Abstract
Asking old rocks new questions; chronostratigraphic significance of carbon isotopes to Paleozoic stratigraphy
Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America, Vol.38(7), p.114
Geological Society of America, 2006 annual meeting
10/2006
Abstract
The growth of high-resolution (<1 million years) delta (super 13) C (sub carb) stratigraphy over the past decade has begun to shed new light on some of the long-stranding problems of Paleozoic stratigraphy. Detailed carbon isotope stratigraphy has proven particularly useful when correlating biostratigraphic zones not typically found in the same strata (e.g., conodonts and graptolites). Furthermore, the necessity of a biostratigraphic zonation matching the resolution of the delta (super 13) C (sub carb) stratigraphy has promoted new biostratigraphic research greatly increasing the resolution of biostratigraphic zones. The Wenlock (Silurian) is the best example of this, where a decade ago, the most commonly used global conodont zonation contained four zones. Today, the global standard conodont zonation for the Wenlock contains over twenty zones, each precisely correlated with delta (super 13) C (sub carb) stratigraphy. Carbon isotope stratigraphy can also be used as a paleoclimate/paleoceanographic proxy for global climate change during the Paleozoic. The climatic questions being asked by this research often require a resolution of data better than the 1-2 million year average for typical Paleozoic biostratigraphic zones. The integration of high-resolution delta (super 13) C (sub carb) stratigraphy and high-resolution biostratigraphy during the past few years has vastly increased our ability to correlate geographically disparate sections providing insight into some of the long-standing problems of Paleozoic stratigraphy, such as the placement of the Ordovician-Silurian boundary in the Midcontinent of North America and the precise correlation of the golden spike for the Llandovery-Wenlock boundary at Leasows, UK. The need to redefine the age and correlation of chronostratigraphic boundary strata containing the record of global climate change has meant that some of the previous environmental interpretations of these intervals need to be re-examined. Without the ability to precisely correlate sections globally, the interpretation of the Paleozoic record of global climate change remains speculative. To this end, carbon isotope delta (super 13) C (sub carb) stratigraphy has helped demonstrate the need for renewed basic stratigraphic research.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Asking old rocks new questions; chronostratigraphic significance of carbon isotopes to Paleozoic stratigraphy
- Creators
- Bradley D Cramer - Ohio State University, Department of Geological Sciences Columbus, OH USA United StatesMatthew R SaltzmanMark A KleffnerStig M BergstromSeth A Young
- Resource Type
- Abstract
- Publication Details
- Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America, Vol.38(7), p.114
- Conference
- Geological Society of America, 2006 annual meeting
- Publisher
- Geological Society of America (GSA)
- ISSN
- 0016-7592
- Alternative title
- Geological Society of America, 2006 annual meeting
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 10/2006
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences; International Programs; Office Of The Provost
- Record Identifier
- 9984240914302771
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