ISJS Newsletter 34 (1), 2007, pp.21-33 21 The Triassic-Jurassic transition at Kunga Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada Louise M. Longridge1, Elizabeth S. Carter2, James W. Haggart3, Paul L. Smith1 1Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, British Columbia,V6T 1Z4, Canada;
[email protected],
[email protected] 2Department of Geology, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, 97207-0751, USA;
[email protected] 3Geological Survey of Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6B 5J3;
[email protected] 1. Introduction If radiolarian sequences are not selected as the pri- Several stratigraphic sections in the Queen Charlotte mary standard, then we propose that they should be con- Islands of British Columbia, Canada contain exceptional- sidered as a secondary standard and that the Kunga Island ly well-preserved radiolarian faunas that cross the section be designated as a parastratotype in order to better Triassic-Jurassic boundary (TJB). In particular, a section characterize the Triassic-Jurassic transition. In some cir- at Kunga Island shows a dramatic turnover of radiolarians cles, parastratotypes are also known as auxiliary reference that could be used to define and constrain the TJB to with- sections. In addition to radiolarians, the Kunga Island in one metre, a precision that is greater than any other fos- sequence permits the calibration of time scales based on sil group. The Kunga section was originally proposed as a ammonites, radiometric ages and, indirectly, with the car- GSSP candidate for the base of the Jurassic by Carter & bon isotope curve. The aim of designating any stratotype Tipper (1999) and again by Haggart et al.