RASC/CASC: Example of creative application of statistics in geology

Abstract

RASC/CASC is a computer-based system for quantitative stratigraphic analysis developed by F. Agterberg, F. Gradstein, and their co-workers. The application of the system to the Neogene biostratigraphy of the Pearl River Mouth Basin has demonstrated the advantages of the system. The occurrence data of hundreds of fossils from dozens of wells were analyzed objectively based on established stratigraphic and statistical rules embedded in the system. Through permutation of score matrix the optimum sequence of fossil events was obtained. The calculation of inter-fossil distances allowed the automated biostratigraphic zonation and the age-event correlation. Then the regional geological time table was constructed, and the inter-well chronological correlation and high-resolution subsidence analysis become possible even for wells with incomplete fossil records. Uncertainty at each step was quantified. While all these are important accomplishments in a stratigraphic study, results of the study also helped identifying problems in allocation of fossil events and in dating lithologic divisions. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.