What could cause sea level to fall in a marine regression? Geologists think that the Paleozoic marine transgressions and regressions were the result of the decrease and increase in the size of glaciers covering the lands. What are the possible causes of a marine regression?
What was the correlation between marine regressions and episodes of glaciation?
What is marine regression?
What is the largest extinction event in the history of the Earth?
What is the process of submerged seafloor being exposed above the sea level?
What is a marine terrace?
Is there a clear and certain understanding of major marine regressions?
Can a major regression cause extinction?
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What are the possible causes of a marine regression?
A marine regression occurs either due to relative sea-level fall (forced regression) or to increased sediment supply during a time when the relative sea-level is stable or even rising causing the shoreline to shift seaward (normal regression) (Posamentier and Allen, 1999; Catuneanu, 2002).
What happens to sea level during a regression?
The opposite of transgression is regression in which the sea level falls relative to the land and exposes former sea bottom.
What are the possible causes of a marine transgression of a marine regression?
Transgressions and regressions may be caused by tectonic events such as orogenies, severe climate change such as ice ages or isostatic adjustments following removal of ice or sediment load. In either case, sea water rises farther up onto land than it did before.
Does regression fall at sea level?
Regression: ocean moves away from shore; result of sea level fall. Progradational: shore and nearshore deposits move outward into the ocean and overlie deeper water deposits.
What were the main causes of the Paleozoic sea level fluctuations?
Geologists think that the Paleozoic marine transgressions and regressions were the result of the decrease and increase in the size of glaciers covering the lands.
What was the sea level during the Paleozoic?
The previous physically estimated magnitude of the shorter-term (third- and fourth-order) sea-level events in the Paleozoic range from a few tens of meters to ∼250 m (22).
What causes forced regression?
A forced regression is induced by the seaward movement of the shoreline in response to relative sea-level lowering. Catuneanu (2002) defines this type of regression as occurring "during stages of base level fall, when the shoreline is forced to regress by the falling base level irrespective of the sediment supply.
What is the difference between a regression and transgression?
A transgression is a landward shift of the coastline while regression is a seaward shift. The terms are applied generally to gradual changes in coast line position without regard to the mechanism causing the change.
What era is known for its transgressing and regressing seas?
During the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, the seas rose over the continents. This is called a marine transgression. During a marine regression, the sea level retreats. The Paleozoic had four complete cycles of marine transgressions and regressions.
What is coastal regression?
Definition of Regressive coast: A coast that is subject to marine regression, which is reflected in a gradual seaward shift of the coastline. Marine regression occurs when the sea level falls or when the seafloor rises. This is the common definition for Regressive coast, other definitions can be discussed in the ...
What is regression stat?
A regression is a statistical technique that relates a dependent variable to one or more independent (explanatory) variables. A regression model is able to show whether changes observed in the dependent variable are associated with changes in one or more of the explanatory variables.
On what continent did a series of glaciations occur causing sea transgression regression cycles?
Because of sea level transgression, flooding of the Gondwana craton occurred as well as regional drowning which caused carbonate sedimentation to stop. During the Upper Ordovician, a major glaciation centered in Africa occurred resulting in a severe drop in sea level which drained nearly all craton platforms.
What is coastal regression?
Definition of Regressive coast: A coast that is subject to marine regression, which is reflected in a gradual seaward shift of the coastline. Marine regression occurs when the sea level falls or when the seafloor rises. This is the common definition for Regressive coast, other definitions can be discussed in the ...
What is a regression in geology?
Regression: the oceanward migration of the shoreline (i.e., draining of flooded land) During a transgression the sequence of rocks will show an onlap sequence (the facies will become deeper-water environments as you move up through the sediments).
What is the difference between transgression and regression?
A transgression is a landward shift of the coastline while regression is a seaward shift. The terms are applied generally to gradual changes in coast line position without regard to the mechanism causing the change.
What is regression stat?
A regression is a statistical technique that relates a dependent variable to one or more independent (explanatory) variables. A regression model is able to show whether changes observed in the dependent variable are associated with changes in one or more of the explanatory variables.
Marine regression : definition of Marine regression and synonyms of ...
Marine regression is a geological process occurring when areas of submerged seafloor are exposed above the sea level. The opposite event, marine transgression, occurs when flooding from the sea covers previously exposed land. Evidence of marine regressions and transgressions occurs throughout the fossil record, and these fluctuations are thought to have caused (or contributed to) several mass ...
Marine transgression - Wikipedia
A marine transgression is a geologic event during which sea level rises relative to the land and the shoreline moves toward higher ground, which results in flooding. Transgressions can be caused by the land sinking or by the ocean basins filling with water or decreasing in capacity. Transgressions and regressions may be caused by tectonic events such as orogenies, severe climate change such as ...
Maps of Holocene Sea Level Transgression and Submerged Lakes on the ...
SATHIAMURTHY AND VORIS – MAPS OF HOLOCENE SEA LEVEL ON THE SUNDA SHELF3 m to –80 m at the rate of 5.33 m per 100 years. This acceleration has been associated with polar
Chapter 5 Transgressive Marine Shoreline Sand - ScienceDirect
Transgressive marine shorelines and bodies are formed in an inner neritic to littoral environment where the sea level is rising relative to the land. …
GEOL 102 Coastal & Marine Environments: Transgressions & Regressions - UMD
GEOL 102 Historical Geology. Spring Semester 2014 Coastal & Marine Environments: Transgressions & Regressions
What was the correlation between marine regressions and episodes of glaciation?
During the ice ages of the Pleistocene, a clear correlation existed between marine regressions and episodes of glaciation. As the balance shifts between the global cryosphere and hydrosphere, more of the planet's water in ice sheets means less in the oceans.
What is marine regression?
A marine regression is a geological process occurring when areas of submerged seafloor are exposed above the sea level. The opposite event, marine transgression, occurs when flooding from the sea covers previously-exposed land. Evidence of marine regressions and transgressions occurs throughout the fossil record, ...
What is the largest extinction event in the history of the Earth?
Evidence of marine regressions and transgressions occurs throughout the fossil record, and the fluctuations are thought to have caused or contributed to several mass extinctions, such as the Permian-Triassic extinction event (250 million years ago) and Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (66 Ma ). During the Permian-Triassic extinction, the largest extinction event in the Earth's history, the global sea level fell 250 m (820 ft).
What is the process of submerged seafloor being exposed above the sea level?
A geological process of areas of submerged seafloor being exposed above the sea level. A marine regression is a geological process occurring when areas of submerged seafloor are exposed above the sea level. The opposite event, marine transgression, occurs when flooding from the sea covers previously-exposed land.
What is a marine terrace?
Marine terrace – Beach or wave-cut platform raised above the shoreline by a relative fall in the sea level
Is there a clear and certain understanding of major marine regressions?
A clear and certain understanding of major marine regressions has not yet been achieved. According to one hypothesis, regressions may be linked to a "slowdown in sea-floor spreading, leading to a generalized drop in sea level (as the mid-ocean ridges would take up less space)...." That view considers major marine regressions to be one aspect of a normal variation in rates of plate tectonic activity, which leads to major episodes of global volcanism like the Siberian Traps and the Deccan Traps, which in turn cause large extinction events .
Can a major regression cause extinction?
A major regression could itself cause marine organisms in shallow seas to go extinct, but mass extinctions tend to involve both terrestrial and aquatic species , and it is harder to see how a marine regression could cause widespread extinctions of land animals.
When were sea levels determined?
Sea levels have been determined for most of the Paleozoic Era (542 to 251 million years ago), but an integrated history of sea levels has remained unrealized. We reconstructed a history.
What is the Paleo-Asian Ocean?
The Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO) has been regarded as a long-lived ocean from Neoproterozoic to early Mesozoic, and its subduction and closure built the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), the largest accretionary orogenic belt in Earth's history. Although the tectonic evolution of the PAO has been discussed from diverse perspectives, the spatiotemporal dynamics in the evolution of the main branch of the PAO and its relationship with the Tethys remain contentious partly because of the absence of sedimentary evidence. Specifically, as far as the Beishan Orogenic Collage (BOC) in the southernmost part of CAOB is concerned, there remain at least two key questions: how did the BOC evolve tectonically and paleogeographically through the late Paleozoic; and which ophiolitic belt represented the main branch of the PAO in the BOC? This study recognized 27 volcano-sedimentary microfacies and 14 facies associations (FAs) in nine measured Carboniferous–Permian sections from the southern BOC. FA changes in the Visean–Capitanian megasequence indicate a Visean–Moscovian regressive sequence from fore-reef slopes to tidal flats and an Artinskian–Wordian transgressive sequence from fan-deltas to abyssal plains, separated by a continental and volcanic sequence straddling the Gzhelian–Sakmarian interval. Characteristics and lateral correlation of FAs suggest an epicontinental sea during Visean–Moscovian times, followed by a marine rift basin which eventually developed into a proto-oceanic basin during the Artinskian–Wordian. Paleobiogeographic evidence further suggests that this epicontinental sea was closely linked with the Tethyan oceans. Statistical comparisons of detrital zircon ages based on data compiled from previous and the present studies supports that this sea was mainly fed from Neoproterozoic and Ordovician–Silurian rocks (ca. 983 and 425 Ma) with a sparse influx of Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic detritus (ca. 2492, 1449, and 1302 Ma). During the Artinskian–Wordian, the rift basin was connected with the PAO based on the mixed cool- and warm-temperate marine faunas of the Boreal and Tethyan realms. This rift basin is thought to have been fed by two source-to-sink provenance systems, from either Ordovician–Silurian or Early Permian rocks (ca. 450 or 277 Ma), although provenance signatures were mixed because of turbidity and other currents in deep marine environments. We thus propose a succession of Carboniferous–Permian paleogeographic reconstruction maps for the BOC based on FA correlation and paleobiogeographic features. In these reconstruction models, the PAO is inferred to have been composed of a main branch (an oceanic basin) in the northern BOC as a part of the North Tianshan–Hongshishan–Solonker–Hegenshan Ocean and an epicontinental sea that subsequently evolved into a marine rift basin in the southern BOC.
What are the magnitudes of eustatic fluctuations?
Facies juxtapositions in carbonate successions and erosional relief in elastic successions indicate that glacioeustatic fluctuations of 20-25 in, and occasionally as much as 60 in, took place throughout the early Mississippian (Tournaisian)-a widely recognized glacial period. Middle Mississippian (mid-Chadian through Holkerian) shallow marine carbonate and elastic successions indicate that eustatic fluctuations were 10-25 in, a decrease that matches well with the paucity of coeval glacial deposits. Late VMan (Asbian through mid-Brigantian) glacioeustatic fluctuations of 10-50 in record the initial phases of ice accumulation in advance of the widespread mid-Carboniferous glacial event. The latest Mississippian-earliest Pennsylvanian (mid-Brigantian through Langsettian) was a time of widespread glaciation, and strata of this age commonly exhibit evidence of glacioeustatic fluctuations of as much as 40-100 m. Although middle Pennsylvanian (Duckmantian through Asturian) glacial deposits are present in eastern Australia, paleovalley depths suggest that coeval glacioeustatic fluctuations were less than 40 in. Glacioeustatic fluctuations of as much as 100-120 in have been widely reported from late Pennsylvanian-earliest Permian (Stephanian through mid-Sakmarian) successions in North America, an increase that corresponds to the growth of large ice sheets across much of Gondwana and the accumulation of ice in the northern hemisphere. Incision and facies juxtaposition in Early-middle Permian (mid-Sakmarian through Kungurian) successions in eastern Australia indicate that glacioeustatic fluctuations of 30-70 in occurred during the waning stages of major glaciation. Erosional relief in paleoequatorial carbonates and the presence of coeval glacial deposits in Australia suggests that eustatic fluctuations of 10-60 in occurred during the final stages of glaciation in the middle to Late Permian (Roadian through Capitanian), but the modest size of most of these fluctuations makes it difficult to isolate the glacioeustatic signature. This review demonstrates that far-field cyclic successions record changing glacial conditions in Gondwana, that the magnitude of glacioeustatic fluctuations was directly related to the volume of glacial ice, that Carboniferous-Permian glacioeustasy was more variable than previously recognized, and that generalizations from short temporal intervals are probably not representative of the late Paleozoic ice age as a whole. Although any attempt to quantify the magnitude of ancient eustatic changes is based on caveats and assumptions, this review incorporates the results of over 100 published papers on the topic in an attempt to minimize the errors inherent in any one study.
How was tectonic subsidence controlled?
The results indicate that tectonic subsidence along the inner edge of the miogeocline was controlled mainly by thermal contraction of heated lithosphere. Thinned continental crust was present beneath the inner miogeocline. These results support the passive-margin model that has been proposed for the miogeocline. The extensive transgression onto the craton east of the miogeocline in Cambrian time, however, cannot be explained by subsidence processes operating within a passive margin, and the transgression could be evidence for a eustatic rise of sea level. Refs.
How many outcrops are there in the Illinois basin?
Interpretive cross sections based on detailed descriptions of 33 outcrops and cores are used to better understand the relative effects of tectonics, eustasy, tides, and climate on Upper Mississippi, (middle Chesterian) stratigraphy in the tectonically active, tide-dominated Illinois basin. The cross sections show that five mixed carbonatesiliciclastic, high-frequency sequences in the Bethel through Glen Dean formations can be correlated around the outcrop belt through areas with very different subsidence histories. The sequence boundaries are marked by paleosols and incised valleys and can be correlated basin-wide within a framework of distinctive marker beds. Because of its updip position, lowstand systems tracts are not preserved in the Illinois basin. The transgressive systems tracts generally consist of one or two parasequences that are typically composed of tidally influenced quartz sandstone filling incised valleys at the base overlain by open-marine skeletal limestone, shallow-marine shale, and heterolithic silidclastic tidal-flat deposits. The maximum flooding surface (MFS) for the sequences is picked at the base of the deepest water limestone faciès. Highstand systems tracts are composed of 1 to 6 regressive parasequences that consist of basal offshore skeletal limestone capped by laterally extensive shale and heterolithic siliciclastic tidal-flat faciès. The basin-wide extent of the sequence boundaries and maximum flooding surfaces across tectonic highs and lows suggests that the sequences were produced by eustatic sea-level changes rather than local tectonics or autogenic processes. The sequences were likely produced by moderate- to high-amplitude (30-100 m) fourth-order (~ 400 ky) glacio-eustatic sea-level changes driven by the transition from the greenhouse conditions of the Early Mississippian to the "icehouse" conditions of the late Paleozoic. The lateral extent and frequency of component parasequences suggests that they were likely produced by fifth-order sea-level changes (10-100 ky). The sequences may be bundled into third-order composite sequences, but the third-order signal is obscured by the magnitude of the fourth-order sea-level changes a feature typical of ice-house stratigraphies. The sequences can be used as time slices to identify spatial and temporal variations in differential subsidence between the Cincinnati Arch and the more rapidly subsiding Basin Interior. Episodes of high and low differential subsidence occurred every two to three sequences. These subsidence variations had a major impact on lithofacies distribution and onlap and offlap geometries in sequences and parasequences. The occurrence of some widespread seismically disturbed beds suggests that active faulting occurred during deposition. Normal faulting appears to have occurred during periods of high differential subsidence and reverse faulting during periods of low differential subsidence. Differential subsidence and related normal and reverse faulting may have occurred in response to phases of thrust loading and quiescence in the Appalachian orogenic belt to the cast. Even in this tectonically active setting, however, it is the eustatic signal that generates basin-wide, mappable stratigraphie sequences.
Where are Eustatic Lows recorded?
Eustatic lows are recorded in the early Devonian, near the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary, and in the Late Permian. One hundred and seventy-two eustatic events are documented for the Paleozoic, varying in magnitude from a few tens of meters to approximately 125 meters. Cambrian-Ordovician sea-level changes.
What are the driving mechanisms of Earth's climate system?
The driving mechanisms of Earth's climate system at a multi-Myr timescale have received considerable attention since the 1980's as they are deemed to control large-amplitude climatic variations that result in severe biogeochemical disruptions, major sea-level variations, and the evolution of Earth's land- and seascapes through geological time. The commonly accepted mechanism for these changes derives from the evolution of Earth's coupled plate-mantle system. Connection between Earth's interior and external climate drivers, e.g., Milankovitch insolation forcing, has not been investigated at multi-Myr timescale, because tectonics and astronomical influences at these longer timescales have long been thought as independent pacemakers in the evolution of the Earth system. Here we have analyzed time-series from multiple geological datasets and found common periodicities of 10 and 35 Myr. Additionally, we have highlighted the modulation in amplitude of the 10 Myr cycle band by the 35 Myr cyclicity in sedimentary sea-level data. We then demonstrate the same physical amplitude modulation relationship between these two cyclicities in astronomical (Milankovitch) variations, and establish correlation between Milankovitch and sea-level variations at these two frequency bands. The 10 and 35 Myr cycles are prominent in the geological records, suggesting either unresolved fundamental Milankovitch periodicities, or reflecting a sedimentary energy-transfer process from higher to lower Milankovitch frequencies, as argued here via amplitude modulation analysis in both astronomical and sea-level data. Finally, we find a coherent correlation, at the 35 Myr cycle band, between Milankovitch, sea-level and geodynamic (plate subduction rate) variations, hinting at a coupling between Earth's interior and surface processes via Milankovitch paced climate. Thus, our findings point to a coupling between Milankovitch and Earth's internal forcings, at 10 to 10s of Myr. The most likely scenario that could link insolation-driven climate change to Earth's interior processes is Earth's interior feedbacks to astro-climatically driven mass changes on Earth's surface. We suggest that Earth's interior processes may drive large-amplitude sea-level changes, especially during greenhouse periods, by resonating to astro-climatically driven Earth's surface perturbations. Keywords Earth's climate Sea level Milankovitch Tectonics Multi-million year timescales
How did the Pennsylvanian impact the continent?
During the Pennsylvanian (300 million years ago), compressional forces from the collision and tension from coastal subduction combined to deform the continent’s interior, buckling the crust and creating deep basins between uplifted blocks. Shallow inland seas spread across the interior of the continent, covering parts of North America’s Precambrian shield ( Figure 1.11 ). Associated uplift led to the expansion of terrestrial environments over areas that had once been marine. Geologists call the resulting landscape the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. Sediments that eroded from this range and other uplifted areas were transported to the inland sea and the continental margins, forming deposits of conglomerates, sandstones, shales, limestones, and evaporite minerals. Although these ranges are long eroded away and the inland basins filled with sediment, evidence for their existence is preserved in the patterns of sedimentary rocks remaining throughout the Southwest today.
What is the Permian Basin?
Figure 1.13: The Permian Basin is a large sedimentary basin in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. It is made up of three main component parts: the eastern Midland Basin, the Central Basin Platform, and the western Delaware Basin. These structures existed from the Carboniferous to the Triassic periods.
What happened in the Devonian period?
In the late Devonian period (approximately 370 million years ago) a major geological change took place in the Southwest. A portion of the continental shelf adjacent to present-day Idaho and Nevada changed from a quiet passive margin to an active subduction zone, where oceanic crust plunged beneath the continent. Here, as oceanic crust descended deep into the upper mantle, the rock above the descending crust melted to form a line of volcanoes on the surface. Subduction also led to accretion—sediment, sedimentary rock, and even bits of the oceanic crust itself were scraped off the descending crustal plate and pushed onto the overlying plate ( Figure 1.8 ). Just as a rug develops folds when pushed from the side, these rocks were wrinkled up into mountains. Volcanic islands carried along by the subducting plate also accreted to the edge of the continent. The landmass began to rotate, moving the North American plate into a more modern orientation ( Figure 1.9 ).
What are the two types of crusts in the lithosphere?
The lithosphere includes two types of crust: continental and oceanic. Continental crust is less dense but significantly thicker than oceanic crust. The higher density of the oceanic crust means that when continental crust collides with oceanic crust, the denser oceanic crust (made mostly of dense rocks such as basalt) will be dragged (or subducted) under the buoyant continental crust (made mostly of less dense rocks such as granite). Although mountains are created at these oceanic/continental crust collisions due to the compression of the two plates, much taller ranges are produced by continental/continental collisions. When two buoyant continental crusts collide, there is nowhere for the crust to go but up! The modern Himalayas, at the collision site of the Asian and Indian plates, are a good example of very tall mountains formed by a collision between two continental crusts.
What was the correlation between marine regressions and episodes of glaciation?
During the ice ages of the Pleistocene, a clear correlation existed between marine regressions and episodes of glaciation. As the balance shifts between the global cryosphere and hydrosphere, more of the planet's water in ice sheets means less in the oceans.
What is marine regression?
A marine regression is a geological process occurring when areas of submerged seafloor are exposed above the sea level. The opposite event, marine transgression, occurs when flooding from the sea covers previously-exposed land. Evidence of marine regressions and transgressions occurs throughout the fossil record, ...
What is the largest extinction event in the history of the Earth?
Evidence of marine regressions and transgressions occurs throughout the fossil record, and the fluctuations are thought to have caused or contributed to several mass extinctions, such as the Permian-Triassic extinction event (250 million years ago) and Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event (66 Ma ). During the Permian-Triassic extinction, the largest extinction event in the Earth's history, the global sea level fell 250 m (820 ft).
What is the process of submerged seafloor being exposed above the sea level?
A geological process of areas of submerged seafloor being exposed above the sea level. A marine regression is a geological process occurring when areas of submerged seafloor are exposed above the sea level. The opposite event, marine transgression, occurs when flooding from the sea covers previously-exposed land.
What is a marine terrace?
Marine terrace – Beach or wave-cut platform raised above the shoreline by a relative fall in the sea level
Is there a clear and certain understanding of major marine regressions?
A clear and certain understanding of major marine regressions has not yet been achieved. According to one hypothesis, regressions may be linked to a "slowdown in sea-floor spreading, leading to a generalized drop in sea level (as the mid-ocean ridges would take up less space)...." That view considers major marine regressions to be one aspect of a normal variation in rates of plate tectonic activity, which leads to major episodes of global volcanism like the Siberian Traps and the Deccan Traps, which in turn cause large extinction events .
Can a major regression cause extinction?
A major regression could itself cause marine organisms in shallow seas to go extinct, but mass extinctions tend to involve both terrestrial and aquatic species , and it is harder to see how a marine regression could cause widespread extinctions of land animals.