Orbital-forcing glacio-eustasy: A sequence-stratigraphic time scale

Abstract

This essay provides further explanation of the mathematical details of orbital forcing and glacio-eustatic modeling (Parametric Forward Modeling, PFM) aspects and applications. A slight tune-up of the Earth's eccentricity calculations (LA04 of Lasker et al., 2004) produces a near-perfect repeat of 14.58 million-year period and allows PFM to predict the glacio-eustatic component of sea-level fluctuation throughout the Phanerozoic. Generalities of an exploratory grid search of the parameter space of the model are reviewed and repetitive peak sea levels and low sea levels are noted in context of the Arabian Orbital Stratigraphy (AROS) terminology and time scale. Emphasis on the straton (405,000 year "tuning fork" of stratigraphic time) will lead to improvements in sequence-stratigraphic methods and results.