Intrabasin varve correlation

Statistical methods are applied to correlated laminations within four sedimentary basins to show the degree of lateral variations in thickness. Stratigraphic units studied include the Pleistocene Rita Blanca Lake beds of Texas, the Jurassic Todilto Formation in New Mexico, the Permian Castile Formation of southeastern New Mexico and West Texas, and the Permian Zechstein Formation in Germany. Varved sequences of organically or chemically precipitated laminae can be correlated regionally, but correlation coefficients for equivalent sections decrease with increasing distance. There seems to be no relation between thickness in alternating calcite and anhydrite laminae.