Scaling of sedimentation rates and drowning of reefs and carbonate platforms

Research Article| February 01, 1999 Scaling of sedimentation rates and drowning of reefs and carbonate platforms Wolfgang Schlager Wolfgang Schlager 1Institute of Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Wolfgang Schlager 1Institute of Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (1999) 27 (2): 183–186. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0183:SOSRAD>2.3.CO;2 Article history First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Wolfgang Schlager; Scaling of sedimentation rates and drowning of reefs and carbonate platforms. Geology 1999;; 27 (2): 183–186. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0183:SOSRAD>2.3.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract The rule that sedimentation rates decrease as the time interval increases has been examined by a procedure that avoids the mathematical problem of plotting a variable, time, against its inverse. The test confirms that the scaling trend has real physical meaning. In the time range of 10−1–108 yr, sedimentation rates change roughly proportionally to the inverse of the square root of time. This report proposes and evaluates the hypothesis that the growth potential of reefs and carbonate platforms follows the same scaling trend. The trend implies that a growth of 104 µm/yr sustained over 103 yr, an upper limit of reef growth in the Holocene, translates into 102 µm/yr sustained over 107 yr. Decrease of the growth potential with increasing time solves the paradox of drowned platforms if the decrease results largely from environmental factors and not simply from increase of the time fraction of subaerial exposure. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.