1. Department of Geology, Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC CORALS AS HIGH-RESOLUTION RECORDS OF SHALLOW MARINE PALEOENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS PRIOR TO CLOSURE OF THE PANAMANIAN SEAWAY
Rhawn F. Denniston
Department of Geology, Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa
U-Pb dating (left panel) of an extremely well-preserved Goniopora hilli coral from the Neogene Gurabo Formation, Dominican Republic, constrain the age of sedimentary deposits important to understanding speciation of marine fauna prior to closure of the Panamanian Seaway. High resolution stable isotopic analysis (right panel) of the same coral provide a sense of sea surface temperature seasonality and thus a view of the environmental controls on species diversity.