Journal article
U/Pb dating of a terminal Pliocene coral from the Indonesian Seaway
MC Quigley, B Duffy, J Woodhead, J Hellstrom, L Moody, T Horton, J Soares, L Fernandes
Marine Geology | Published : 2012
Abstract
Pristine detrital Platygyra corals were discovered in an exhumed package of syn-orogenic marine sediments on the island of Timor in the eastern Indonesian region and dated using U-Pb techniques. A single coral from the upper part of the sequence yields a 238U/ 206Pb- 207Pb/ 206Pb concordia age of 2.66±0.14 (2σ) Ma that is supported by coral 87Sr/ 86Sr chemostratigraphy and foraminiferal biostratigraphy from bounding strata. Minor U-series disequilibrium is best explained by U mobility within the last ~150ka, as pore water chemistry was altered during exhumation, and is unlikely to have affected 238U/ 206Pb and the apparent sample age by more than 1-2%. The ability to date corals beyond the l..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This work has profited from discussions with David Haig, Myra Keep and Eujay McCartain at the University of Western Australia and Jamie Shulmeister at University of Queensland. We thank ENI Pty Ltd, the University of Canterbury, and the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Research Council (Fast-start grant M1137) for financial support. We thank the Secretariat for Energy and Natural Resources (SERN) in Dili for their continuing support for our research in Timor Leste and Joao Edmundo dos Reis, Andy Monteiro, Atino Varela and Nabe for field assistance. We thank Ron Harris, Douwe van Hinsbergen, and an anonymous reviewer for comments that improved this manuscript.