The local trend, which occurs only in the two southern localities (deeper water), expresses differences between the skeletal grain content of the various lithofacies. These differences result partly from increased sensitivity to substrate texture by organism groups suffering southward attenuation (notably gastropods, hyalosteliid sponges, aoujgaliids, Earlandia and kirkbyacean ostracods) and partly from selective colonization, particularly of the transition facies, by tabulate corals and stick/ramose bryozoans. However, the developmental sequence of precursor carbonate muds is the same at all localities, indicating that the mud-making process (probably microbial) was independent of water depth.