Four TOC-rich shale intervals spanning the Frasnian–Famennian (F–F) boundary were recovered in a drillcore (West Valley NX-1) from western New York (USA) and radiometrically dated using Re–Os. Two of the black shale intervals (WVC785 from ∼2.9 m below, and WVC754 from ∼6.4 m above the F–F boundary, respectively) yielded statistically overlapping ages with uncertainties of b1.1%. An interpolated...

Michigan's first commercial oil field was discovered at Port Huron, St. Clair County, in 1886. By 1910, 21 shallow wells had been completed in the Dundee formation at depths of about 500 to 650 feet. In 1910 the daily production from this field amounted to about 10 barrels of oil per day, all of which was used locally in the manufacture of lubricants. However, it was not until 1925 when the Sag...

The Frasnian–Famennian biotic crisis (~372 Ma) was one of the “big five” mass extinction events in Phanerozoic. This event associated with dramatic climatic and oceanographic perturbations, including oceanic anoxia, global cooling, sea-level fluctuations. Large-scale volcanic activity is several possible triggers that have been suggested as ultimate cause this crisis, based on Hg enrichment dat...

Cladoxylopsida included the earliest large trees that formed critical components of globally transformative pioneering forest ecosystems in the Mid- and early Late Devonian (ca. 393-372 Ma). Well-known cladoxylopsid fossils include the up to ∼1-m-diameter sandstone casts known as Eospermatopteris from Middle Devonian strata of New York State. Cladoxylopsid trunk structure comprised a more-or-le...

Insecta s. str. (=Ectognatha), comprise the largest and most diversified group of living organisms, accounting for roughly half of the biodiversity on Earth. Understanding insect relationships and the specific time intervals for their episodes of radiation and extinction are critical to any comprehensive perspective on evolutionary events. Although some deeper nodes have been resolved congruent...

The possibility that the Avalon Platform, where the Avalonian lithotectonic belt is best developed, was involved in late Paleozoic displacement was tested by paleomagnetic study of red sandstones of the Upper Devonian Terrenceville Formation of eastern Newfoundland. Two magnetization directions were identified by thermal demagnetization analysis of 60 oriented samples from 10 sites: a high bloc...