Relative rates of tectonic uplift as determined from episodic turbidite deposition in marine basins

The frequency of preserved turbidite sedimentation events is inferred from graded cycles in Deep Sea Drilling Project cores recovered from submarine fans in the Coral Sea and the Sea of Japan. Such depositional events are correlated to times of maximum tectonic uplift in the Owen-Stanley Range, Papua, and the Hida Range, Japan, respectively. Trends of both increasing and decreasing frequency of preserved turbidite depositional events correlate to trends of increasing and decreasing tectonic uplift rates, respectively. The frequency of individual preserved turbidite depositional events in sedimentary basins thus provides an independent measurement of relative rates: of tectonic uplift in adjacent source terrains.