Measurement of the volumes of sediment preserved in sedimentary basins permits consideration of subsidence history. Analysis of six Mesozoic-Cenozoic basins, including passive and active margins and cratonic interiors, indicates a significant agreement from basin to basin in terms of episodes of nondeposition or erosion. Further, the episodes of rapid deposition match the times of elevated sea levels established from other data. This observation suggests that subsidence of craton-interior basins and of continental margins are equally responsive to some underlying global-tectonic force and that sea-level change is a second-order concomitant. If so, the subsidence history of Paleozoic basins should be applicable to an understanding of global-tectonic modes and events in the absence of a preserved oceanic history.

Three widely separated mid-Paleozoic basins are analyzed to show the same degree of inter-basin synchrony displayed by Mesozoic-Cenozoic basins and shelves. It is natural to speculate that times of rapid subsidence of Paleozoic basins equate with times of accelerated Paleozoic plate motions, inflated mid-ocean ridge systems, and marine highstands.