Wheeler's confusion and the seismic revolution: How geophysicists saved stratigraphy

Summary: This paper reviews the history of lithostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic methods and naming schemes. The paper shows that use of arbitrary boundaries in defining lithostratigraphic units in the 50's resulted in a confusing proliferation of different names for lithofacies of the same age. Early versions of sequence stratigraphy also failed, because of insistence on definitions using arbitrary vertical cutoffs. Seismic stratigraphy fundamentally transformed the science of stratigraphy by providing vastly superior images that allowed correlation of genetically related chronostratigraphically significant units. Reflection seismic data thus provided the key technological breakthrough that provided continuous cross sectional views of stratigraphic basin fills and fundamentally revitalized the science of stratigraphy.