Single Crystal 40Ar/39Ar Age Calibration of the Non-Marine Fossil-Bearing Late Cretaceous-Tertiary of Western North America

两年的资金支持了一个正在进行的跨学科计划，该计划通过广泛应用高精度的SCLF(单晶激光聚变)40Ar/39Ar和常规的40K-40Ar测年来校准北美非海相含化石沉积岩和相关的磁性地层。PIS将收集与Lancian-pucan(白垩纪-第三纪)、Clarkforkian(L.古新世-E.)陆相地层中已开发或目前正在开发的磁性地层有关的火山岩，并对火山岩进行制备和年代测定。始新世)和查德隆期至河景福店(始新世-渐新世-E。中新世)年龄。过去一年获得的结果和这项研究的预测结果将为北美化石动物群、植物群和相关磁性地层的数值定年提供精确和准确的校准点。高分辨率年龄将作为1)北美陆地哺乳动物“年龄”及其划分的基础，2)NALMA与标准欧洲阶段/年龄的对比，3)磁极时间尺度(MPTS)的校准，4)确定脊椎动物和植物化石形态演化速率的独立年表，5)解释北美西部沉积盆地的时间历史，包括沉积、下沉和抬升速率。

Two years of funding supports an ongoing interdisciplinary program to calibrate North American non-marine fossil-bearing sedimentary rocks and associated magnetostratigraphies through extensive application of high precision SCLF (Single Crystal Laser Fusion) 40Ar/39Ar and conventional 40K-40Ar dating. PIs will collect,k prepare and date volcanic rocks associated with magnetostratigraphies developed or currently being developed on non-marine strata of Lancian-Puercan (Cretaceous-Tertiary), Clarkforkian (L. Paleocene-E. Eocene), and Chadronian through Hemjingfordian (L. Eocene-Oligocene-E. Miocene) ages. The results obtained over the past year and the projected results of this study will provide precise and accurate calibration points for the numerical age calibration of North American fossil faunas, floras and associated lmagnetostratigraphies. The high resolution ages will serve as a basis for 1) the calibration North American Land Mammal "Ages" and their subdivisions, 2) the correlation of NALMAs to standard European stage/ages, 3) the calibration of the MPTS (Magnetic Polarity Time Scale), 4) an independent chronology for determining rates of morphologic evolution in fossil vertebrates and plants and 5) the interpretation of the temporal histories of sedimentary basins of western North America, including sedimentation, subsidence and uplift rates.