Postglacial deposits of the Rhone shelf: stratigraphic organisation and growth patterns

Postglacial deposits of the Rhone shelf are organised into a set of retrograding units representing parasequences of the Transgressive Systems Tract. They are correlated with periods of reduced rate of eustatic sea level rise but their properties (location, nature) are also controlled by local factors (paleotopography, dynamic conditions, sedimentary input). They are overlaid on the deltaic plain by the prograding parasequences of the Highstand Systems Tract. The poor development of Pleistocene equivalent is due to the short duration and low-frequency occurrence of quaternary highstand periods as well as the subsequent subaerial erosion, particularly on the inner shelf.