Automated Stratigraphic Correlation

Automated Stratigraphic Correlation FURTHER TITLES IN THIS SERIES 1. A.J. Boucot EVOLUTION AND EXTINCTION RATE CONTROLS 2. W.A. Berggren and J.A. van Couvering THE LATE NEOGENE - BIOSTRATIGRAPHY, GEOCHRONOLOGY AND PALEOCLIMATOLOGY OF THE LAST 15 MILLION YEARS IN MARINE AND CONTINENTAL SEQUENCES 3. L.J. Salop PRECAMBRIAN OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE 4. J.L. Wray CALCAREOUS ALGAE 5. A. Hallam (Editor) PATTERNS OF EVOLUTION, AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE FOSSIL RECORD 6. F.M. Swain (Editor) STRATIGRAPHIC MICROPALEONTOLOGY OF ATLANTIC BASIN AND BORDERLANDS 7. W.C. Mahaney (Editor) QUATERNARY DATING METHODS 8. D. Jan6ssy PLEISTOCENE VERTEBRATE FAUNAS OF HUNGARY 9. Ch. Pomerol and I. Premoli-Silva (Editors) TERMINAL EOCENE EVENTS 10. J.C. Briggs BIOGEOGRAPHY AND PLATE TECTONICS 11. T. Hanai, N. lkeya and K. lshizaki (Editors) EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY OF OSTRACODA. ITS FUNDAMENTALS AND APPLICATIONS 12. V.A. Zubakov and 1.1. Borzenkova GLOBAL PALAEOCLIMATE OF THE LATE CENOZOIC Developments in Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, 13 Automated Stratigraphic Correlation El? Agterberg Mathematical Applications in Geology Section, GeologicalSurvey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ont., K 1A OE8, Canada ELSEVIER Amsterdam - New York - Oxford -Tokyo 1990 ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHERS B.V. Sara Burgerhartstraat 25 P.O. Box 21 1, 1000 AE Amsterdam, The Netherlands Distributors for the United Stares and Canada: ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHING COMPANY INC. 655, Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10010, U S A . ISBN 0-444-88253-7 0 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., 1990 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,.stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V./ Physical Sciences & Engineering Division, P.O. Box 330, 1000 AH Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Special regulations for readers in the USA -This publication has been registered with the Copyright Clearance Center Inc. (CCC), Salem, Massachusetts. Information can be obtained from the CCC about conditions under which photocopies of parts of this publication may be made in the USA. All other copyright questions, including photocopying outside of the USA, should be referred to the copyright owner, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., unless otherwise specified. No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Printed in The Netherlands V FOREWORD Geological correlation of strata plays a key role in sedimentary basin analysis. Such correlation, particularly when scaled in linear time, requires that a series of unique points for non-recurrent events like occurrences of fossils must first be determined, common to t h e sedimentary record as observed a t different sites. An important contention o