Estimating ancient sediment fluxes

1990/11/01 by C. N. Wold, Christopher N. Wold, W. W. Hay +1 · 72 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Environmental science #Geological formations and processes #Geology #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Geomorphology #Geotechnical engineering #Hydrology (agriculture) #Landslides and related hazards #Sediment

paper · pdf · doi:10.2475/ajs.290.9.1069

published in American Journal of Science 290(9), 1069-1089 (Yale University)

openalex publication_date 1990/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Original Phanerozoic sediment flux rates can be approximated by fitting an exponential decay curve to the observed massjage distribution of sediments, then multiplying the ratio of the observed mass to the exponential decay curve mass by the zero-age flux rate predicted by the exponential decay curve. Applied to the massjage distribution of existing Phanerozoic sediments, the reconstruction method indicates that original global sediment flux rates varied cyclically by a factor of up to three. This implies significant changes in the rates of uplift and mountain building and global plate
\ntectonic activity.

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• GEOCARB II; a revised model of atmospheric CO 2 over Phanerozoic time
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