Empirical evidence for stability of the 405-kiloyear Jupiter–Venus eccentricity cycle over hundreds of millions of years

The Newark–Hartford astrochronostratigraphic polarity timescale (APTS) was developed using a theoretically constant 405-kiloyear eccentricity cycle linked to gravitational interactions with Jupiter–Venus as a tuning target and provides a major timing calibration for about 30 million years of Late Tr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 115; no. 24; pp. 6153 - 6158
Main Authors Kent, Dennis V., Olsen, Paul E., Rasmussen, Cornelia, Lepre, Christopher, Mundil, Roland, Irmis, Randall B., Gehrels, George E., Giesler, Dominique, Geissman, John W., Parker, William G.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences 12.06.2018
SeriesFrom the Cover
Subjects
Calibration
Coring
Diagnostic systems
Dinosaurs
Eccentricity
Geological time
Gravity
Jupiter
Jurassic
Lead
Magnetic fields
National parks
Physical Sciences
Polarity
Robustness (mathematics)
SEE COMMENTARY
Stratigraphy
Triassic
Venus
Zircon
geochronology
Milankovitch
Triassic
magnetostratigraphy
astrochronology
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The Newark–Hartford astrochronostratigraphic polarity timescale (APTS) was developed using a theoretically constant 405-kiloyear eccentricity cycle linked to gravitational interactions with Jupiter–Venus as a tuning target and provides a major timing calibration for about 30 million years of Late Triassic and earliest Jurassic time. While the 405-ky cycle is both unimodal and the most metronomic of the major orbital cycles thought to pace Earth’s climate in numerical solutions, there has been little empirical confirmation of that behavior, especially back before the limits of orbital solutions at about 50 million years before present. Moreover, the APTS is anchored only at its younger end by U–Pb zircon dates at 201.6 million years before present and could even be missing a number of 405-ky cycles. To test the validity of the dangling APTS and orbital periodicities, we recovered a diagnostic magnetic polarity sequence in the volcaniclastic-bearing Chinle Formation in a scientific drill core fromPetrified Forest National Park (Arizona) that provides an unambiguous correlation to the APTS. New high precision U–Pb detrital zircon dates from the core are indistinguishable from ages predicted by the APTS back to 215 million years before present. The agreement shows that the APTS is continuous and supports a stable 405-kiloyear cycle well beyond theoretical solutions. The validated Newark–Hartford APTS can be used as a robust framework to help differentiate provinciality from global temporal patterns in the ecological rise of early dinosaurs in the Late Triassic, amongst other problems.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
Author contributions: D.V.K. and P.E.O. designed research; D.V.K., P.E.O., C.R., C.L., R.M., R.B.I., J.W.G., and W.G.P. performed research; R.B.I. and J.W.G. assisted in recovery and description of core; R.B.I. and W.G.P. provided regional geologic context; W.G.P. assisted in providing access to the Petrified Forest National Park; D.V.K., C.R., R.M., G.E.G., and D.G. analyzed data; and D.V.K., P.E.O., and R.M. wrote the paper.
Edited by Lisa Tauxe, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, and approved April 6, 2018 (received for review January 16, 2018)
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1800891115