沉积学报2025，Vol.43Issue(5)：1535-1554,20.DOI:10.14027/j.issn.1000-0550.2025.037
从沉积学到沉积圈科学:百年简要回顾与发展展望
A Century Journey from Sedimentology to Sedimentosphere Science:Review and Perspective
摘要
Abstract
[Significance]As a fundamental branch of Earth sciences,sedimentology has evolved over more than a century.[Progress]Between the 17th and 19th centuries,sedimentary rocks were mainly regarded as background ma-terial for stratigraphic and paleontological studies,lacking an systematic theoretical framework.The emergence of modern sedimentological thinking began in the late 19th century with Walther's"Law of Succession of Facies,"which clarified the spatial-temporal relationships among sedimentary facies.Around the same period,Sorby's pioneering microscopic studies of silicified wood laid the foundation for sedimentary petrology.With the rise of the petroleum industry in the early 20th century,grain-size analysis and heavy mineral assemblages became central to sedimentary petrology.However,most studies during this period remained confined to laboratory observations and lacked insight into sedimentary processes.The mid-20th century witnessed a turning point:Kuenen and Migliorini's revolutionary flume experiments successfully reproduced turbidity current deposition,propelling the development of physical sedimentology.Simultaneously,studies of modern depositional environments facilitated the establishment of facies models,enhancing predictions of sedimentary environments and rock distribution and driving rapid advances in paleogeography.The 1960s-1970s brought a paradigm shift with the application of plate tectonic theory.Sedi-mentology began to expand from research on process-response sedimentary models to basin dynamics.The integration of seismic data catalyzed the emergence of sequence stratigraphy.Vail and colleagues'introduction of sequence boundaries and chronostratigraphic correlation fundamentally redefined the relationship between stratigraphy and sedi-mentology,effectively reuniting them into a coherent framework.By the 1990s,rapid advances in elemental and iso-topic geochemistry enabled the development of multiple environmental proxies,which in turn facilitated paleoclimat-ic and paleoceanographic reconstructions based on sedimentary records.Meanwhile,the validation of Milankovitch theory and the rise of cyclostratigraphy pushed temporal resolution from the million-year to the ten-thousand-year scale.In the 21st century,the rise of biosedimentology reflects an increasing integration of sedimentology with micro-biology and geochemistry.The field has also extended from resource-driven investigations toward addressing funda-mental scientific questions such as the origin of life,the carbon cycle,climate evolution,and planetary habitability.The evolution of sedimentology has not followed a linear trajectory.Instead,it has progressed through a series of paradigm shifts driven by theoretical crises and technological revolutions.Key drivers include the accumulation of modern observational data,breakthroughs in experimental techniques,the adoption of actualistic principles,and societal demand.Notably,conflicts between new observations and established theories-such as the discovery of coarse clastic sediments in deep-sea settings during HMS Challenger expeditions-have triggered theoretical revolu-tions.Experimental innovations,such as flume experiments and seismic reflection data,directly enabled the develop-ment of physical sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy.The application of actualistic methodologies-"the present is the key to the past"-has become the epistemological foundation of modern sedimentology.Systematic observations of modern depositional processes have transformed the field from descriptive"stamp collecting"into a discipline grounded in quantitative,process-based modeling.At a deeper level,the golden age of sedimentology was driven by societal demand for energy resources,with much of its rapid development propelled by applied research in hydrocar-bon exploration.The historical trajectory of sedimentology reveals it had a very polyphyletic origin.Sedimentary petrology emerged through focused analysis of rock composition and fabric,while physical sedimentology established a theoretical framework centered on depositional processes.The later development of sequence stratigraphy achieved deep integration with stratigraphy.Entering the 21st century,sedimentology is undergoing a new phase of cross-disciplinary convergence-with geophysics,geochemistry,geobiology,paleoclimatology,computer science,engineering geology,and environmental science-giving rise to emerging subfields such as paleoceanography,plane-tary sedimentology,biosedimentology,and environmental sedimentology.This convergence is rooted in the intrinsic complexity of sedimentary materials.[Conclusions and Prospests]As the most widely distributed rock on Earth's surface,sedimentary rocks and sediments uniquely archive the continuous evolution of the Earth's surface systems since the Archean.They are both products and records of the interactions among Earth's spheres-lithosphere,atmosphere,hydrosphere,and biosphere-preserving evidence of the dynamic forces shaping the planet across spatial and temporal scales.The interdisciplinary nature of sedimentology thus emerges inevitably from its object of study.To reflect this disciplinary integration,we propose the concept of"Sedimentosphere Science"-a new transdisciplinary framework that is emerging as a central approach to understanding Earth's surface system coupling and addressing global sustainability challenges.The sedimentosphere refers to the Earth's uppermost surface domain,composed of sedimentary rocks and materials,extending from the crystalline basement to the lower boundaries of the atmosphere and hydrosphere.As an interface among the major Earth spheres,sedimentary records capture the evolutionary history of the Earth,controlling mechanisms,and feedback processes among Earth's subsystems.Compared to sedimentology,Sedimentosphere Science emphasizes comprehensive,system-level research under the guidance of Earth System Sci-ence.It integrates diverse disciplines,methodologies,and technologies to investigate the interplay among the atmosphere,hydrosphere,biosphere,anthroposphere,and sedimentosphere.This integrated approach enhances our understanding of sedimentary differentiation and evolution and contributes directly to human sustainability and societal resilience.Sedimentosphere Science not only encompasses subfields such as sedimentology,stratigraphy,paleontology,petrology,geomorphology,paleoclimatology,paleoceanography,geological resources,and environ-mental geology,but also draws upon methods from mathematics,chemistry,physics,and biology.Considering cur-rent scientific trends and societal needs,we identify four emerging research frontiers:(1)using the sedimentosphere record to reconstruct Earth's history,(2)investigating processes of sedimentosphere and their responses to climate change,(3)understanding the mechanisms of material differentiation in the sedimentosphere,and(4)exploring sedimentosphere-human interactions for sustainable development.The rise of Sedimentosphere Science is not only a natural extension of sedimentology but also a strategic response to the complexity of Earth systems and the growing urgency of global change.Under the new era of interdisciplinary science,Sedimentosphere Science is poised to play a pivotal role in advancing planetary habitability,resource security,and disaster resilience.It represents both a research expansion of sedimentology and a vital component of the Earth system science.关键词
沉积学/沉积圈/学科发展/学科史/地球系统Key words
sedimentology/sedimentosphere/disciplinary evolution/history/earth system分类
天文与地球科学引用本文复制引用
王成善,高抒,侯明才,朱筱敏,邵龙义,吴怀春,刘志飞,陈中强,朱如凯,陈曦,马永生,彭平安,邹才能,谢树成,肖文交,张水昌,胡修棉,王剑..从沉积学到沉积圈科学:百年简要回顾与发展展望[J].沉积学报,2025,43(5):1535-1554,20.基金项目
国家自然科学基金专项项目(42142004)Special Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.42142004 （42142004）
