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40Ar/39Ar age spectra from the KBS Tuff, Koobi Fora Formation

Abstract

40Ar/39Ar age spectra on anorthoclase phenocrysts from three pumice clasts in the KBS Tuff yield nearly ideal flat patterns, providing good evidence that the samples have remained undisturbed since crystallization. The ages are concordant at 1.88±0.02 Myr, and confirm that the KBS Tuff, a key marker bed in the Koobi Fora Formation, northern Kenya, is now very well dated. These results resolve the conflict between earlier 40Ar/39Ar and conventional K–Ar dating measurements on the KBS Tuff.

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McDougall, I. 40Ar/39Ar age spectra from the KBS Tuff, Koobi Fora Formation. Nature 294, 120–124 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294120a0

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