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Filling the gap: new precise Early Cretaceous radioisotopic ages from the Andes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

BEATRIZ AGUIRRE-URRETA ,
MARINA LESCANO ,
MARK D. SCHMITZ ,
MAISA TUNIK ,
ANDREA CONCHEYRO ,
PETER F. RAWSON  and
VICTOR A. RAMOS
BEATRIZ AGUIRRE-URRETA*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Estudios Andinos Don Pablo Groeber (UBA-CONICET), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, pabellón 2, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina
MARINA LESCANO
Affiliation:
Instituto de Estudios Andinos Don Pablo Groeber (UBA-CONICET), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, pabellón 2, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina
MARK D. SCHMITZ
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive Boise, Idaho, ID 83725, USA
MAISA TUNIK
Affiliation:
Universidad de Río Negro, Sede Alto Valle, General Roca, Río Negro, Argentina
ANDREA CONCHEYRO
Affiliation:
Instituto de Estudios Andinos Don Pablo Groeber (UBA-CONICET), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, pabellón 2, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina
PETER F. RAWSON
Affiliation:
Centre for Environmental and Marine Sciences, University of Hull (Scarborough Campus), Filey Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire YO11 3AZ Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
VICTOR A. RAMOS
Affiliation:
Instituto de Estudios Andinos Don Pablo Groeber (UBA-CONICET), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, pabellón 2, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina
*
†Author for correspondence: aguirre@gl.fcen.uba.ar
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Abstract

Two tuffs in the Lower Cretaceous Agrio Formation, Neuquén Basin, provided U–Pb zircon radioisotopic ages of 129.09±0.16 Ma and 127.42±0.15 Ma. Both horizons are well constrained biostratigraphically by ammonites and nannofossils and can be correlated with the ‘standard’ sequence of the Mediterranean Province. The lower horizon is very close to the base of the Upper Hauterivian and the upper horizon to the Hauterivian/Barremian boundary, indicating that the former lies at c. 129.5 Ma and the latter at c. 127 Ma. These new radioisotopic ages fill a gap of over 8 million years in the numerical calibration of the current global Early Cretaceous geological time scale.

Keywords

Neuquén BasinHauterivianbiostratigraphyammonoidscalcareous nannofossilsU–Pb CA-ID-TIMSArgentina
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 152 , Issue 3 , May 2015 , pp. 557 - 564
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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