Development of an orbitally tuned Late Miocene time scale (5-12 Ma)
The astronomical tuning technique is at present the most accurate absolute dating method for sediment records spanning the time interval of the last 35 Ma for which astronomers provide a valid and precise orbital solution for variations in Earth's orbital parameters (eccentricity, obliquity, precession). The orbitally tuned geological time scale already became the standard chronology for the Pleistocene and Pliocene (0-5.3 Ma). Our goal is to expand and to astronomically calibrate the 'Magnetic Polarity Time Scale', the oxygen isotope stratigraphy and biostratigraphy to 12 Ma at South Pacific Site 1237 (Leg 202). So far, this is the only marine site that meets nearly all critera of providing a complete Neogene reference section by integrating the excellent framework of both magnetostratigraphy and biostratigraphy into an orbitally tuned oxygen isotope stratigraphy. This proposal is embedded into a joint effort with DFG project Ku 649/18 and Ti 240/13 to develop a 'Magnetic Polarity Time Scale' and oxygen isotope stratigraphy for the entire Neogene.