flux constant/200 m periodic sea level change
A model with constant sediment supply and subsidence as in example 1 but
with a periodically changing sea level. Initial sea level is shown
by a dashed line and the sea level at each time step is shown by
a blue line. At step 1, the sea level is high and sediment is piling
up at the left (marine erosion rates are low). Steps 2-5 sea level is
still high but beginning to lower. The sediment colors are again
based on water depth. At step 6, sea level has dropped below the top
of the sediment and rapid sub-aerial erosion has reworked the sediments
and distributed them further seaward. The wide spacing between black
lines shows rapid deposition. By step 9, sea level is very low and
all sediments have been reworked again. Some have been redeposited
in a terrestrial "redbed" environment (red colors). At step 10, sea level
is beginning to rise again and sediments are accumulating at the left again.
A repeated drop in sea level produces another package of sediments on
top of the previous package. Note how each cycle of sea level change
has produced a characteristic sequence of deposits. This is the basic
idea of sequence stratigraphy.
