Precise Age Calibration of the Late Pennsylvanian - Early Permian Time Scale: Implications for Global Correlation and Rates of Processes in the Late Paleozoic Era

ABSTRACT Precise Age Calibration of the Late Pennsylvanian-Early Permian Time Scale: Implications for Global Correlation and Rates of Processes in the Late Paleozoic Era Clyde Northrup, V. Davydov, Walter Snyder EAR-0106796 The geologic time scale is a fundamental tool in Earth Science research - correlation of events globally, determination of absolute ages, and the estimation of rates of process all depend on the accuracy and precision of the time scale. This project will calibrate the Late Pennsylvanian through early Permian interval of the time scale through a combination of U-Pb zircon geochronology, stratigraphy, and multitaxa paleontology. Work will focus on the marine sedimentary sections in the foreland of the southern Ural mountains in Russia-Kazakhstan, an area that offers a fantastic opportunity for time scale calibration because the late Paleozoic rocks have numerous, well-preserved fossils in addition to many interstratified volcanic ash horizons that are amenable to radiometric dating.