Quantitative correlation of Lower Silurian carbonate facies in Lithuania: insights from carbon isotopes and cross-recurrence plots

Marine deposits carbon isotope stratigraphy provides a powerful tool for reconstructing past variations in the global carbon cycle and correlating sedimentary successions through time.The carbon on Earth is broadly divided between two main reservoirs: organic carbon, which is isotopically lighter due to its enrichment in 12 C, and carbonate carbon, which is isotopically heavier, containing relatively more 13 C. Variations in the burial and oxidation of organic matter regulate the isotopic balance between these reservoirs.The potential of marine carbonate 13 C values to date and correlate rocks relies on the fact that their 13 C/ 12 C values have varied over time, mainly as the result of partitioning of carbon between organic carbon and carbonate carbon reservoirs in the lithosphere (e.g.,