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We have identifi ed 57 large-magnitude, sequence boundaries in the Phanerozoic succession of the Canadian High Arctic. The characteristics of the boundaries, which include angular unconformities and signifi cant changes in depositional and tectonic regimes across the boundaries, indicate that they were primarily generated by tecton-ics rather than...
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... and his co-workers have elucidated the lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and sequence stratigraphy of this succession in numerous, comprehensive publications ( Beauchamp et al., 2001Beauchamp et al., , 2009Beauchamp and Henderson 1994;Beauchamp and Théri- ault, 1994;Beauchamp, 1995;Beauchamp and Olchowy, 2003;Embry and Beauchamp, 2008). The Carboniferous time stratigraphy based on this work is illustrated in Figure 7. ...
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... fi rst large-scale sequence boundary within the Carboniferous is early Visean in age (345). This suggests that a Tournaisian sequence (denoted by a question mark on Fig. 7), bounded below by the base Carboniferous boundary and above the early Visean boundary, may possibly exist within the basin. Four more large-scale sequence boundaries have been identifi ed within the Carboniferous and are basal Serpukhovian (331 Ma), basal Bashkirian (323 Ma), basal Moscovian (315 Ma), and basal Gzhelian (304 Ma) in age ...
Citations
... Numerous studies have shown that unconformitybounded sequences of sedimentary layers can often be correlated across intra-continental basins and attributed them to vertical motions of the lithosphere (e.g. Cloetingh et al. 1989;Sloss 1991;Embry et al. 2018;Green et al. 2022). For instance, Embry et al. (2018) reported that many of their documented Triassic, Jurassic, and Cenozoic unconformities in the Canadian High Arctic can be correlated worldwide. ...
... Cloetingh et al. 1989;Sloss 1991;Embry et al. 2018;Green et al. 2022). For instance, Embry et al. (2018) reported that many of their documented Triassic, Jurassic, and Cenozoic unconformities in the Canadian High Arctic can be correlated worldwide. Cloetingh (1988) and Janssen et al. (1995) correlated mid-Cetaceous unconformities across Europe and Africa, respectively. ...
Seafloor fabric indicators are the main features used for dating global-scale plate reorganizations. However, the lack of oceanic crusts older than 200 Ma limits their application only to the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Furthermore, in cases such as the mid-Cretaceous time when reversals in Earth’s magnetic field did not occur, the plate reorganization ages obtained from seafloor fabric indicators are imprecise. I propose the record of continental deformation as an alternative approach for dating these events. A compilation of cooling/deformation, migmatization, and unconformity ages recorded around the globe collectively indicates that continental deformation associated with the mid-Cretaceous plate reorganization culminated at 107 Ma. This age strongly correlates with ages obtained from other data such as palaeomagnetic poles. Considering that the deformational features similar to which are compiled in this study appear to be temporally correlated with other reorganization events, the record of globally distributed continental deformation might be used for other reorganization events whose timing is poorly constrained.
... The Absaroka I and II sequences, which do not constitute strong flooding peaks, mainly record the Late Paleozoic flooding of southwestern Laurentia associated with foreland basin formation (45), and arc magmatism in the Mojave (46,47), providing evidence for continent-facing subduction along at least some of southwestern Laurentia. The Absaroka sequences additionally include the onset of thermal subsidence in the Sverdrup Basin along the passive northern margin of Laurentia (48), exhibiting sedimentation over a much shorter length scale. ...
The flooding record of North America has been used to infer patterns of global erosion and sea level in deep time. Here, we utilize the geospatial dimension of the stratigraphic record provided by the Macrostrat database, and patterns of erosion from thermochronology, to resolve local tectonic subsidence from global sea level. We show that the flooding history of North America correlates in space and time with continent-facing subduction along active margins, consistent with subduction-driven dynamic topographic subsidence of the continental interior. Nonetheless, the continentally aggregated flooding signal of North America is an exaggerated global M-curve of Phanerozoic sea level. This coincidence relates to the closing of the geodynamic loop of the supercontinent cycle: Subduction under North America accommodated both the makeup and breakup of Pangaea, which, coupled with changing ridge length, flattened hypsometry, and increased sea level both locally and globally. The sole Phanerozoic exception to this pattern of global sea level tracking North American near-field geodynamics is the Cambrian Sauk transgression. We argue that this is a far-field record of the inception of circum-Gondwanan subduction, independent of North America, which significantly flattened Earth's hypsometry. This hypsometric flattening displaced ocean water globally, flooding tectonically passive North America to seal the Great Unconformity.
... Earth system activities can be recorded in the evolution of sedimentary basins via its tectono-sedimentary processes (Vail et al., 1977;Shpilman et al., 1994;Jin et al., 2005;Embry et al., 2013;Catuneanu, 2019). Stratigraphic sequences sensitive to periodic geological processes are therefore used in this study to identify basin-system periodicities and potential corresponding astronomical forcing, which provides clues for the possible extraterrestrial triggers and the overall behavior of Earth (Jin et al., 1996;Brink, 2015;Chen et al., 2015;Boulila et al., 2021;Zhang et al., 2023). ...
... The horizontal shadow interval is ~30 Myr. The following data were obtained from previous studies: time required for the Solar System to vertically cross the galactic plane (Innanen et al., 1978;Rampino and Stothers, 1984a;Pandey and Negi, 1987;Karim and Mamajek, 2017); meteorite impact event ages (Napier, 2006;Schmieder and Kring, 2020); marine mass extinctions (Raup and Sepkoski, 1986;Rampino et al., 2021a); LIP initiation times (Prokoph et al., 2013); orogenic and evaporite deposit events (Rampino and Caldeira, 1993); sequence boundary ages (Embry et al., 2013); times of enhanced CO 2 rates in the atmosphere (Tiwari and Rao, 1998); and oceanic anoxic events (Percival et al., 2015). The age framework follows the Geologic Time Scale 2020 by Gradstein et al. (2020). ...
... The stratigraphic development of sedimentary basins is closely related to relative sea-level change and associated transgression-regression cycles (Belozerov and Ivanov, 2003;Miller et al., 2005), which are separated by sequence boundaries (Vail et al., 1977;Haq et al., 1987;Embry et al., 2013). Sequence stratigraphy is presently applied over a wide range of temporal and physical scales, from decimeter-thick layers that formed in a matter of hours to kilometerthick basin fills that formed over hundreds of millions of years (Catuneanu, 2019;Fragoso et al., 2022). ...
... (1) Regional Maastrichtian exhumation possibly 23 reflects doming above the rising Iceland Plume. The plume impact at the base of the 24 lithosphere contributed to the onset of mid-Paleocene sea-floor spreading west of 25 Greenland that provided the driving force for the Eurekan Orogeny. ...
The sedimentary record across the Canadian High Arctic, North Greenland and Svalbard is fragmentary, making regional correlation difficult. We seek new insights by integrating information from the preserved geological section with evidence of former stratigraphic units that are no longer present (missing section), using paleo-thermal methods to define episodes of deeper burial and subsequent exhumation. Parts of the region were affected by deformation induced by the Paleocene–Eocene movement of Greenland relative to the North American and Eurasian plates (the Eu-rekan Orogeny). However, our results indicate four discrete episodes of kilometre-scale exhumation before, during and after the Eurekan Orogeny that led to disruption of sedimentary basins across the region. (1) Regional Maastrichtian exhumation possibly reflects doming above the rising Iceland Plume. The plume impact at the base of the lithosphere contributed to the onset of mid-Paleocene sea-floor spread-ing west of Greenland that provided the driving force for the Eurekan Orogeny. (2) Localized Paleocene exhumation was caused by inversion of fault zones in the initial stage of the Eurekan Orogeny due to compression that also formed foreland basins and caused the West Spitsbergen Fold Belt. (3) Regional exhumation that began at the end of the Eocene postdates sea-floor spreading west of Greenland and thus represents post-Eurekan tectonics. This episode, which also affected regions far from the Eurekan Orogen, coincided with a major change in the North-East Atlantic spreading system. Transmission of stress from a shift in the motion of Africa relative to Europe may have contributed to these changes. (4) Regional, late Miocene uplift and erosion initiated the development of present-day landscapes. Our results show both local uplift events within the Eurekan Orogen and synchronous effects over large regions that require new ideas about the stresses driving horizontal and vertical movements of the earth’s crust.
... Periods of faulting are short relative to episodes of increased tectonic activity (e.g. Embry et al., 2019). The deposition following faulting may for extended periods happen through suspension settling of finegrained lithologies until the uplifted footwall crests are cut by water-gaps through which coarse sediment fill the basin (Clevis et al., 2003). ...
Fault throw gradients create transverse folding, and this can influence accommodation creation and sedimentary routing and infill patterns in extensional half‐graben basin. The Fanja half‐graben basin (Oman) offers an excellent outcrop of an alluvial fan succession displaying cyclical stacking and basin‐scale growth‐fold patterns. These unique conditions allow for an investigation of fault‐timing and accommodation development related to fault‐transverse folding. Our study combines geological mapping, structural analysis, sedimentary logging and correlation, and bulk mineralogical compositions. Mapping reveals that the basin is bounded by a regional‐scale fault, with local depocentres changing position in response to transverse syncline and anticline development ascribed to fault‐displacement gradients. The alluvial Qahlah Formation (Late Cretaceous) is unconformably overlying the Semail Ophiolite, and it is in turn overlain by the marine Jafnayn Formation (Late Paleocene). Facies and stratigraphic analysis allows subdividing the Qahlah Formation into four informal units, from base to top: (i) laterite in topographic depressions of the ophiolite, (ii) greenish pebbly sandstones, deriving from axially draining braided streams deposited in the low‐relief half‐graben basin. This green Qahlah grades vertically into the red Qahlah, formed by alluvial fanglomerates and floodplain mudstones, with drainage patterns changing from fault‐transverse to fault‐parallel with increasing distance to the main fault. The red Qahlah can be divided into (iii) the Wadi al Theepa member, found in a western basin depocentre, with higher immaturity and sand:mud ratio, suggesting a more proximal source, and (iv) the Al Batah member, located in the eastern part of the basin. The latter shows better sorting, a lower sand:mud ratio, and more prominent graded sub‐units. It also shows eastward expansion from an orthogonal monocline, ascribed to accommodation developed in a relay ramp. Changes in sedimentary facies and depositional patterns are consistent with differential mineralogical composition. The Green Qahlah is composed of quartz and lithic mafic rock fragments, sourced from the ophiolite and schists of the metamorphic basement. The Red Qahlah is composed of chert and kaolinite sourced from the Hawasina Nappe succession in the footwall of the master fault. These changes in source area are linked to unroofing of fault‐footwalls and domal structures during the extensional collapse of the Semail Ophiolite. The novelty of this study resides in linking sedimentology and fault displacement events controlling fault‐perpendicular folding, and its influence on depocenter generation and stratigraphic architecture. This is an approach seldom considered in seismic analysis, and rarely analysed in outcrop studies, thus placing the results from this study among the key outcrop‐based contributions to the field.
... The succession can be divided into four first-order sequences of Late Cretaceous, Paleogene, Oligocene-Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene age (Fig. 5) (Embry et al. 2019). These sequences are likely to be coincident with sequences documented in the Beaufort-Mackenzie TSE and in the adjacent Sverdrup Basin CTSE (Harrison et al. 1999;Chen et al. 2021;Embry et al. 2023a), and must also contain secondand third-order sequences (Fig. 5). ...
The Canadian Arctic Prograded Margin Tectono-Stratigraphic Element (CAPM TSE) is located on the continental shelf and slope which lie to the northwest of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The TSE comprises the post-rift succession deposited on the eastern margin of the Amerasia Basin and the strata range in age from Late Cretaceous to Pleistocene. Over much of the TSE, a major unconformity marks the base of the succession and underlying strata vary from Jurassic-Early Cretaceous strata of the Canadian Arctic Rift Margin TSE to older Late Paleozoic-Triassic strata of the Sverdrup Basin CTSE. Sparse reflection and refraction seismic data indicate that the succession can be greater than 10 km thick. The TSE is divided into 3 structural domains with deformation increasing to the northeast. The Southern Domain is extensional and is characterized by listric growth faults with roll-over anticlines and tilted fault blocks. The pre-Oligocene portion of the Central Domain is deformed by broad folds with extensional faults in the younger strata. The pre-Oligocene succession in the Northern Domain is likely strongly folded and cut by thrust faults of the Eurekan Orogeny with extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks occurring in the Late Cretaceous strata. Petroleum source rocks, as well as abundant reservoir and seal strata, occur throughout the TSE indicating good potential for the presence of petroleum resources. The remote and environmentally sensitive location of the TSE, however, makes it likely it will never be a target for petroleum exploration.
... New age data for a number of the geologic events of the last 260 Myr (the best-dated part of the geologic record) ( Table 1) were gathered from the recent published literature for 29 global sequence boundaries reflecting sea-level fluctuations (Embry et al., 2018); 12 marine-extinction episodes (Raup and Sepkoski, 1986; original data published in Sepkoski, 2002); 9 non-marine tetrapod extinction events (Rampino et al., , 2021; 13 continental flood-basalt eruptions (Rampino et al., 2019); 10 major ocean-anoxic events (Rampino et al., 2019); 8 times of changes in seafloor spreading rates (Müller et al., 2016); and 8 global pulsations of intraplate magmatism (Mjelde et al., 2010), for a total of 89 events. In the case of marine-extinction events, we used the Sepkoski (2002) data set (see also Bambach, 2006), which has better resolution than the more recent fossil database of Alroy et al. (2008). ...
... Table 1 shows all of the age data in 10-Myr bins, and it is important to note that error bars in most cases are ± 1 Myr, so that the small uncertainties in the ages of the various events have little effect on the results of our spectral analyses, where we first rounded ages to the nearest Myr. (Raup and Sepkoski, 1986;Sepkoski, 2002); ocean-anoxic intervals 2 (Rampino et al., 2019); flood-basalt eruptions 3 (Rampino et al., 2019); stratigraphic sequence boundaries 4 (Embry et al., 2018); non-marine tetrapod extinction episodes 5 ; changes in sea-floor spreading rates 6 (Müller et al., 2016); and global pulses of intra-plate magmatism 7 (Mjelde et al., 2010). Error bars for most ages are ± 1 Myr, and ages were adjusted to the latest geological time scales (Gradstein et al., 2020;Cohen et al., 2013) where appropriate, but this did not significantly affect the results of our analyses. ...
... The 8.9 Myr cycle that we detected is similar to a~8 Myr to 10 Myr cycle that shows up in spectral analyses of sea-level indicators (Boulila et al., 2012;Embry et al., 2018), the diversity of calcareous plankton, (Prokoph et al., 2004), records of marine d 18 O Fig. 1. Left: Results of moving-window analysis of the ages of 89 geologic events (Table 1) using a 10-Myr moving window centered every 0.5 Myr, with the number of occurrences that fell within the moving window computed at 1-Myr intervals. ...
We performed spectral analyses on the ages of 89 well-dated major geological events of the last 260 Myr from the recent geologic literature. These events include times of marine and non-marine extinctions, major ocean-anoxic events, continental flood-basalt eruptions, sea-level fluctuations, global pulses of intraplate magmatism, and times of changes in seafloor-spreading rates and plate reorganizations. The aggregate of all 89 events shows ten clusters in the last 260 Myr, spaced at an average interval of ~ 26.9 Myr, and Fourier analysis of the data yields a spectral peak at 27.5 Myr at the ≥ 96% confidence level. A shorter period of ~ 8.9 Myr may also be significant in modulating the timing of geologic events. Our results suggest that global geologic events are generally correlated, and seem to come in pulses with an underlying ~ 27.5-Myr cycle. These cyclic pulses of tectonics and climate change may be the result of geophysical processes related to the dynamics of plate tectonics and mantle plumes, or might alternatively be paced by astronomical cycles associated with the Earth’s motions in the Solar System and the Galaxy.
... This frequency modulation result is further supported by independent sea-level data from the Canadian High Arctic Basin. Timeseries analysis of variations of the duration of the major Canadian 10 Myr sedimentary (sea-level) sequences through time (Embry et al., 2019) faithfully captures a cyclicity of 35 Myr, matching the eustatic cycle of the reference chart ( Supplementary Fig. S1). Such cyclicity in the Canadian sea-level data has been extensively studied by Rampino and Caldeira (2020) using other methods of spectral analysis. ...
... Amplitude and frequency modulation analysis of the 10 Myr cycle band in the reference sea-level data indicates a main cyclicity of a period close to 35 Myr. This result is supported by independent data from the Canadian High Arctic Basin (Fig. 13C, Section 3.1), that record global sedimentray sequences (Embry et al., 2019, Supplementary Fig. S2). Collectively, these results provide a compelling evidence for the modulation of the 10 Myr band by the 35 Myr cyclicity in sea-level data (Figs. ...
... (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.) Lovell, 2010), including those along continental margins , which were suggested as the main driver of second-order (10 Myr) sea-level sequences (e.g., Embry et al., 2019). ...
The driving mechanisms of Earth's climate system at a multi-Myr timescale have received considerable attention since the 1980's as they are deemed to control large-amplitude climatic variations that result in severe biogeochemical disruptions, major sea-level variations, and the evolution of Earth's land- and seascapes through geological time. The commonly accepted mechanism for these changes derives from the evolution of Earth's coupled plate-mantle system. Connection between Earth's interior and external climate drivers, e.g., Milankovitch insolation forcing, has not been investigated at multi-Myr timescale, because tectonics and astronomical influences at these longer timescales have long been thought as independent pacemakers in the evolution of the Earth system.
Here we have analyzed time-series from multiple geological datasets and found common periodicities of 10 and 35 Myr. Additionally, we have highlighted the modulation in amplitude of the 10 Myr cycle band by the 35 Myr cyclicity in sedimentary sea-level data. We then demonstrate the same physical amplitude modulation relationship between these two cyclicities in astronomical (Milankovitch) variations, and establish correlation between Milankovitch and sea-level variations at these two frequency bands. The 10 and 35 Myr cycles are prominent in the geological records, suggesting either unresolved fundamental Milankovitch periodicities, or reflecting a sedimentary energy-transfer process from higher to lower Milankovitch frequencies, as argued here via amplitude modulation analysis in both astronomical and sea-level data.
Finally, we find a coherent correlation, at the 35 Myr cycle band, between Milankovitch, sea-level and geodynamic (plate subduction rate) variations, hinting at a coupling between Earth's interior and surface processes via Milankovitch paced climate. Thus, our findings point to a coupling between Milankovitch and Earth's internal forcings, at 10 to 10s of Myr. The most likely scenario that could link insolation-driven climate change to Earth's interior processes is Earth's interior feedbacks to astro-climatically driven mass changes on Earth's surface. We suggest that Earth's interior processes may drive large-amplitude sea-level changes, especially during greenhouse periods, by resonating to astro-climatically driven Earth's surface perturbations.
Keywords
Earth's climate
Sea level
Milankovitch
Tectonics
Multi-million year timescales
... In the geologic record, oscillations in relative sea level are commonly represented 34 by stratigraphic sequencespackages of transgressive and regressive sedimentsseparated by 35 sequence boundaries (Vail et al., 1977;Haq et al., 1987). The stratigraphic sequence boundaries 36 are commonly erosional unconformities generated by drops in base level resulting from tectonic 37 uplift and/or sea-level fall (Catuneanu et al., 2005;Embry et al., 2018). These sequence 38 boundaries have been correlated across a number of platforms, peri-platform basins and 39 continental margins (e.g., the Gulf Coast, New Jersey Coastal Plain, the Canadian High Arctic, the 40 Arabian Platform, etc.) (e.g., Haq et al., 1987;Hardenbol et al., 1998;Wornardt, 1999;Haq and Al-41 Qahtani, 2005;Miller et al., 2005;Haq and Shutter, 2008;Snedden and Liu, 2010;Haq, 2018; filling . ...
... Myr. Baker and Flood (2015) performed time-series analyses on sea-level data (from Kominz et al., 169 2008) from the Late Cretaceous to the Miocene (from ~110 Ma to 10 Ma), and found a statistically A similar ~30 Myr cycle has been reported for tectonism, climate and biotic extinctions 179 (Rampino and Stothers, 1984;Raup and Sepkoski, 1986;Rampino and Caldeira, 1993;Melott and 180 Bambach, 2014) suggesting a common relationship. The connection between tectonics and sea-181 level oscillations may come from changes in directions and rates of ocean-floor spreading and 182 subduction, intraplate stresses related to rearrangements of global plate motions (Grasty, 1967;183 Müller et al., 2016;Embry et al., 2018), and/or pulsations of mantle-plume activity. Mjelde et al. 184 (2010) reported evidence for major peaks in intra-plate volcanism in the last 70 Myr that seem to 185 be global in extent, and which have an ~10 Myr spacing similar to the sequence boundaries 186 . ...
... For example, it is in the range of the estimated time it takes for subducted slabs to 217 reach the upper/lower mantle boundary (Van der Meer et al., 2018). Embry et al. (2018) preferred 218 changes in intraplate stresses induced by plate reorganizations (King et al., 2002). Alternately, the 219 pacing could be the result of some external astrophysical forcing. ...
Spectral analyses of past relative sea-level oscillations as represented by the ages of 57 Phanerozoic (the last 545 Myr) stratigraphic sequence boundaries from the Canadian Arctic show a strong spectral peak at 32 Myr (>99.9% confidence). These findings concur with previous reports of significant cycles with periods of around 30 Myr in various records of fluctuations of sea level, and in potentially related episodes of tectonism, volcanism, climate, and biotic extinctions. Sequence boundaries commonly coincide with stage boundaries based on biostratigraphy, and are correlated with episodes of extinction and times of flood-basalt volcanism. The connection between tectonics and sea-level variations may come from changes in rates of ocean-floor spreading and subduction, intraplate stresses from plate-reorganizations, and pulsations of hotspot volcanism. These coordinated periodic fluctuations in tectonics, sea level and climate may be modulated by cyclical activity in the Earth’s mantle, although some pacing by astronomical cycles is suspected.
... At ten to tens of Myr timescales, geodynamic modeling has shown different cyclicities of~25 Myr for the spreading and production rates of oceanic ridges , and of 25-50 Myr and 10-15 Myr for arc magmatism (DeCelles et al., 2009;Wolfram et al., 2019), although some studies have pointed to the fractal nature of arc magmatism (e.g., de Silva et al., 2015). Interestingly, extended synthetic observations throughout the Phanerozoic eon from the Canadian High Arctic show 10 Myr pseudo-periodic sedimentary sequences correlated to tectonic episodes (Embry et al., 2019). Such study indicates that tectonics from uplift and subsidence was responsible for the formation of depositional sequences of durations ranging from 4 to 17 Myr. ...
Because of their relatively reduced tectonic influence, post-rift sedimentary successions have a propensity to preserve climatically-driven cyclicity over long durations. Here we present an integrated cyclostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic study of the post-rift Limoeiro sedimentary Formation (Fm) of the Foz do Amazonas Basin (offshore Brazil), which spans the entire Late Cretaceous epoch (almost 35 Myr long). The principal goal of the present study is to decipher very long (multi-Myr) sedimentary cyclicities and their potential origin(s) in order to delineate the main controlling factors of post-rift sediment sequences and packages.
We used gamma-ray (GR) well-log data for cyclostratigarphy, and seismic data for sequence stratigraphy. Time-series analysis of GR data shows a rich series of Milankovitch frequency bands. In particular, long-period cyclicities (405 kyr, 2.4 Myr, 4.7 Myr and 9.5 Myr) are detected with high fidelity. Seismic and sequence stratigraphic interpretation shows a striking sea-level (SL) depositional sequence order, matching the 4.7 Myr orbital cyclicity inferred from cyclostratigraphy. Longer SL sequences interpreted in previous studies from the Limoeiro Fm closely match the 9.5 Myr GR related orbital cycles.
Thus, we infer that the post-rift Limoeiro Fm was deposited continuously under astronomical forcing over the Late Cretaceous epoch, resulting in an extraordinary record of direct base- and sea-level responses to Milankovitch climatic forcing, including longer (multi-Myr) periodicities. The 4.7 Myr orbital component is recorded for the first time in SL sedimentary proxies, thus allowing here to update SL hierarchical orders. We suggest that third-order, and second-order and suborders SL sequences were most likely paced by long-period astronomical cycles (2.4 Myr eccentricity, and 4.7 and 9.5 Myr orbital cycles, respectively.
