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Magnetic Polarity Stratigraphy of the Pleistocene Section at Portland (Victoria), Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Bruce J. MacFadden ,
Michael J. Whitelaw ,
Phil McFadden  and
Thomas H. V. Rich
Bruce J. MacFadden
Affiliation:
Florida State Museum, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 USA
Michael J. Whitelaw
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168 Australia
Phil McFadden
Affiliation:
Division of Geophysics, Bureau of Mineral Resources, Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia
Thomas H. V. Rich
Affiliation:
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
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Abstract

Three to seven oriented paleomagnetic samples were collected from 16 sites in the Nelson Bay and Bridgewater formations at Portland, Victoria, which contains the recently discovered Nelson Bay local fauna (L.F.). The entire section has reversed polarity. These results, along with Globorotalia truncatulinoides within the section, and the presence of underlying middle Pliocene-dated basalts, indicate that the Portland section, and the included Nelson Bay L.F., was deposited within the late Matuyama Chron between 1.66 and 0.73 myr ago. This represents the first well-documented pre-14C Pleistocene mammalian fauna in Australia calibrated in direct stratigraphic context with absolute dating methods. In addition, the reversed polarity for the Bridgewater Formation confirms the previous hypothesis that the depositional history of this beach-sand deposit is time-transgressive across the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary.

Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , November 1987 , pp. 364 - 373
Copyright
University of Washington

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