Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42160301›Full record

ArticlePloS one2026

High precision CA-ID-TIMS U-Pb zircon age for the "Dueling Dinosaurs" locality, with implications for regional correlation, basal age and duration of the Hell Creek Formation, Montana.

Eric M Roberts, Marc S Hendrix, Jahandar Ramezani, William C Clyde, Pierre Zippi, Stuart Hodgson, Valerie Yuleridge, Lindsay E Zanno

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Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Eric M RobertsDepartment of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8583-7437
Marc S HendrixDepartment of Geosciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America.
Jahandar RamezaniDepartment of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
William C ClydeDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, United States of America.
Pierre ZippiBiostratigraphy.com, LLC, Garland, Texas, United States of America.
Stuart HodgsonEarth and Environmental Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Valerie YuleridgeEarth and Environmental Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Lindsay E ZannoDepartment of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Discovery of the "Dueling Dinosaurs" and other significant dinosaur localities from remote and isolated exposures of the Hell Creek Formation in central Montana highlight the complexity of establishing stratigraphic context and correlating Hell Creek Formation fossil localities located within and outside of the type area. Stratigraphic correlation is particularly problematic for the lower two-thirds of the Hell Creek Formation, which generally lacks reliable biostratigraphic or magnetostratigraphic zonation and has no dated ash beds. To address these enduring issues for one of the most significant Upper Cretaceous terrestrial fossil-bearing units in North America, detailed stratigraphic sections were established on the Murray Ranch and on McGinnis Butte in central Montana and correlated with other published Hell Creek Formation localities via magnetostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and radioisotopic dating of ash beds. Results indicate that the K-Pg boundary is not exposed in the study area; however, high-precision U-Pb CA-TIMS zircon ages for two newly discovered ash beds (66.929 ± 0.020 Ma and 66.850 ± 0.026 Ma, 2σ internal uncertainties) that bracket the "Dueling Dinosaurs" quarry provide the first absolute ages for the lower portion of the Hell Creek Formation anywhere. Bayesian age-stratigraphic modelling places the "Dueling Dinosaurs" depositional age at 66.897 + 0.023/-0.028 Ma and suggests that the age of the base of the formation is ~ 67.102 + 0.710/-0.173 Ma (or older) in the study area. Comparison of stratigraphic architecture within the study area with published sections in the type area suggests that named sandstone marker horizons used for lithostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic correlation in the type area have limited utility for regional correlation and need to be used with caution.

Indexed as

DinosaursFossilsLeadUraniumZirconiumAnimalsGeologic SedimentsMontanaRadiometric DatingSilicatesLeadSilicatesUraniumzirconZirconium

Identifiers

PMID42160301
PMCPMC13189327

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