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Marine transgression

Marine transgression is a geological process characterized by the landward migration of the shoreline, resulting from a relative rise in sea level that floods previously exposed land surfaces.^[1] This phenomenon produces distinctive sedimentary sequences where coarser-grained nearshore deposits, such as sands and gravels, are overlain by finer-grained offshore sediments like shales and limestones, reflecting the progressive deepening of marine environments.^[2] The primary drivers of marine transgression include eustatic changes in global sea level, often linked to fluctuations in ice volume, thermal expansion of seawater, or variations in ocean basin volume; tectonic subsidence of continental margins; isostatic adjustments following glacial unloading; and reductions in sediment supply to coastal zones.^[3] These factors can act individually or in combination, leading to transgressions that range from local coastal inundations to vast epicontinental flooding events spanning entire continents.^[4] In the stratigraphic record, marine transgressions are integral to sequence stratigraphy, where they form the basis for identifying parasequences and larger-scale cycles that enable correlation of rock layers across basins and reconstruction of paleoenvironments.^[2] They often create erosional surfaces known as ravinement surfaces during shoreline retreat, which truncate underlying regressive deposits and preserve condensed sections of fossils and heavy minerals useful for dating and paleoclimatic analysis.^[5] Notable examples include the Cambrian Sauk Transgression, which flooded much of the North American craton around 505–500 million years ago, depositing widespread shallow-marine carbonates and siliciclastics over Precambrian basement.^[6] Another prominent case is the Late Cretaceous Zuni Transgression, part of the Zuni Sequence, which established the Western Interior Seaway across central North America, influencing regional sedimentation, biodiversity, and carbon cycling during a period of greenhouse climate.^[4] More recently, the Holocene Transgression following the Last Glacial Maximum has submerged continental shelves worldwide, reshaping modern coastlines and coastal ecosystems.^[7]

Fundamentals

Definition

A marine transgression is a geological event in which the sea level rises relative to the land surface, causing the shoreline to migrate inland and resulting in the flooding of terrestrial areas.^[8] This rise in relative sea level leads to the progressive inundation of coastal and inland regions, transforming previously exposed land into shallow marine environments. The spatial progression of a marine transgression involves the landward retreat of the shoreline, accompanied by the onlap of marine sediments onto continental margins. This results in a sequential deposition where marine layers overlap and extend over older terrestrial or shallower marine deposits, marking the inland advance of the sea.^[9] Marine transgressions operate on long geological timescales, typically spanning thousands to millions of years, distinguishing them from short-term flooding events like storm surges or tidal inundations.^[10] In contrast, marine regression represents the inverse process, involving a seaward shift of the shoreline due to falling relative sea level.^[8]

Comparison with Regression

Marine regression is the counterpart to marine transgression, characterized by a relative fall in sea level that causes the shoreline to migrate seaward and exposes previously submerged seabeds to subaerial processes.^[11] This seaward progradation of the shoreline during regression contrasts directly with the landward retreat seen in transgression, leading to distinct depositional patterns where nearshore environments encroach over deeper marine ones.^[11] A primary stratigraphic distinction arises in the vertical succession of sediments: transgression results in upward-fining sequences, where coarser-grained nearshore deposits (such as sands) are overlain by finer-grained offshore sediments (like muds), reflecting a progressive deepening of the environment.^[11] In contrast, regression produces upward-coarsening sequences, with finer deep-water sediments at the base transitioning upward to coarser shallow-water facies, indicating a shallowing trend as the shoreline advances.^[11] These patterns follow Walther's Law, which posits that vertically stacked facies represent laterally adjacent environments in conformable successions, though disruptions like unconformities can alter this stacking.^[11] Transgressions and regressions commonly alternate in a cyclical manner due to fluctuations in relative sea level, producing parasequences—small-scale, genetically related successions of conformable strata bounded by marine flooding surfaces.^[12] In sequence stratigraphy, progradational parasequence sets form during regression when sediment supply exceeds accommodation space, leading to seaward shoreline shifts, while retrogradational sets develop during transgression with the opposite dynamic.^[12] These cycles stack to form larger systems tracts, capturing the oscillatory nature of sea level changes over various timescales.^[12] Distinguishing between the two processes can be challenging in incomplete stratigraphic records, where erosion or non-deposition may obscure boundaries; however, transgressions generally lack prominent erosional bases, unlike regressions which often feature subaerial unconformities or regressive surfaces of marine erosion formed during base-level fall.^[11] Ravinement surfaces, which scour underlying regressive deposits during transgression, may further complicate identification by removing evidence of prior lowstands.^[13]

Causes

Eustatic Changes

Eustasy denotes uniform changes in global sea level resulting from variations in the volume of ocean water or the capacity of ocean basins, independent of local tectonic influences. These changes affect sea levels worldwide in a synchronous manner, primarily through alterations in water mass exchange with continental reservoirs or modifications to the geometry of oceanic basins.^[14] A key mechanism of eustatic sea level variation involves glacial-interglacial cycles, where the buildup and melting of continental ice sheets modulate ocean water volume. During glacial maxima, such as the [Last Glacial Maximum](/page/Last Glacial Maximum), ice sheets sequestered vast amounts of water, depressing global sea levels by approximately 120–130 meters compared to interglacial periods. Conversely, deglaciation events release this water, causing rapid rises; for instance, the last deglaciation from about 20,000 to 6,000 years ago elevated sea levels by 125–130 meters at rates exceeding 1 centimeter per year, with peak pulses reaching up to 2.8 centimeters per year. These fluctuations operate on Milankovitch timescales, driven by orbital variations including eccentricity (approximately 100,000 years), obliquity (41,000 years), and precession (23,000 years), which influence insolation and ice volume dynamics.^[15]^[16] Thermal expansion of seawater provides another significant eustatic driver, wherein warming ocean temperatures increase water density and volume. As heat is absorbed from the atmosphere, particularly during periods of elevated global temperatures, this expansion contributes substantially to sea level rise without requiring additional water input. In modern contexts, thermal expansion accounts for roughly 30–50% of observed global sea level increase since the late 20th century, though paleoclimatic records indicate its role in amplifying interglacial highs.^[17] Tectonic eustasy arises from long-term adjustments in ocean basin volume due to variations in seafloor spreading rates at mid-ocean ridges. Accelerated spreading produces younger, shallower crust, displacing more water and elevating sea levels, while slowdowns deepen basins by increasing average crustal age, thereby lowering levels. For example, a documented 35% global reduction in spreading rates from 15 to 6 million years ago resulted in a sea level fall of 24–32 meters through enhanced basin subsidence. These processes unfold over millions of years, contrasting with the shorter Milankovitch-driven cycles.^[18] On geological timescales, eustatic rises have profoundly influenced continental configurations, as seen during the Cretaceous period when sea levels stood 100–200 meters above present datum. This elevation, driven by reduced polar ice, high seafloor spreading, and warm climates promoting thermal expansion, facilitated extensive shallow marine inundation across continental interiors, fostering epicontinental seaways that covered vast land areas.^[19]^[20]

Tectonic and Isostatic Factors

Tectonic subsidence plays a crucial role in facilitating marine transgressions by lowering the continental crust relative to sea level through downwarping, often driven by lithospheric loading or extensional forces. Sediment loading in foreland basins, for instance, induces flexural subsidence that creates accommodation space for marine incursion, as observed in the Andean foreland where thrust belt advancement loads the crust, promoting localized sea-level rise without global eustatic influence. Similarly, rifting during continental extension thins the lithosphere, accelerating subsidence rates up to several millimeters per year in rift basins like the Viking Graben, enabling marine flooding along fault-bounded lows.^[21] Isostatic adjustment contributes to transgressions through vertical crustal movements in response to changes in surface load, particularly post-glacial rebound or subsidence following ice melt. In regions formerly glaciated, such as the Arctic margins, the collapse of peripheral forebulges after deglaciation raises relative sea levels by up to 10-20 meters over millennia, driving marine incursions into coastal lowlands as the crust adjusts isostatically.^[22] Hydro-isostasy, the response to ocean water loading from meltwater, further depresses continental shelves, enhancing transgression in peripheral areas while contrasting with eustatic uniformity.^[23] Orogenic processes indirectly influence coastal subsidence by loading the crust distant from shorelines, thereby tilting basins toward marine realms. Mountain building in collisional zones, such as the Alps during Miocene slab rollback, causes far-field flexural subsidence that amplifies relative sea-level rise in adjacent forelands, leading to widespread transgressions sealing erosional unconformities.^[24] In the Central Andes, post-orogenic extension following uplift episodes facilitates subsidence in retroarc basins, allowing marine advances that record tectonic relaxation after compressive phases.^[25] Variations in sediment supply from fluvial systems can promote marine transgression by reducing the rate at which land builds against rising seas, independent of tectonic motion. In passive margin settings like the U.S. East Coast, diminished riverine input during periods of climatic aridity allows shorelines to retreat landward, as marine processes dominate over progradational sedimentation, resulting in transgressive ravinement surfaces.^[26] This effect is pronounced in tectonically stable regions where sediment starvation exposes the coast to wave erosion, accelerating inundation without requiring eustatic rise.^[2] Marine transgressions exhibit significant regional variability, often confined to specific tectonic settings like rift basins or foreland depocenters, where subsidence patterns dictate the spatial extent of flooding. In the Antler foreland of Montana and Idaho, differential subsidence created localized accommodation during the Mississippian, resulting in patchy marine incursions varying by up to 100 meters in thickness across the basin due to thrust loading gradients.^[27] Rift systems, such as the North Sea, show transgressions propagating along extensional faults, with marine flooding limited to grabens while adjacent highs remain emergent, highlighting the control of basement structure on transgression geometry.^[28] Foreland basins, like those in Patagonia, further demonstrate this variability, where flexural waves produce wedge-shaped subsidence profiles that confine transgressions to distal, deeper-water realms.

Evidence

Sedimentary Sequences

Marine transgression is recorded in sedimentary sequences through distinctive vertical and lateral patterns that reflect the landward migration of the shoreline and increasing marine influence over continental deposits. These sequences exhibit onlap geometry, where marine sediments progressively overlap and bury older terrestrial or continental strata, forming thinning wedges that are particularly evident in cross-sectional views such as seismic profiles or outcrop exposures. This landward-stepping pattern arises as rising sea levels allow marine deposition to encroach onto subaerially exposed surfaces, with stratal terminations shifting progressively inland.^[29] In the framework of sequence stratigraphy, marine transgression corresponds to the transgressive systems tract (TST), a key component of depositional sequences bounded below by a transgressive surface (a flooding surface marking the onset of marine inundation) and above by the maximum flooding surface. The TST is characterized by retrogradational stacking of parasequences, where successive depositional units step landward, reflecting sustained accommodation creation outpacing sediment supply and resulting in a deepening-upward profile. This architecture highlights the dynamic balance between sea-level rise and sedimentation rates during transgression.^[30]^[31] Lithologic progression within these sequences typically shows a systematic shift from basal coarse-grained terrestrial deposits, such as conglomerates and sands derived from fluvial or alluvial environments, to overlying finer-grained marine sediments like shales or limestones, indicating a gradual increase in marine influence and water depth upward through the section. This vertical transition captures the retrogradational nature of the TST, with coarser clastics giving way to mud-dominated or biogenic carbonates as the shoreline migrates landward. Facies serve as the building blocks within these broader sequences, illustrating environmental shifts.^[30]^[31] Unconformities at the base of transgressive sequences often display minimal erosion, as rapid flooding limits subaerial exposure and downcutting, though a subtle ravinement surface may develop from wave reworking of underlying deposits. The maximum flooding surface, capping the TST, represents the peak of transgression and is typically a condensed interval with thin, organic-rich layers that record the deepest marine incursion before progradation resumes.^[30]^[31] Diagenetic signatures in transgressive carbonates further delineate these sequences, particularly through early marine cementation that stabilizes sediments shortly after deposition in the TST. In shallow marine settings, ferroan dolomite or calcite cements precipitate along flooding surfaces and parasequence boundaries due to marine pore waters mixing with minor freshwater influx, low sedimentation rates, and suboxic conditions, preserving primary fabrics and enhancing reservoir heterogeneity. These eogenetic features, often with δ¹⁸O values ranging from -6 to 1‰ VPDB, distinguish transgressive intervals from other systems tracts.^[32]^[33]

Facies Transitions

During marine transgression, sedimentary facies belts migrate landward, transitioning from terrestrial and alluvial environments to marginal marine and then open marine settings. This shift typically begins with non-marine deposits such as red beds, coals, and fluvial sands, which represent terrestrial or paralic conditions, overlain by marginal marine facies like estuarine sands, lagoonal muds, and tidal flats. Further seaward progression introduces open marine deposits, including shelf sands, bioclastic limestones, and pelagic clays or reefs in carbonate-dominated systems.^[30] The characteristic vertical progression in transgressive successions reflects this landward migration of depositional environments, resulting in a fining-upward trend where coarser nearshore sediments (e.g., sands and gravels) are overlain by finer-grained offshore deposits (e.g., muds and clays). This retrogradational stacking occurs within the transgressive systems tract of sedimentary sequences, with the finer offshore facies accumulating over coarser nearshore ones as the shoreline retreats. In mixed siliciclastic-carbonate systems, such as the Tortonian succession in the Granada Basin, Spain, the transition evolves from basal siliciclastic shelf sands to bioclastic calcarenites, marking a shift to carbonate-dominated open marine conditions.^[34] Laterally, facies boundaries are diachronous, with marine facies pinching out inland as the transgression advances unevenly due to variations in sediment supply, topography, and wave or tidal energy. For instance, in the Late Triassic Rhaetian transgression across Europe, terrestrial red bed clastics of the Mercia Mudstone Group grade laterally into marine black mudstones and shelly limestones of the Penarth Group, forming irregular belts around emergent islands. These boundaries often exhibit offset ravinement surfaces eroded by waves or tides, complicating correlations in three dimensions.^[35] Diagnostic features of these transitions include sedimentary structures indicative of increasing marine influence, such as tidal laminations and cross-bedding in marginal marine zones, intense burrowing by marine organisms in shallow shelves, and bioclastic shell lags or limestones in transgressive lags near the maximum flooding surface. In the Pennsylvanian cycles of west-central Texas, dark organic clays with siliceous content overlie limestones, signaling a deepening from shallow to deeper marine environments. These features help distinguish transgressive facies from regressive ones, where coarsening-upward trends dominate.^[36]^[37] Recognizing facies transitions can be challenging in epeiric seas, where low gradients and subtle depth variations lead to laterally extensive but vertically thin deposits with minimal lithologic contrast. Basin widening in such settings enhances tidal and wind-driven currents, producing heterogeneous facies mosaics that obscure clear progressions, as seen in broad cratonic interiors during Phanerozoic transgressions.^[30]

Examples

Ancient Events

One of the most prominent ancient marine transgressions occurred during the Cretaceous period, driven by peak eustatic sea levels resulting from elevated atmospheric CO₂ levels and variations in seafloor spreading rates that increased oceanic ridge volume.^[38]^[39] This led to the formation of extensive epicontinental seas across continents, including the Western Interior Seaway in North America, which connected the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico and effectively split the continent into eastern and western landmasses over a distance of approximately 3,000 km.^[40] The seaway's development was facilitated by a combination of global sea-level rise and regional subsidence in the foreland basin formed by the Sevier Orogeny.^[41] A significant earlier example is the Cambrian Sauk Transgression, which around 505–500 million years ago flooded much of the North American craton, depositing widespread shallow-marine carbonates and siliciclastics over Precambrian basement.^[6] In the Paleozoic era, significant marine transgressions are exemplified by the Ordovician-Silurian flooding events, primarily triggered by the melting of Gondwanan ice sheets following the Late Ordovician glaciation.^[42] This deglaciation caused a rapid eustatic sea-level rise, inundating vast areas of the Laurentian craton with shallow epicontinental seas that covered much of present-day North America, including regions from the Appalachian Basin to the Michigan Basin.^[43] Sedimentary records from this interval, such as the widespread deposition of limestones and shales, indicate water depths generally less than 200 m and reflect a shift from terrestrial to fully marine environments across the continent.^[44] On a broader Phanerozoic scale, marine transgressions have been closely tied to supercontinent cycles, where the assembly and subsequent breakup of landmasses influenced global eustatic sea levels through changes in ocean basin configuration and mantle dynamics.^[45] For instance, the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea beginning in the Early Jurassic initiated widespread marine advances, as rifting created new ocean basins and allowed sea levels to rise, flooding continental margins and interiors during the Mesozoic.^[46] These cycles produced recurring patterns of highstand flooding, with transgressions peaking during periods of supercontinent dispersal, such as the mid-Cretaceous and early Cenozoic.^[47] A notable example of the scale and duration of these events is the Cenomanian transgression around 93 Ma, which represented a highstand in the mid-Cretaceous sea-level curve and resulted in shallow marine waters (<100 m deep) covering approximately one-third of Earth's present land area. This event, lasting several million years, was part of a broader transgressive phase that persisted through the Turonian, with sedimentary sequences indicating gradual onlap of marine facies over terrestrial deposits across multiple continents. Fossil assemblages preserved in these inland marine deposits provide key evidence of transgression, featuring diverse marine faunas adapted to shallow, epicontinental settings. Ammonites, such as those from the Baculites and Scaphites genera, are commonly found in shales of the Western Interior Seaway, indicating open-marine connections despite the inland location.^[48] Similarly, rudist bivalves formed reef-like structures in the warm, shallow waters of Cretaceous transgressions, with fossils of genera like Durania and Caprina occurring in limestone deposits far from modern coastlines, underscoring the extent of marine inundation.^[49] These biotic signals, alongside benthic foraminifera and oysters, highlight the ecological shifts during transgression phases.^[50]

Modern Analogues

The Holocene transgression represents a key modern analogue for marine transgression, driven by the post-glacial melting of ice sheets following the Last Glacial Maximum approximately 20,000 years ago. Global sea levels rose by about 120 meters as continental ice sheets retreated, flooding vast continental shelves and reshaping modern coastlines worldwide.^[51] This eustatic rise submerged low-lying areas, including river valleys, and created features such as estuaries and barrier islands that persist today. For instance, the Persian Gulf exemplifies this process as a drowned extension of the ancient Shatt al-Arab river valley, where post-glacial flooding transformed a subaerial landscape into a semi-enclosed basin by around 8,000 years ago.^[52] Anthropogenic influences have accelerated marine transgression in the contemporary era through climate change-induced ice melt and thermal expansion of seawater. As of 2024, global sea-level rise averages approximately 4.5 mm per year, primarily attributed to the melting of glaciers and polar ice sheets, with contributions from human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.^[53] Projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicate that, under medium- to high-emission scenarios, sea levels could rise by 0.5–1 meter by 2100 relative to 1995–2014 levels, potentially inundating low-lying coastal lowlands and displacing millions of people.^[54] Regional variations highlight the interplay of eustatic rise and local factors in modern transgressions. In the Mississippi Delta, subsidence due to sediment compaction and groundwater extraction combines with eustatic sea-level rise to drive rapid land loss, with rates of 30–50 km² per year across coastal Louisiana in recent decades.^[55] This relative sea-level rise exacerbates wetland erosion and coastal retreat, serving as an observable model for transgression dynamics. Monitoring modern transgressions relies on advanced observational networks to track relative sea-level changes. Satellite altimetry missions, such as those from NASA and NOAA, measure absolute global sea-level variations with millimeter precision, while tide gauge networks provide long-term records of local relative changes influenced by subsidence or uplift.^[56] Coral reefs act as sensitive early indicators, where rapid sea-level rise can lead to "drowning" if vertical accretion fails to keep pace, as observed in reefs experiencing rates exceeding 5 mm per year.^[57] Modern transgression rates of approximately 4.5 mm per year as of 2024 starkly contrast with typical geological background rates of 10–100 meters per million years (equivalent to 0.01–0.1 mm per year), though they are accelerating due to human activities and remain slower than peak deglacial episodes.^[38] This acceleration underscores the unprecedented pace of current changes compared to long-term geological patterns.

Implications

Paleoenvironmental Effects

Marine transgressions profoundly alter terrestrial and coastal habitats by inundating land surfaces, transforming them into expansive shallow marine environments that foster the development of new ecological niches. This flooding expands shelf areas, creating suitable substrates for the proliferation of biogenic structures such as coral reefs and carbonate platforms, which serve as biodiversity hotspots supporting diverse marine communities. For instance, during Miocene transgressions in the Caribbean region, warmer oceanic conditions facilitated the establishment of molluscan assemblages indicative of enhanced paleobiodiversity in newly submerged coastal zones.^[58] Similarly, increases in available habitat area during such events have been linked to elevated marine species richness, as expanded shallow seas provide refugia and resources that promote speciation and community restructuring.^[59] These habitat expansions also influence global climate patterns by introducing vast shallow seas that enhance heat retention and moisture exchange between oceans and continents. In the Cretaceous period, high eustatic sea levels led to widespread epicontinental seas, reducing land exposure and contributing to a "hothouse" climate. This involved increased atmospheric water vapor—a potent greenhouse gas—resulting in polar amplification of warming and milder continental temperatures.^[60] Shallow seas in low-latitude settings during this hothouse phase likely experienced elevated summer temperatures, yet supported resilient marine ecosystems adapted to thermal stress.^[61] Furthermore, these inundations can disrupt ocean circulation by altering basin connectivity, potentially intensifying regional warming and influencing long-term climate stability.^[62] Transgressions exert selective pressures on biota, often triggering extinctions among coastal and shelf-dwelling species while enabling adaptive radiations in marine realms. The inundation of terrestrial ecosystems stresses stenotopic organisms adapted to freshwater or brackish conditions, leading to habitat loss and biotic turnover, whereas opportunistic marine species may invade and diversify in the newly available spaces. In the Silurian period, sea-level advances coincided with anoxic events such as the Lau Event, where expanded oxygen-minimum zones encroached on shelf habitats, causing the extinction of approximately 25% of marine species, including significant losses among conodonts and graptolites.^[63] Conversely, post-extinction recovery phases following these events facilitated radiations, as seen in the early Silurian persistence of global marine euxinia that reshaped surviving communities.^[64] Mid-Silurian redox perturbations further illustrate how transgression-linked anoxia stressed pelagic biota, driving selective extinctions while allowing resilient taxa to radiate.^[65] Biogeochemical cycles are significantly perturbed by marine transgressions through enhanced weathering of exposed continental margins and increased burial of organic carbon in expanded sedimentary basins. Rising sea levels flood floodplains and deltas, boosting silicate weathering rates that deliver nutrients to oceans, thereby stimulating primary productivity and subsequent carbon sequestration.^[66] This process amplifies organic carbon burial, as modeled for sea-level rise scenarios where inundated coastal zones trap and preserve terrestrial-derived organics, influencing atmospheric CO₂ drawdown and global carbon cycling.^[67] Shifts in sedimentary environments during transgressions further control carbon burial efficiency, with finer-grained deposits in deeper waters enhancing preservation and altering the balance of global biogeochemical fluxes.^[68] Proxy records from fossils provide critical insights into paleoenvironmental salinity fluctuations during transgressions. Oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) analyses of biogenic carbonates, such as brachiopods and mollusks, reveal shifts toward more marine-like values as inundation mixes freshwater and seawater, indicating rapid salinity homogenization in transitional zones. For example, in Miocene shallow-marine sequences, fossil δ¹⁸O profiles document increased salinity stability post-transgression, reflecting full marine incursion.^[69] In Jurassic successions, nektobenthic fossils exhibit δ¹⁸O enrichments tied to salinity changes during sea-level advances, serving as reliable indicators of inundation extent.^[70] These isotopic signatures, combined with elemental proxies, thus reconstruct the pace and impact of environmental transitions.^[71]

Geological and Economic Significance

Marine transgressions play a pivotal role in sequence stratigraphy, a framework widely applied in petroleum geology to predict the distribution of hydrocarbon reservoirs, sources, and seals. By analyzing transgressive systems tracts, geologists identify shallow marine shelfal sandstones that often serve as reservoirs, while overlying transgressive shales act as effective seals trapping hydrocarbons below.^[72] This approach enhances exploration efficiency, as seen in marginal marine-coastal plain successions where sequence boundaries delineate reservoir fairways.^[73] Transgressions significantly influence resource formation, particularly in sedimentary basins where they facilitate the deposition of economically vital deposits. In carbonate-dominated settings, transgressive phases promote the development of platform carbonates that host major oil and gas accumulations; for instance, the Jurassic Arab Formation in Saudi Arabia's Ghawar field, the world's largest oil reservoir, originated from repeated transgressions that built extensive carbonate-evaporite sequences.^[74] Similarly, swampy margins along transgressive coastlines foster peat accumulation in paralic environments, leading to coal formation, as evidenced in Carboniferous and Permian basins where marine flooding preserved organic-rich mires.^[75] These processes underscore the transgressions' role in creating stratigraphic traps essential for fossil fuel extraction. Beyond resource implications, marine transgressions aid paleogeographic reconstructions by revealing ancient continental configurations and climatic patterns through the extent of epeiric seas—shallow inland waters that flooded cratons during highstands. Mapping these seas, such as the Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway across North America, integrates sedimentary facies with plate reconstructions to infer continent positions, ocean currents, and temperature gradients, highlighting warmer, more seasonal conditions in epeiric settings compared to open oceans.^[76] In modern contexts, understanding historical transgressions informs sea-level rise models, supporting coastal management strategies for climate adaptation by predicting erosion, habitat shifts, and infrastructure vulnerabilities in low-lying regions.^[77] Despite advances, research gaps persist in developing integrated tectono-eustatic models that better couple tectonic subsidence, glacio-eustasy, and dynamic topography to refine transgression predictions. Current frameworks often rely on separate eustatic curves, limiting accuracy in complex basins; enhanced numerical simulations incorporating these interactions are needed to improve long-term sea-level forecasts and resource assessments.^[47]

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Subsidence across the Antler foreland of Montana and Idaho ...
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[29]
Tectonic controls on the Maastrichtian-Danian transgression in the ...
Jun 15, 2020 · The Maastrichtian-Danian transgression was one of the most extensive Atlantic-derived marine incursions in Patagonia.
[30]
Stratigraphic lapout geometry - Geological Digressions
Nov 11, 2020 · Termination of clinoforms at a surface is called straigraphic lapout. Lapout geometry includes onlap, downlap, toplap, offlap, ...
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Introduction to Sequence Stratigraphy - SEPM Strata
Dec 8, 2017 · To establish the depositional setting of the sedimentary section, sequence stratigraphy uses the geometric arrangement of sedimentary fill ...
[32]
[PDF] CHAPTER 5: Sequence Stratigraphy
2) Stratigraphic onlap onto a coast;. 3) Change from prograding parasequence ... The basal sequence boundary is defined as the top of the extensively karsted ...
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Sequence stratigraphic controls on early-diagenetic carbonate ...
Aug 6, 2025 · The cements are systematically distributed within the lowstand, transgressive and highstand systems tracts. Eogenetic ferroan dolomite cement ...
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https://doi.org/10.1016/0037-0738(91)90003-V
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https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/3785/1/Penarth_2007.pdf
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[PDF] 24-2_miller.pdf - The Oceanography Society
Recent reconstructions of seafloor spreading appear to validate a Cretaceous global sea level peak of ~170 m (Müller et al.,. 2008) due to greater oceanic crust.<|separator|>
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Plate tectonic controls on atmospheric CO2 levels since the Triassic
Plate tectonics affect geography, but also atmosphere composition through volcanic degassing of CO 2 at subduction zones and midocean ridges.
[38]
[PDF] Paleogeography and the Late Cretaceous of the Western Interior of ...
It was a time of overall high eustatic sea level during which shorelines fluctuated ... Extent of Western Interior seaway during peak late Turonian transgression ...
[39]
Early Cretaceous to Paleocene Paleogeography of the Western ...
The first marine connection of the WIS linking the Arctic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico occurred during the late Albian as a response to a eustatic rise, ...
[40]
Ordovician palaeogeography and climate change - ScienceDirect.com
The magnitude and duration of late Ordovician-early Silurian glaciations ... marine transgression and colonisation of the epicontinental seas in Laurentia.
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Late Ordovician Glaciation Initiated by Early Land Plant Evolution ...
Nov 1, 2015 · The Late Ordovician (Hirnantian) glaciation is well documented from periglacial paleosols, tillites, and glacial pavements in Saharan Africa (Le ...
[42]
The climatic significance of Late Ordovician‐early Silurian black ...
Apr 13, 2017 · The Ordovician-Silurian transition (∼455–430 Ma) is characterized by repeated climatic perturbations, concomitant with major changes in the ...
[43]
The solid Earth's influence on sea level | GSA Bulletin
Jul 1, 2013 · Most importantly, ridge volume decrease since the mid-Cretaceous, caused by an ∼50% slowdown in seafloor spreading rate documented by tectonic ...Introduction · Plate Tectonics, Volcanism... · Ridge Volume
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Jurassic (Chapter 12) - Earth History and Palaeogeography
Nov 24, 2016 · During the Early Jurassic, Pangea breakup saw the opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean, and subsequently the opening of the Somali and ...<|separator|>
[45]
Long-term Phanerozoic global mean sea level - ScienceDirect.com
Rates of mid-ocean ridge spreading determine the average age of the ocean floor and therefore, according to the depth/age relationship of cooling oceanic crust ...2. Methods · 2.1. Sea Level... · 3. Results And Discussion<|separator|>
[46]
The Cenomanian-Turonian (Cretaceous) Mass Extinction - NCBI
The Cenomanian-Turonian (CT) mass extinction occurred during a peak global greenhouse interval, with eustatic sea-level elevated nearly 300 m above present ...
[47]
(PDF) Ammonite Biostratigraphy of the Cretaceous—An Overview
Ammonites are commonly known as index fossils of Mesozoic marine deposits, especially those of the Jurassic and Cretaceous (Lehmann, 2015; Levin & King, 2017).
[48]
The Rise and Fall of Rudist Reefs | American Scientist
Reefs of the dinosaur era were dominated not by corals but by odd mollusks, which died off at the end of the Cretaceous from causes yet to be discovered.
[49]
Marine Environment - Big Bend Fossil Discovery
These marine shales and limestones preserved the remains of sea creatures such as ammonites, oysters, gastropods (snails), and echinoids (urchins). Around 100 ...
[50]
Sea-level rise caused by climate change and its implications for ...
The last glacial age started around 120 thousand years B.P., and the mean sea-level was about 120 m below the current level during the glacial maximum 20 ...
[51]
Sediments and history of the Postglacial transgression in the ...
At the time of this deposition the Persian Gulf was essentially a dry, flat river valley of an ancient Shatt al Arab. Between 100 and 65 m water depth “polymict ...
[52]
Chapter 4: Sea Level Rise and Implications for Low-Lying Islands ...
This chapter assesses past and future contributions to global, regional and extreme sea level changes, associated risk to low-lying islands, coasts, cities, ...Missing: eustatic | Show results with:eustatic<|separator|>
[53]
Chapter 9: Ocean, Cryosphere and Sea Level Change
This chapter assesses past and projected changes in the ocean, cryosphere and sea level using paleoreconstructions, instrumental observations and model ...
[54]
Wetland Gain and Loss in the Mississippi River Bird‐Foot Delta
Jun 19, 2025 · Results indicate a minor net change of only 1.21 km 2 , with a total gain of 160.83 km 2 and a total loss of 159.62 km 2.
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Climate Change: Global Sea Level
The rising water level is mostly due to a combination of melt water from glaciers and ice sheets and thermal expansion of seawater as it warms.Highlights · Why Sea Level Matters · Future Sea Level RiseMissing: eustatic | Show results with:eustatic<|separator|>
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Coral reefs and sea-level change - ScienceDirect.com
Jun 1, 2014 · These studies have shown the sensitivity of reefs to rapid sea-level rise associated with meltwater pulses, with some reefs drowning while ...
[57]
Miocene Marine Transgressions: Paleoenvironments and ...
Paleoenvironmental information suggests oceanic and continental temperatures warmer than present day, evidenced by the Caribbean molluscan association and the ...
[58]
The fossil record of biodiversity: nutrients, productivity, habitat area ...
This paper further explores historical effects on marine biodiversity by examining changes in habitat area, nutrient levels and productivity (i.e. food,.
[59]
Demystifying the Cretaceous hothouse | MIT News
Mar 20, 2013 · The water vapor, which is a potent greenhouse gas, caused an enhanced greenhouse effect of warming that extended all the way to the poles.
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How did shallow-marine ecosystems thrive during hothouse climates?
In such a climate, shallow seas in low latitudes likely became very hot, especially during the summer (Jones et al., 2022; de Winter et al., 2021). At the ...
[61]
(PDF) A review of terrestrial and marine climates in the Cretaceous ...
Aug 6, 2025 · The Cretaceous in particular was a time of global warmth, an extreme greenhouse world apparently warmer than our current Earth.Missing: hothouse | Show results with:hothouse
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Geologists reveal anoxia caused loss in biodiversity in ancient seas
Oct 15, 2019 · In severe biotic crisis in the Silurian, known as the Lau Event, extinction of nearly 25% of the marine species took place. The scientists ...
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Persistent global marine euxinia in the early Silurian - Nature
Apr 14, 2020 · This work extends the duration of anoxia to >3 Myrs – notably longer than well-studied Mesozoic ocean anoxic events.
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Marine redox dynamics and biotic response to the mid-Silurian ...
May 10, 2024 · By contrast, the redox perturbations appear to have placed extreme stress on graptolites, causing many extinction losses regardless of the ...
[65]
Changes in continental weathering regimes inhibited global marine ...
Oct 15, 2025 · The concomitant increases in physical erosion and clay delivery also enhanced organic carbon burial efficiency, permitting rapid return of ...
[66]
Modeling organic carbon burial during sea level rise with reference ...
May 10, 2006 · We present a model aimed at quantifying the burial of organic carbon as a function of sea level rise. The biogeochemical model explicitly ...
[67]
Significant shifts of sedimentary environment and carbon burial ...
Changes in sedimentary environments and carbon burial exert significant impacts on regional and global environmental and climatic systems.
[68]
Fossil isotopic constraints (C, O and 87Sr/86Sr) on Miocene shallow ...
Jul 1, 2021 · This study aims to provide C, O and 87Sr/86Sr isotopic data of fossils recovered from Miocene sedimentary sequences that shallow-marine ...
[69]
Shallow marine carbon and oxygen isotope and elemental records ...
Dec 14, 2011 · We present a carbon and oxygen isotope and elemental record for part of the Early Jurassic based on marine benthic and nektobenthic molluscs and brachiopods.Missing: inundation | Show results with:inundation
[70]
Palaeoenvironmental changes recorded in the oxygen and carbon ...
A slight increase in bivalve δ13C values and more densely clustering of δ18O values is observed after the marine transgression at the Divisum-Mutabilis zone ...
[71]
[PDF] Exploration Play Analysis from a Sequence Stratigraphic Perspective
Transgressive (systems tract or sequence set) reservoirs, typically shallow marine shelfal sandstones that are sometimes self- sourced, are variably developed ...
[72]
Sequence stratigraphy and controls on reservoir sandstone ...
This regional study has used an integrated approach to show how sequence stratigraphy can be applied to a non-marine to shallow marine succession.
[73]
Middle to Upper Jurassic Saudi Arabian carbonate petroleum ...
Jan 4, 2019 · This association is considered to be typical of deep-marine, normal salinity conditions with limited carbonate production and sediment input.
[74]
Paleogeography of Carboniferous and Permian coal formation in the ...
Influenced by a hot and humid climate, many peat swamps and coal seams developed, marking an important coal-formation period. During this period, marine ...
[75]
Revised paleogeographic maps of the North American Western ...
Jul 1, 2025 · The Western Interior Seaway (WIS) was a shallow (generally <200 m deep) epeiric seaway that covered central North America through most of the ...
[76]
Marine Transgression in Modern Times - Annual Reviews
Marine transgression associated with rising sea levels causes coastal erosion, landscape transitions, and displacement of human populations globally.