Subtidal carbonate cycles: Implications for allocyclic vs. autocyclic controls

Thick successions of repetitive metre-scale subtidal carbonate cycles require that short-term sedimentation rates approximate long-term accumulation rates in order to maintain submergence below peritidal depths. Intrinsic processes such as storm and wave reworking and redistribution may act to inhibit aggradation into the zone of optimal carbonate production. The presence of subtidal vs. peritidal carbonate cycles may be a function of energy regime that in turn may relate to platform morphology. The ultimate control on stacked subtidal cycles appears to be eustasy acting in concert with intrinsic processes such as storm and wave reworking.