Phanerozoic sea-level changes

About this book

Amid widespread international concern over changes in ocean levels resulting from the greenhouse effect, Anthony Hallam's Phanerozoic Sea-Level Changes is the first book exclusively dedicated to sea-level change in the Phanerozoic Eon, the time ranging from 590 million years ago to the present. Beginning with an assessment of the contributions of some of the leading geologists of the past, such as Suess, Stille, Kuenen, and Grabau, Hallam, one of the field's most eminent scholars, synthesizes an astonishing range of facies and stratigraphic studies to evaluate sea-level changes and paleontologic patterns in the three Phanerozoic eras, the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic, and the Cenozoic, paying particular attention to the influential - though controversial - research done by Exxon Corporation specialists under the leadership of Peter Vail. Throughout, Hallam asserts the enduring significance of eustasy, and addresses the contested issue of whether changes in sea level came about as a result of eustatic factors or from a complex series of events relating to regional tectonics. Hallam concludes with a succinct and far-ranging discussion of the long-term causes of sea-level changes, taking into account various tectonoeustatic, epeirogenic, and glacioeustatic factors. An appendix on widely used pre-Quaternary stratigraphic stage terms is included. Phanerozoic Sea-Level Changes will appeal to specialists and nonspecialists alike, and will be remembered as a monumental contribution to the geologic study of the earth's oceans.

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