan, J.-X. (2013; updated 2023). The ICS International Chronostratigraphic Chart. Episodes 36, 199–204.
- FGDC (2006). Digital Cartographic Standard for Geologic Map Symbolization, FGDC-STD-013-2006.
- Salvador, A. (ed.) (1994). International Stratigraphic Guide, 2nd ed. IUGS / GSA.
- Catuneanu, O. (2006). Principles of Sequence Stratigraphy. Elsevier.
- Magoon, L.B. & Dow, W.G. (1994). The petroleum system. AAPG Memoir 60, 3–24.
- Jassim, S.Z. & Goff, J.C. (eds) (2006). Geology of Iraq. Dolin, Prague and Moravian Museum, Brno.
- Tucker, M.E. (2011). Sedimentary Rocks in the Field, 4th ed. Wiley-Blackwell.
At a glance
- Category
- Field geology
- Runs on
- Phone, tablet and desktop browser
- Export
- SVG and PNG column, CSV unit table, PDF report
- Access
- Subscribers
Run this survey on your next site
All 29 tools, report export and the AI assistant come with one subscription.