A statistical analysis of DSDP data shows that since Tithonian time the carbonate content of oceanic sediments has been controlled by the configuration of the oceanic portion of the hypsometric curve. Such configuration can be modified by changes in spreading rate, with resulting tectono-eustatic transgressions or regressions on the continents. Location of the carbonate compensation surface and tectono-eustatic events appear thus as interrelated features depending in the rate of accretionary activity at mid oceanic ridges. During Cretaceous, spreading rate fluctuations were essentially in phase in the major oceans; since Tertiary fluctuations in the Pacific Ocean were opposed to those in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. These observations may explain some general aspects of the stratigraphic and tectonic records of the Earth.