GSA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA - 2018

Paper No. 241-10
Presentation Time: 11:00 AM

MAGNETOSTRATIGRAPHY ACROSS U-PB-DATED HORIZONS IN SVALBARD BOREHOLES TO PARTLY RESOLVE THE DEBATED AGE OF BARREMIAN/APTIAN BOUNDARY


ZHANG, Yang Wendy, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051; State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, 430074, China, MINGUEZ, Daniel, Chevron Energy Technology Company, 1500 Louisiana St., Houston, TX 77002, OGG, James G., Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051; State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610059, China and OLAUSSEN, Snorre, Dept. Arctic Geology, University Centre in Svalbard, PO Box 156, Longyearbyen, 9171, Norway

Bentonites associated with the High Arctic Large Igneous Province (HALIP) (Corfu et al., 2013) occur within clastic-shelf deposits that have been cored near Svalbard and have a possible late Barremian or early Aptian biostratigraphic age based on sparse palynomorphs. These have yielded zircons that are dated using U-Pb TIMS as 123.1 +/-0.3 Ma (Midtkandal et al., 2016). Several meters higher are organic-rich deposits that have been interpreted as coeval with the earliest Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (OAE1a or (Selli Event) based upon their carbon-isotope excursion pattern. If this OAE1a interpretation is correct, then the Barremian/Aptian boundary might be ca. 121-122 Ma (Midtkandal et al., 2016). This date is nearly 4-myr younger than the 125-126 Ma age for the base-Aptian in Geologic TimeScale 2012/2016(Gradstein et al., 2012; Ogg et al., 2016), which was based on the agreement of a astronomical cycle-scaled duration of the Aptian stage relative to U-Pb dating of the Aptian/Albian boundary with Ar-Ar dating of the Ontong Java Plateau, which is a proposed trigger for the OAE1a.

Magnetostratigraphy enables a test of the proposed Svalbard geologic age assignments and the implied boundary dating, because polarity Chron M0r spans much of the interval between the base-Aptian and the beginning of OAE1a. Therefore, we did a paleomagnetic sampling of the clastic sediments in these Svalbard boreholes; and report the pilot results in this presentation.

Corfu, F., Polteau, S., Planke, S., Faleide, J. I., Svensen, H., Zayoncheck, A., Stolbov, N., 2013. U-Pb geochronology of Cretaceous magmatism on Svalbard and Franz Josef Land, Barents Sea large igneous province. Geological Magazine, 150(6): 1127-1135.

Gradstein, F.M., Ogg, J.G., Schmitz, M.D., Ogg, G.M. (Eds.) 2012. Geologic Time Scale 2012. Elsevier Publ., 2 volumes, 1176 pp.

Midtkandal, I., et al., 2016. The Aptian (Early Cretaceous) oceanic anoxic event (OAE1a) in Svalbard, Barents Sea, and the absolute age of the Barremian-Aptian boundary. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology463: 126-135.

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, G.M., Gradstein, F.M., 2016. A Concise Geologic Time Scale 2016. Elsevier Publ., 234 pp.