Regionally, concretions are debated as to whether they are essentially isochronous and approximate real time lines or whether they are randomly distributed through the various sequences. Kauffman (1965, 1985), Hudson, (1978), Kauffman et al.. (1985), Astin (1986), Curtis and Coleman (1986), Svarda and Bottjer (1988), Coleman (1993) Tsujita (1995), Graber (1996), and Mozely (1996) are but a few of the papers of interest on concretions which relate to the study area and or modern day examples. Here, a Cretaceous example is presented because there are independent means for establishing temporal control; abundant volcanic bentonites/ashes are excellent datums so long as they can be differentiated (Fig 1-1 and 1-2). Very active volcanism characterizes the Western Interior United States and Canada during the Cretaceous. The Cretaceous of the Gulf Coast has fewer ash deposits and they are, in general, smaller, but they are still much thicker and more prevalent than contemporary ashes. Establishing a high-resolution chronostratigraphic framework is becoming increasingly viable as more detailed stratigraphic sections are measured and described, a process well underway within the Cretaceous deposits of the Western Interior.
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Kauffman, E.G. (2008). Limestone Concretions as Near-Isochronous Surfaces. In: Harries, P.J. (eds) High-Resolution Approaches in Stratigraphic Paleontology. Topics in Geobiology, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9053-0_12
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