Cycles of relative change of sea level on a global scale are evident throughout Phanerozoic time. The evidence is based on the facts that many regional cycles determined on different continental margins are simultaneous, and that the relative magnitudes of the changes generally are similar. Because global cycles are records of geotectonic, glacial, and other large-scale processes, they reflect major events of Phanerozoic history.

A global cycle of relative change of sea level is an interval of geologic time during which a relative rise and fall of mean sea level takes place on a global scale. A global cycle may be determined from a modal average of correlative regional cycles derived from seismic stratigraphic studies.

On a global cycle curve for Phanerozoic time, three major orders of cycles are superimposed on the sea-level curve. Cycles of first, second, and third order have durations of 200 to 300 million, 10 to 80 million, and 1 to 10 million years, respectively. Two cycles of the first order, over 14 of the second order, and approximately 80 of the third order are present in the Phanerozoic, not counting late Paleozoic cyclothems. Third-order cycles for the pre-Jurassic and Cretaceous are not shown. Sea-level changes from Cambrian through Early Triassic are not as well documented globally as are those from Late Triassic through Holocene.

Relative changes of sea level from Late Triassic to the present are reasonably well documented with respect to the ages, durations, and relative amplitudes of the second- and third-order cycles, but the amplitudes of the eustatic changes of sea level are only approximations. Our best estimate is that sea level reached a high point near the end of the Campanian (Late Cretaceous) about 350 m above present sea level, and had low points during the Early Jurassic, middle Oligocene, and late Miocene about 150, 250, and 200 m, respectively, below present sea level.

Interregional unconformities are related to cycles of global highstands and lowstands of sea level, as are the facies and general patterns of distribution of many depositional sequences. Geotectonic and glacial phenomena are the most likely causes of the sea-level cycles.

Major applications of the global cycle chart include (1) improved stratigraphic and structural analyses within a basin, (2) estimation of the geologic age of strata prior to drilling, and (3) development of a global system of geochronology.