SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK AND SEA-LEVEL CHANGES IN THE LATE PALAEOZOIC EPICONTINENTAL BASIN IN NORTHERN CHINA

The sequence stratigraphic framework of an epicontinental basin differs from that of a marginal basin because of the differences in regional settings in the two kinds of basins. The research results in the present paper show that the main factors controlling the formation of the sequences in the Late Palaeozoic epicontinental basin in northern China are high-frequency sea-level changes and episodic transgressive events,because the gentle slope of the basin made it difficult to form basin-wide erosional unconformity.The coalbearing sequences in the epicontinental basin are of binary configuration,i.e.,the sequence model of "transgressive systems tract-highstand systems tract".