 Thick successions of peritidal carbonates are deposited in shallow-water environments within, below and just above the tidal range.Many ancient and modern carbonate platforms are characterised by this kind of deposition.One of the fundamental properties of carbonate peritidal successions is the arrangement of subtidal, intertidal and supratidal facies into asymmetric, shallowing-upwards cyclothems or parasequences (Hardie & Shinn, 1986)

The Ginsburg model deals with the cyclic successions in the specific case of a tidal flat and lagoon, introducing the important concept that carbonate peritidal cycles may form without external forcing.