The Canary record of the evolution of the North Atlantic Pliocene: New Ar-40/Ar-39 ages and some notable palaeontological evidence

• Published in: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
• Main Authors: Meco, J., Koppers, Anthony A. P., Miggins, Daniel P., Lomoschitz, Alejandro, Betancort-Lozano, Juan Francisco
• Other Authors: 6602093969, 6602493927, 26039326000, 6507150380, 6602503518
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: 24 Ciencias de la vida; 2416 Paleontología; Canary current origin; Early Pliocene biogeography; Pliocene climatic evolution; Pliocene Canarian fossils; Fossil Argonauta argo; Esfinge; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10553/17950; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.05.027

Two new 40Ar/39Ar ages (*) and previously published K/Ar ages of basaltic pillow lava flows are coeval with closely-related fossiliferous marine layers, allowing us to establish the beginning (5.8; 5.0; 4.8Ma at Ajuí, Fuerteventura Island and 4.8±0.03Ma (2?)* at Tamaraceite) and a middle stage (4.20±0.18Ma (2?)* at La Esfinge in Gran Canaria Island) of Early Pliocene marine deposits in the Canary Islands. Here the presence of tropicopolitan fossils (Megaselachus megalodon, Janthina typica) suggests the influence of a possible Central American Circumtropical Current during the Pliocene and in the North Atlantic basin.