40Ar/39Ar dating of the Aptian-Albian igneous rocks in Makhtesh Ramon (Negev, Israel) and its stratigraphic implications

Whole rock basanite samples from the lower part of the lava lake series in Mount Arod yielded a 40Ar/39Ar age of 110.3 ± 6.1 Ma. Since some samples studied from this series display a reverse magnetic polarity, and the whole series was cooled simultaneously, the age obtained represents the entire series as well as the reversal event. This exclusively apparent Early Albian reversal event within the long Cretaceous Normal Polarity Superchron (C34n) adds new data to the global magnetostratigraphy.