Cryogenic separation of glauconite and foraminifera from Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary in Nasiłów, Poland, for radiometric dating and stratigraphy

Abstract

We have demonstrated that cryogenic separation of glauconite and foraminifera from the host rock allows to preserve the integrity of extracted specimens, assures minimal damage and causes no artificial fractionation. The K/Ar dating of two glauconite samples from Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary in the Nasiłów outcrop yields 62.0 and 66.3 Ma. The discrepancy in these dates, much larger than expected from analytical precision, may result from too low %K, which was 5.91 and 5.73, respectively