Guided by Vail's classical theory of sequence stratigraphy

the authors proposed to finely divide the Paleogene T Formation of the deepwater C Basin in South China Sea by tying wells in the shallow water area to the seismic sections in deepwater area.The results show that the proposed method works effectively in dealing with such problems as poor seismic data quality

lack of well data

complexities of faults

vague sequence boundaries caused by high temperature and high pressure

difficulties in stratigraphic tracing and correlation

and so on.By using the method

the authors also established fine three-dimensional isochronous stratigraphic sequence framework of the study area

divided the T Formation into four third-order sequences

and recognized seven kinds of sandbodies:braided deltas

fan deltas

incised valley

basin floor fan

turbidite fan

beach bar and shore sands.These sandbodies together with widely distributed mudstones of TST formed many lithologic-stratigraphic reservoirs in three kinds of accumulation mode:single fault

multiple fault

and slope.