以科学合理采出的岩心或露头样品中所获得的微相标志,可提供古水深的线索.微相标志可以有效识别作为建立碳酸盐岩三级层序地层格架基础的陆上暴露面、淹没不整合面、初次海泛面以及最大海泛面等层序界面,还可以识别和解释多种类型的准层序.

The recognition and interpretation for sedimentary sequence of carbonate rocks, especially for high resolution sequence, are the major objective of modern carbonate sedimentology. On the basis of scientific and reasonable sampling of cores and outcrops, thin-section criteria provide hints to water paleodepth. Microfacies criteria are able to effectively recognize and interpret not only sequence boundaries such as exposure and subaerial surfaces, drowning unconformities, transgressive surfaces, maximum flooding surfaces which are important to the development of a third-order sequence-stratigraphic framework, but also different kinds of parasequences.