0000000000073045
AUTHOR
Christophe Lécuyer
δ18O values of coexisting brachiopods and fish: Temperature differences and estimates of paleo–water depths
To estimate vertical thermal gradients and paleo–water depths to marine platforms we present a new method based on the difference between δ 18 O values of contemporaneous brachiopod carbonate and fish phosphate. Present-day marine fauna of well-known ecology from the surface to the sea floor record isotopic temperatures that agree with measured temperatures. We predict distributions of isotopic data that result from sampling strategy, basin morphology, and fauna ecology and discuss limitations. Application of the method to the Jurassic Paris-London basin gives vertical thermal variations of up to 14 °C associated with depths varying from a few meters to 170 ± 30 m. The estimated depths are …
Carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotope fractionation during food cooking: Implications for the interpretation of the fossil human record.
13 pages; International audience; ObjectivesStable isotope data provide insight into the reconstruction of ancient human diet. However, cooking may alter the original stable isotope compositions of food due to losses and modifications of biochemical and water components.MethodsTo address this issue, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotope ratios were measured on meat aliquots sampled from various animals such as pork, beef, duck and chicken, and also from the flesh of fishes such as salmon, European seabass, European pilchard, sole, gilt-head bream, and tuna. For each specimen, three pieces were cooked according to the three most commonly-known cooking practices: boiling, frying and roasting on…
Drowning of a carbonate platform as a precursor stage of the Early Toarcian global anoxic event (Southern Provence sub-Basin, South-east France)
The Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event is well-known as coinciding with a carbonate crisis, coupled with organic matter accumulation and perturbation of the carbon cycle expressed by carbon-isotope excursions. In this palaeoenvironmental setting, the present research attempts to better constrain the palaeoenvironmental conditions leading to the drowning of a carbonate platform during Late Pliensbachian to Early Toarcian times. This study is based on the integrated sedimentological, diagenetic and geochemical (stable isotopes and Rock-Eval pyrolysis) analysis of several stratigraphic successions located in the Southern Provence sub-Basin (South-east France). Eodiagenetic ferroan calcite cements b…
Rare earth element contents of Jurassic fish and reptile teeth and their potential relation to seawater composition (Anglo-Paris Basin, France and England)
The rare earth element (REE) chemistry of Jurassic shelf seawater from western Europe (Anglo-Paris Basin) was investigated by analyzing the fish and reptile teeth deposited in shallow to deeper water (<200 m) environments. REE patterns in apatites are controlled by the host sediments. Vertebrate teeth sampled from the siliciclastic sediments (calcareous sandstones and shales) show flat shale-normalized REE patterns that reflect the dominant influence of the continental source from which the REE were derived. Carbonate deposits, protected from the clastic sources, contain fish and reptile teeth whose REE patterns reflect more accurately the REE composition of the overlying water column. The …
Ice age at the Middle–Late Jurassic transition?
A detailed record of sea surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere based on migration of marine invertebrate fauna (ammonites) and isotopic thermometry (δ18O values of shark tooth enamel) indicates a severe cooling at the Middle–Late Jurassic transition (MLJT), about 160 Ma ago. The magnitude of refrigeration (1–3°C for lower middle latitudes) and its coincidence in time with an abrupt global-scale fall of sea level documented through sequence stratigraphy are both suggestive of continental ice formation at this time. Ice sheets may have developed over the high-latitude mountainous regions of Far-East Russia. The drastic cooling just post-dated the Middle–Late Callovian widespread dep…
Oxygen isotope compositions of phosphate from arvicoline teeth and Quaternary climatic changes, Gigny, French Jura
Oxygen isotope compositions of biogenic phosphates from mammals are widely used as proxies of the isotopic compositions of meteoric waters that are roughly linearly related to the air temperature at high- and mid-latitudes. An oxygen isotope fractionation equation was determined by using present-day European arvicoline (rodents) tooth phosphate: δ18Op = 20.98(±0.59) + 0.572(±0.065) δ18Ow. This fractionation equation was applied to the Late Pleistocene karstic sequence of Gigny, French Jura. Comparison between the oxygen isotope compositions of arvicoline tooth phosphate and Greenland ice core records suggests to reconsider the previously established hypothetical chronology of the sequence. …
Late Pleistocene (MIS 3-4) climate inferred from micromammal communities and δ18O of rodents from Les Pradelles, France.
The middle Paleolithic stratigraphic sequence of Les Pradelles (Charente, France) spans from the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 until the middle of MIS 3. Micromammal remains are present in all the stratigraphic levels, offering a rare opportunity to address the questions of both environmental and climatic fluctuations throughout this period. Climate modes were studied through the taphonomy, biodiversity and oxygen isotope compositions of phosphate (δ18O p ) from 66 samples of rodent tooth enamel. The δ18O p values from the lower sedimentary levels provide summer mean air temperatures of 19 ± 2°C (level 2/1) and of 16 ± 2°C (levels 2A, 2B and 4A). Within the middle of sequence (level 4…
Thermal evolution of Tethyan surface waters during the Middle-Late Jurassic: Evidence from δ18O values of marine fish teeth
[1] Oxygen isotope compositions of phosphate from vertebrate tooth enamel were measured to determine the evolution of tropical sea surface ( 0‰ owing to limited growth of continental ice during the early middle Oxfordian. The resulting sea level fall is estimated to be at least 50 m and is compatible with a global regression stage. The middle Oxfordian thermal minimum is followed by a new warming stage of 3–4°C from the middle to the late Oxfordian.
Summer air temperature, reconstructions from the last glacial stage based on rodents from the site Taillis-des-Coteaux (Vienne), Western France.
AbstractThe oxygen isotope composition of phosphate from tooth enamel of rodents (δ18Op) constitutes a valuable proxy to reconstruct past air temperatures in continental environments. This method has been applied to rodent dental remains from three genera, Arvicola sp., Microtus sp. and Dicrostonyx sp., coming from Taillis-des-Coteaux, Vienne, France. This archaeological site contains an exceptionally preserved sedimentary sequence spanning almost the whole Upper Palaeolithic, including seven stratigraphic layers dated from 35 to 17 cal ka BP. The abundant presence of rodent remains offers the opportunity to quantify the climatic fluctuations coeval of the various stages of human occupation…
Changements environnementaux survenant à la limite Oligocène/Miocène du bassin des Limagnes (Massif central, France).
16 pages; International audience; Continental environments are very sensitive to climatic variations. A unique opportunity to study the climate changes around the Oligocene/Miocene boundary is offered by the Limagne graben Basin (France) where this stage boundary is well constrained by fossils. Indeed, some localities of the Limagne Graben Basin are so rich in mammal remains that they have become a European reference for mammal biostratigraphy. The dominant sedimentary facies of the lacustrine deposits in the northern part of the Limagne Graben Basin are composed of poorly cemented marls and calcarenites containing various plants and animals remains (e.g. algae, fish bones and teeth, gastro…
Stable isotope composition and rare earth element content of vertebrate remains from the Late Cretaceous of northern Spain (Laño): did the environmental record survive?
Abstract Oxygen and carbon isotope measurements have been performed on phosphatic remains from faunal associations (dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles and fish) of the Late Cretaceous continental and marine sediments from northern Spain (Basque Country). The environmental meaning of the oxygen isotope record in fossil reptiles is discussed on the basis of known paleoecology, modern fauna analogs, and apatite chemistry (rare earth elements (REE), CO32− and PO43− contents). Fossil remains in sandstones and argillites from two localities (Urria and Cuezva) have low (down to 16‰) and scattered δ18O(PO4,CO3) and δ13C values with REE patterns characterized by strong middle REE enrichments. These geoc…
Investigating the influence of climate changes on rodent communities at a regional-scale (MIS 1-3, southwestern France).
25 pages; International audience; Terrestrial ecosystems have continuously evolved throughout the Late Pleistocene and theHolocene, deeply affected by both progressive environmental and climatic modifications, aswell as by abrupt and large climatic changes such as the Heinrich or Dansgaard-Oeschgerevents. Yet, the impacts of these different events on terrestrial mammalian communities arepoorly known, as is the role played by potential refugia on geographical species distributions.This study examines community changes in rodents of southwestern France between50 and 10 ky BP by integrating 94 dated faunal assemblages coming from 37 archaeologicalsites. This work reveals that faunal distributi…