• journal_title：Geology
• Contributor：Rhawn F. Denniston ; Yemane Asmerom ; Victor Y. Polyak ; Donald F. McNeill ; James S. Klaus ; Peter Cole ; Ann F. Budd
• Publisher：Geological Society of America
• Date：2008-
• Format：text/html
• Language：en
• Identifier：10.1130/G24280A.1
• journal_abbrev：Geology
• issn：0091-7613
• volume：36
• issue：2
• firstpage：151

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 ²³⁸U/²⁰⁶Pb–²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb three-dimensional (3-D) inverse linear concordia age of 5.52 ± 0.15 (2σ) Ma, which, when coupled with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr 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.