RESUMEN
The Mesozoic Dipole Low (MDL) is a period, covering at least â¼80 My, of low dipole moment that ended at the start of the Cretaceous Normal Superchron. Recent studies of Devonian age Siberian localities identified similarly low field values a few tens of million years prior to the Permo-Carboniferous Reverse Superchron (PCRS). To constrain the length and timing of this potential dipole low, this study presents paleointensity estimates from Strathmore (â¼411 to 416 Ma) and Kinghorn (â¼332 Ma) lava flows, United Kingdom. Both localities have been studied for paleomagnetic poles (Q values of 6 to 7), and the sites were assessed for their suitability for paleointensity from paleodirections, rock magnetic analysis, and microscopy. Thermal and microwave experiments were used to determine site mean paleointensity estimates of â¼3 to 51 µT (6 to 98 ZAm2) and 4 to 11 µT (9 to 27 ZAm2) from the Strathmore and Kinghorn localities, respectively. These, and all the sites from 200 to 500 Ma from the (updated) Paleointensity database (PINT15), were assessed using the Qualitative Paleointensity criteria (QPI). The procurement of reliable (QPI ≥ 5) weak paleointensity estimates from this and other studies indicates a period of low dipole moment (median field strength of 17 ZAm2) from 332 to 416 Ma. This "Mid-Paleozoic Dipole Low (MPDL)" bears a number of similarities to the MDL, including the substantial increase in field strength near the onset of the PCRS. The MPDL also adds support to the inverse relationship between reversal frequency and field strength and a possible â¼200-My cycle in paleomagnetic behavior relating to mantle convection.
RESUMEN
Plesiadapiform mammals, as stem primates, are key to understanding the evolutionary and ecological origins of Pan-Primates and Euarchonta. The Purgatoriidae, as the geologically oldest and most primitive known plesiadapiforms and one of the oldest known placental groups, are also central to the evolutionary radiation of placentals and the Cretaceous-Palaeogene biotic recovery on land. Here, we report new dental fossils of Purgatorius from early Palaeocene (early Puercan) age deposits in northeastern Montana that represent the earliest dated occurrences of plesiadapiforms. We constrain the age of these earliest purgatoriids to magnetochron C29R and most likely to within 105-139 thousand years post-K/Pg boundary. Given the occurrence of at least two species, Purgatorius janisae and a new species, at the locality, we provide the strongest support to date that purgatoriids and, by extension, Pan-Primates, Euarchonta and Placentalia probably originated by the Late Cretaceous. Within 1 million years of their arrival in northeastern Montana, plesiadapiforms outstripped archaic ungulates in numerical abundance and dominated the arboreal omnivore-frugivore niche in mammalian local faunas.
RESUMEN
A defining characteristic of the recent geomagnetic field is its dominant axial dipole which provides its navigational utility and dictates the shape of the magnetosphere. Going back through time, much less is known about the degree of axial dipole dominance. Here we use a substantial and diverse set of 3D numerical dynamo simulations and recent observation-based field models to derive a power law relationship between the angular dispersion of virtual geomagnetic poles at the equator and the median axial dipole dominance measured at Earth's surface. Applying this relation to published estimates of equatorial angular dispersion implies that geomagnetic axial dipole dominance averaged over 107-109 years has remained moderately high and stable through large parts of geological time. This provides an observational constraint to future studies of the geodynamo and palaeomagnetosphere. It also provides some reassurance as to the reliability of palaeogeographical reconstructions provided by palaeomagnetism.
RESUMEN
Late Cretaceous records of environmental change suggest that Deccan Traps (DT) volcanism contributed to the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (KPB) ecosystem crisis. However, testing this hypothesis requires identification of the KPB in the DT. We constrain the location of the KPB with high-precision argon-40/argon-39 data to be coincident with changes in the magmatic plumbing system. We also found that the DT did not erupt in three discrete large pulses and that >90% of DT volume erupted in <1 million years, with ~75% emplaced post-KPB. Late Cretaceous records of climate change coincide temporally with the eruption of the smallest DT phases, suggesting that either the release of climate-modifying gases is not directly related to eruptive volume or DT volcanism was not the source of Late Cretaceous climate change.
RESUMEN
Bolide impact and flood volcanism compete as leading candidates for the cause of terminal-Cretaceous mass extinctions. High-precision (40)Ar/(39)Ar data indicate that these two mechanisms may be genetically related, and neither can be considered in isolation. The existing Deccan Traps magmatic system underwent a state shift approximately coincident with the Chicxulub impact and the terminal-Cretaceous mass extinctions, after which ~70% of the Traps' total volume was extruded in more massive and more episodic eruptions. Initiation of this new regime occurred within ~50,000 years of the impact, which is consistent with transient effects of impact-induced seismic energy. Postextinction recovery of marine ecosystems was probably suppressed until after the accelerated volcanism waned.
