Geodynamic significance of spasmodic, cretaceous, rapid subsidence rates, continental shelf U.S.A.

Subsurface Cretaceous shallow-water sedimentary rocks of the exposed continental shelf between New York and southern Florida provide evidence of two periods of relatively high sedimentation and subsidence rates. North and south of the Cape Fear and Peninsula Arches, Late Aptian to Early Albian rates range from 50 to over 150 meters/ million years; in Coniacian/Santonian time, rates exceeding 30 meters/million years occur sporadically, even across the area of the Arches. A common, global phenomenon that affected both cratons and continental shelves is believed to have caused these periods of relatively rapid basin subsidence and consequent rapid sediment accumulation.