Abstract Although quantitative stratigraphic models have been able to reproduce the gross characteristics of sedimentary successions, most are less successful at reproducing fine stratigraphic details such as marine erosion surfaces, and yield little insight into the dynamics of sediment transport. We have developed a new two-dimensional stratigraphic model that combines a geodynamical model that simulates tectonics, isostasy, compaction, and coastal plain erosion and deposition with a morphodynamical model that simulates marine sediment transport. The morphodynamical model differs from sediment-transport models used in older stratigraphic models in that it allows for both offshore and onshore transport through an estimate of long-term advective and diffusive sediment fluxes, and applies concepts of dynamic equilibrium to the shoreface and continental shelf. This more sophisticated sediment-transport model allows us to simulate the response of stratal geometries and surfaces to changes in hydrodynamic climate, as well as to changes in sea level, tectonics, and sediment supply. In this paper, we simulate a narrow, steep continental margin with relatively high sediment supply (similar to the modem northern California margin) that is undergoing high-amplitude (80 m), high-frequency (40 k.y.) sea level fluctuations. We then compare the effect of varying several parameters on the resulting simulation. These sensitivity tests illustrate the effects of variations in the steepness and erosion rate of the coastal plain, hydrodynamic intensity, and disequilibrium initial conditions, and also a nonsinusoidal "asymmetrical sawtooth" eustatic curve approximately reflecting sea level change over the past 125 k.y. Although quantitative calibration of the model against real hydrodynamic data has not yet been completed, the model responds to changes in input parameters that appear realistic and offers a possible explanation of the patterns observed in real sedimentary successions. Marine and subaerial erosion surfaces are produced at logical times during a sea level cycle, and the shoreface shape changes in ways that resemble real profile adjustments to changes in rates of sea level change, sediment supply, and hydrodynamics. Model results suggest that sediment-transport processes may strongly overprint the stratigraphic record, allowing a considerable variety of sedimentary styles to be produced with identical sea level, tectonic, and sediment-supply histories. In the simulations, sequence thickness and the location and preservation of transgressive and regressive deposits vary with changes in coastal plain behavior and wave intensity. Steeper coastal plains result in reduced subaerial erosion and better shelf preservation. Low rates of subaerial erosion or high wave intensity results in thick, steeply inclined regressive deposits, but poor preservation of transggessive deposits; thicker shelf sections are not necessarily more complete. Clinoforms develop within the model only under conditions of significant disequilibrium; such conditions could occur in nature due to changes in relative sea level that are large relative to rates of sediment supply. These results suggest that factors other than sea level, amount of sediment supply, and tectonics are significant in stratigraphic development and highlight the need for the inclusion of more rigorous sediment-transport dynamics in numerical and conceptual stratigraphic models.