Eustatic controls on Early Cretaceous (Aptian) sedimentation in the western Tethys are discerned in outcrops of carbonate platforms that developed in the Maestrat rift basin located at the eastern margin of the Iberian Plate. The relative sea-level fluctuations with a dominant eustatic contribution investigated had estimated magnitudes of between 50 and 60 m in <0.9 My and ≥115 m in <3 My, and occurred respectively during the late early and early late Aptian. The major relative sea-level falls of mainly eustatic nature were recorded as forced regressive sedimentary wedges or as incised valleys carved into highstand carbonate platforms, whereas the subsequent sea-level rises back-filled the incised topographic lows created, or favoured the development of lowstand platforms. The finding of 50–115 m amplitude fluctuations of Aptian age is of relevance in that show magnitudes of relative sea-level fall in the order of that recorded during the last glacial maximum in the late Pleistocene (c. 120 m). The current knowledge on Cretaceous climate history shows an Earth with non-uniform greenhouse conditions. However, geological evidence of temporary icehouse states with ice-cap magnitudes close to late Pleistocene scales during the Aptian is absent, or at least has not been reported so far. Thus, although falling within the glacio-eustatic domain, the driving processes of these widespread drops and subsequent rises in relative sea level remain a mystery. Finally, this paper is an example of how sequence stratigraphy can be applied to carbonate successions, and of how this methodology indeed permits to unravel ancient relative sea-level fluctuations which controlled carbonate production and accumulation.

在位于伊比利亚板块东缘的 Maestrat 裂谷盆地中发育的碳酸盐台地露头中发现了对特提斯西部早白垩世 (Aptian) 沉积物的海浪控制。所调查的具有主导海平面贡献的相对海平面波动估计 <0.9 My 和 <3 My ≥ 115 m 的海平面波动幅度在 50 和 60 m 之间，分别发生在 Aptian 早期晚期和晚期早期。主要是海平面性质的主要相对海平面下降被记录为强迫海退沉积楔或雕刻成高位碳酸盐台地的下切山谷，而随后的海平面上升回填了所产生的下切地形低点，或有利于低水位的发展平台。丙。120 米）。目前关于白垩纪气候历史的知识表明地球具有不均匀的温室条件。然而，在阿普提安期间，冰盖大小接近晚更新世尺度的临时冰室状态的地质证据不存在，或者至少到目前为止还没有报道。因此，虽然属于冰川-海平面，但这些广泛下降和随后相对海平面上升的驱动过程仍然是一个谜。最后，本文是如何将层序地层学应用于碳酸盐岩层序的一个例子，以及这种方法如何确实允许解开控制碳酸盐生产和积累的古代相对海平面波动。