Abstract
Black shales and iron-stones are often considered as the signatures of regressions and transgressions. Their occurrence and the manner in which they relate to transgressive-regressive cycles is elucidated here by examples from the Devonian and the Jurassic.
Sea level changes cause local changes in sedimentation rates — an example is here given from the South German Jurassic which indicates an average periodicity of 4 Myr; a periodicity which also appears likely for our Devonian example.
There is no one-to-one correspondence between global sea-level changes and local transgressive-regressive cycles. These relationships are discussed using a simple mathematical model which allows, in addition, the prediction of the position of rhythmic sequences within larger regressive-transgressive trends.
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McGhee, G.R., Bayer, U. (1985). The local signature of sea-level changes. In: Bayer, U., Seilacher, A. (eds) Sedimentary and Evolutionary Cycles. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0009840
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0009840
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