Late Silurian zircon U-Pb ages from the Ludlow and Downton bone beds, Welsh Basin, UK

The Ludlow Bone Bed (Welsh Basin) is a critical stratigraphic horizon and contains a rich assemblage of fish scales. Units above provide insights into the early evolution of animal and plant life. The bed has not yet been radioisotopically dated. Here, we report 207 secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) ages from 102 zircon (ZrSiO4) grains from the Ludlow (n = 2) and stratigraphically higher Downton (n = 1) bone beds. SIMS ages are middle Ordovician (471.6 +/- 20.7 Ma) to late Devonian (375.7 +/- 14.6 Ma, U-238-Pb-206, +/- 1 sigma analytical uncertainty). Cathodoluminescence images show that the youngest ages appear affected by alteration. Chemical abrasion isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) U-Pb geochronology was utilized to improve precision. Detrital zircon grains from Downton yield 424.91 +/- 0.34/0.42/0.63 Ma and from Ludlow 424.85 +/- 0.32/0.41/0.62 Ma (n = 5 each, U-238-Pb-206, +/- 2 sigma analytical, tracer or systematic uncertainty). These ages provide a maximum deposition age. Results overlap the basal Pridoli age (423.0 +/- 2.3 Ma) in its stratotype (Pozary Section, Reporyje, Prague, Czech Republic). The Ludlow Bone Bed marks the base of the local Downton Group, which has previously been correlated with the base of the Pridoli Series. The CA-ID-TIMS ages are older than those for other land arthropod-bearing sediments, such as the Cowie Harbour Fish Bed and Rhynie Chert. Supplementary material: An Excel file containing detailed information on the SIMS analyses, a figure showing calibration curves for AS3 standards sputtered over sessions 1 and 2, and a figure showing CA-ID-TIMS U-Pb age data (concordia and weighted mean plots) are available at

Automated summary

The Ludlow Bone Bed and Downton Bone Bed were analyzed for zircon grains using SIMS and CA-ID-TIMS methods, revealing sedimentation ages ranging from middle Ordovician to late Devonian. These findings contribute valuable insights into the early evolution of animal and plant life.