A Scheme of the Hierarchy for Sequence Stratigraphy

Depositional sequences may be distinguished into six ranks of units as giga-, mega-, meso-, ortho-, sub- and micro-sequence, and are interpreted to be formed during the eustatic cycles with time-intervals of 500-6000 Ma, 60-120 Ma, 30-40 Ma, 2-5 Ma, 0.1-0.4 Ma and 0.02-0.04 Ma respectively. All of them are thought to be essentially related to cosmological cycles, except the megasequence which may be caused by the long-term geothermal cycles on cratons. We deem that the depositional sequences, though often influenced variably by local tectonics and other factors, are primarily global and periodic in nature. We also hold that as one of the planets within the Galaxy, the earth must have been affected in various ways by other asteroids, and that the depositional sequences are merely the responses of the hydrosphere to the cosmological cycles in sedimentation.