1992 Articles
Toward a Revised Paleogene Geochronology
New information has become available that requires a revision of Paleogene chronology incorporated in most current Cenozoic time scales. Age estimates for the limits of the Paleogene (the Oligocene/Miocene and Cretaceous/Paleogene boundaries) have not changed appreciably and remain at about 24 Ma and about 66 Ma, respectively. However, new radioisotope data indicate that boundaries of subdivisions within the Paleogene are generally younger than previously estimated, for example, the Paleocene/Eocene and Eocene/Oligocene, by about 2 to 3 m.y. We review the current status of magnetobiostratigraphic correlations and new radioisotope data, with particular reference to late Eocene~early Oligocene geochronology and provide a reassessment of the age of the Eocene/Oligocene boundary as 34 Ma. We anticipate that with concurrent work on a fundamental revision of the geomagnetic polarity sequence, a comprehensive and detailed new time scale for the Cenozoic will soon be developed.
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Also Published In
- Title
- Eocene-Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution
- Publisher
- Princeton University Press
More About This Work
- Academic Units
- Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
- Biology and Paleo Environment
- Published Here
- January 30, 2012