Can rocks have pressure signatures?

Question

Since rocks can have magnetic signatures, as is the case with paleomagnetism, can they store past pressures also? For example, when researchers are trying to determine past ocean levels, they usually look at isotopes. But is there any way they can look at rock morphology to see how high sea levels may have been (maybe a more compressed rock meant higher pressures, meaning higher sea levels and vice versa)?

Answer 1

Mostly no, not signatures. There are a few ways that rocks can record stress, for example the mineral calcite twins (deforms) a certain way under stress, and the orientation and angle of twinning can record the maximum stress the limestone (or other calcite bearing rock) has experienced. But the very low pressure or stress differences caused by sea level change are highly unlikely to be preserved in any kind of sediment compaction or mineral growth habit or any geological signature that comes to mind. It's a neat idea, really, but not one that I think has much potential for solving this problem.