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Direct radiometric dating of the Devonian-Mississippian time-scale boundary using the Re-Os black shale geochronometer

¹ Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada, and Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
² Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada

Many Phanerozoic time-scale boundaries are characterized by oceanic anoxia and mass extinction events with the deposition of black shale. The Re-Os isotope system in black shale can be used to provide depositional ages for these rocks, thus yielding direct radiometric ages for time-scale boundaries. We demonstrate that the Re-Os black shale geochronometer can yield precise ages useful for time-scale research through study of the Devonian-Mississippian boundary within the Exshaw Formation, Canada. The Re-Os date determined places the Devonian-Mississippian boundary at 361.3 ± 2.4 Ma (2 including uncertainty, model 1, mean square of weighted deviates = 1.2), in accord with recent calibration interpolated from U-Pb zircon dates (360.7 ± 0.7 Ma) for the Hasselbachtal section, Germany.

Key Words: Re-Os • black shale • geochronology • Devonian-Mississippian boundary

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