Vietnam Journal of Earth Sciences, 40(3), 271-287, Doi: 10.15625/0866-7187/40/3/12618 271 (VAST) Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology Vietnam Journal of Earth Sciences http://www.vjs.ac.vn/index.php/jse Late Pleistocene-Holocene sequence stratigraphy of the subaqueous Red River delta and the adjacent shelf Nguyen Trung Thanh 1 , Paul Jing Liu 2 , Mai Duc Dong 1 , Dang Hoai Nhon 4 , Do Huy Cuong 1 , Bui Viet Dung 3 , Phung Van Phach 1 , Tran Duc Thanh 4 , Duong Quoc Hung 1 , Ngo Thanh Nga 5 1 Institute of Marine Geology and Geophysics (VAST), Hanoi, Vietnam 2 Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA 3 Vietnam Petroleum Institute, 173-Trung Kinh, Hanoi, Vietnam 4 Institute of Marine Environment and Resources (VAST), Hai Phong, Vietnam 5 Institute of Geography (VAST), Hanoi, Vietnam Received 22 February 2018; Received in revised form 02 May 2018; Accepted 05 June 2018 ABSTRACT The model of Late Pleistocene-Holocene sequence stratigraphy of the subaqueous Red River delta and the adja- cent shelf is proposed by interpretation of high resolution seismic documents and comparison with previous research results on Holocene sedimentary evolution on the delta plain. Four units (U1, U2, U3, and U4) and four sequence stratigraphic surfaces (SB1, TS, TRS and MFS) were determined. The formation of these units and surfaces is related to the global sea-level change in Late Pleistocene-Holocene. SB1, defined as the sequence boundary, was generated by subaerial processes during the Late Pleistocene regression and could be remolded partially or significantly by transgressive ravinement processes subsequently. The basal unit U1 (fluvial formations) within incised valleys is ar- ranged into the lowstand systems tract (LST) formed in the early slow sea-level rise ~19-14.5 cal.kyr BP, the U2 unit is arranged into the early transgressive systems tract (E-TST) deposited mainly within incised-valleys under the tide- influenced river to estuarine conditions in the rapid sea-level rise ~14.5-9 cal.kyr BP, the U3 unit is arranged into the late transgressive systems tract (L-TST) deposited widely on the continental shelf in the fully marine condition during the late sea-level rise ~9-7 cal.kyr BP, and the U4 unit represents for the highstand systems tract (HST) with clino- form structure surrounding the modern delta coast, extending to the water depth of 25-30 m, developed by sediments from the Red River system in ~3-0 cal.kyr BP. Keywords: Sequence stratigraphy; Systems tracts; Red River delta; Sedimentary evolution; Sedimentary facies. ©2018 Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology 1. Introduction 1 Application of sequence stratigraphy has been used for numerous continental shelves to increase deep insights to the history of late Pleistocene-Holocene sedimentary evolution * Corresponding author, Email: ntthanh@imgg.vast.vn in relation to the global sea-level change. A significant amount of high resolution seismic data collected on the modern continental shelves facilitates for applying the sequence stratigraphy theories (Boyd et al., 1992; Saito et al., 1998; Hanebuth et al., 2004; Dung et al., 2013; Yoo et al., 2014; Thanh, 2017 etc.).