A formal method for describing data collected from field studies is used to generate stochastic geological models of sedimentary successions using a method based on syntactic pattern recognition. Using this method an analogue model developed from field data can be encoded as a grammar. The grammar is composed of symbols which represent geological entities. Valid patterns formed by the symbols are described by a set of production rules. In order to demonstrate the potential of the syntactic method, 2D simulations of interpreted cross-sections from Brushy Canyon outcrops are presented here, as well as 2D simulations of seismic facies from the Bengal Fan.