Caribbean chronostratigraphy refined with U-Pb dating of a Miocene coral
- Rhawn F. Denniston*1,
- Yemane Asmerom2,
- Victor Y. Polyak2,
- Donald F. McNeill3,
- James S. Klaus3,
- Peter Cole4 and
- Ann F. Budd5
- 1Department of Geology, Cornell College, 600 1st Street West, Mount Vernon, Iowa 52314, USA
- 2Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Northrop Hall, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA
- 3Division of Marine Geology and Geophysics, Rosenstiel School, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, Florida 33149, USA
- 4Department of Geology, Cornell College, 600 1st Street West, Mount Vernon, Iowa 52314, USA
- 5Department of Geoscience, Trowbridge Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
Abstract
An exceptionally well-preserved aragonitic coral of the extinct species Goniopora hilli was collected from late Cenozoic sedimentary deposits in the Dominican Republic and dated using U-Pb techniques. Nine coralline subsamples yielded a 238U/206Pb–207Pb/206Pb three-dimensional (3-D) inverse linear concordia age of 5.52 ± 0.15 (2σ) Ma, which, when coupled with 87Sr/86Sr ratios obtained from the same coral, allows for tighter constraints on temporal variability of marine species diversity prior to closure of the Central American Seaway. The recognition that pre-Quaternary aragonitic corals can be suitable for U-Pb dating creates new possibilities for refining the chronologies of late Cenozoic marine sedimentary sequences.
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- Accepted 10 October 2007.
- Received 16 July 2007.
- Revision received 9 October 2007.
- The Geological Society of America, Inc.
