Synchronizing Rock Clocks of Earth History
Planetary Science Institute · Berkeley Geochronology Center · +3 more institutions
Abstract
Calibration of the geological time scale is achieved by independent radioisotopic and astronomical dating, but these techniques yield discrepancies of approximately 1.0% or more, limiting our ability to reconstruct Earth history. To overcome this fundamental setback, we compared astronomical and 40Ar/39Ar ages of tephras in marine deposits in Morocco to calibrate the age of Fish Canyon sanidine, the most widely used standard in 40Ar/39Ar geochronology. This calibration results in a more precise older age of 28.201 +/- 0.046 million years ago (Ma) and reduces the 40Ar/39Ar method's absolute uncertainty from approximately 2.5 to 0.25%. In addition, this calibration provides tight constraints for the astronomical…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 38.83
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 38
Authors
6- KFKlaudia F. KuiperCorresponding
Planetary Science Institute, Berkeley Geochronology Center, Utrecht University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of California, Berkeley
- ALAlan L. Deino
Planetary Science Institute, Berkeley Geochronology Center, Utrecht University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of California, Berkeley
- FHF.J. Hilgen
Planetary Science Institute, Berkeley Geochronology Center, Utrecht University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of California, Berkeley
- WKWout Krijgsman
Planetary Science Institute, Berkeley Geochronology Center, Utrecht University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of California, Berkeley
- PRPaul R. Renne
Planetary Science Institute, Berkeley Geochronology Center, Utrecht University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, University of California, Berkeley
Topics & keywords
- Geochronology
- Calibration
- Sanidine
- Geology
- Paleontology
- Cretaceous
- Limiting
- Absolute dating
- Life below water