Caribbean chronostratigraphy refined with U-Pb dating of a Miocene coral

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 U-238/(206)pb-Pb-207/Pb-206 three-dimensional (3-D) inverse linear concordia age of 5.52 +/- 0.15 (2 sigma) Ma, which, when coupled with Sr-17/Sr-86 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.