Magnetostratigraphy of the Triassic Moenkopi Formation From the Continuous Cores Recovered in Colorado Plateau Coring Project Phase 1 (CPCP-1), Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA: Correlation of the Early to Middle Triassic Strata and Biota in Colorado Plateau and Its Environs

The Colorado Plateau Coring Project Phase 1 (CPCP-1) acquired three continuous drill cores from Petrified Forest National Park (PFNP), Arizona, U.S.A., two of which (CPCP-PFNP13-1A and CPCP-PFNP13-2B) intersected the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, Lower(?)-Middle Triassic Moenkopi Formation (MF) and Permian Coconino Sandstone. We examined both cores to construct a high-resolution magnetostratigraphy of MF strata, and progressive demagnetization data yield well-defined, interpretable paleomagnetic results. Each lithostratigraphic member of the MF (Wupatki, Moqui, and Holbrook members) contains authigenic and detrital hematite as the dominant magnetic carrier with distinguishing rock magnetic characteristics. Magnetostratigraphy of MF strata in both CPCP-1 cores consists of six normal and six reverse polarity magnetozones, from the youngest to the oldest, MF1n to MF6r. Recent single-crystal chemical abrasion-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-TIMS) U-Pb data from a sample in magnetozone MF1n yield a latest Anisian/earliest Ladinian (241.38 +/- 0.43 Ma) age. Correlation of the CA-TIMS-calibrated magnetostratigraphy with the astronomically tuned polarity timescale for the Middle Triassic deep-marine Guandao (GD) section of South China ties the magnetozone MF1n with GD8 and MF6r with GD2r, and implies that the MF spans, at most, the earliest Anisian (Aegean) to latest Anisian (Illyrian)/earliest Ladinian stages (ca. 246.8 to 241.5 Ma). This age estimate for the MF suggests that the timespan of the regional, pre-Norian disconformity is about 17 Ma, which demonstrates that MF vertebrate fossil assemblages in east-central Arizona are millions of years (minimally 3-4 Ma) younger than previously suggested and are all Anisian in age, with no indications of substantial hiatuses in the MF section.

Automated summary

The Colorado Plateau Coring Project Phase 1 obtained three continuous drill cores from Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, two of which intersected various geological formations. A high-resolution magnetostratigraphy was constructed for the Moenkopi Formation, revealing six normal and six reverse polarity magnetozones in both cores. Chemical dating suggests that the Moenkopi Formation spans from the earliest Anisian to the earliest Ladinian stages.