Onset of the Messinian Salinity Crisis: Sedimentological, petrographic and geochemical characterization of the pre-salt sediments from a new core (Caltanissetta Basin, Sicily)

The present study aims to reconstruct the environmental changes leading to the Messinian Salinity Crisis during the transition from the Tortonian-Messinian marine conditions to the Messinian evaporitic environments. The core 3AGN2S04, recently drilled in the Caltanissetta Basin (Sicily), was analyzed to reveal the petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the late Tortonian – early Messinian pre-salt sediments. In particular, the facies characterization of the carbonates and organic-rich shales of the Calcare di Base (CdB) member allowed to understand its significance in the paleoenvironmental evolution towards salt deposition and to the reconstruct the brecciation proc…

Étude paléoenvironnementale et paléoclimatique multiproxiesdes bassins fini-carbonifères à permiens du N-E duMassif central.

National audience; Les bassins intracontinentaux fini-carbonifères à permiens d'Autun et de Decize-LaMachine (NE du Massif central) ont fait l'objet d'un travail de thèse s'appuyant sur denombreuses méthodes d'analyse appliquées à haute résolution sur des données deforages et quelques coupes.Les interprétations des résultats sédimentologiques (faciès, diagraphies, sismique), destratigraphie séquentielle, de géochimie et isotopie organique (carbone et azote) et deminéralogie ont permis de reconstituer de la manière la plus précise possible l'évolutiondes environnements sédimentaires de ces bassins dans l'espace et au cours du temps.Il en ressort que les deux bassins étudiés dominés par des d…

Étude paléoenvironnementale et paléoclimatique multi-proxies des bassins fini-carbonifères à permiens du N-E du Massif central.

International audience

Importance des variations latérales discrètes dans les apports détritiques, observées dans des faciès de rampe sédimentaire riches en matière organique (Jurassique supérieur du Boulonnais).

17 pages; International audience; We studied a potential petroleum source rock deposited in a clastic-dominated ramp environment: the Argiles de Châtillon Formation (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian, Boulonnais area, northern France). The formation was deposited along a proximal-distal gradient on this ramp affected by synsedimentary fault movements. A sedimentological, mineralogical and geochemical study was conducted to decipher the distribution patterns of sedimentary parameters along such a depth increase over the ramp. It comes out that smectite distribution unexpectedly mimics the lateral depth evolution despite the good floatability of the mineral. It is also observed that the Argiles de Châti…

The late Hauterivian Faraoni "Oceanic Anoxic Event" at Río Argos (southern Spain): an assessment on the level of oxygen depletion.

14 pages; International audience; An integrated study of multiple geochemical proxies (TOC, δ13Ccarb, trace metallic elements, iron speciation) on the late Hauterivian Faraoni Oceanic Anoxic Event has been performed along the hemi-pelagic section of Río Argos (south-eastern Spain) in order to better constrain the environmental perturbations linked to this event in the Subbetic domain. In the studied section, the TOC is relatively low (b0.5 wt.%) except for one sample at the base of the Faraoni horizon, where it reaches 1.5 wt.%. The δ13Ccarb signal is characterized by a minor long-term increase, primarily attributed to an enhanced organic matter burial. However, both organic and isotopic si…

Occurrence of organic-matter-rich beds in Early Cretaceous coastal evaporitic setting (Dorset, UK): a link to long-term palaeoclimate changes?

11 pages; International audience; In Dorset (southern U.K.), the Durlston Bay and Lulworth Cove sections expose lowermost Cretaceous coastal marine and non-marine partly evaporitic sediments (the so-called Purbeckian facies). An interval with organic matter (OM)-rich layers is recognized in both sections. This OM-rich interval is 20 m thick in the middle of the Durlston Bay section. Within these beds, a large OM accumulation is recorded, with total organic carbon (TOC) of up to 8.5 wt%. High hydrogen index (HI) values (up to 956 mgHC/gTOC) point to a Type I OM, generally considered as derived from algal-bacterial biomass. This contrasts with the OM present in the underlying and overlying in…

A possible tsunami deposit around the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary in the Boulonnais area (northern France)

Abstract An unusual succession of facies locally deposited around the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary in the Boulonnais (northern France) is attributed to a tsunami event by comparison with recent tsunami deposits. This sedimentary succession includes basal erosion with reworked lithified blocks, soft-sediment deformations, an erosional conglomerate overlain by wood fragments and clays containing continental and marine fossils in one setting and conglomerate with mixed fauna in an other setting. The tsunami probably affected the coast of the Boulonnais area of the London–Brabant Massif. The origin of the event is unknown. It was most probably triggered by an earthquake, but other origins such …

Carbon-isotope records of the Early Jurassic (Toarcian) Oceanix Anixic Event from the Valdorbia (Umbria-Marche Apennines) and Monte Mangart (Julian Alps) sections: palaeoceanographic ans stratigraphic implications

The Toarcian oceanic anoxic event (ca 183 Ma) coincides with a global perturbation marked by enhanced organic carbon burial and a general decrease in calcium carbonate production, probably triggered by changes in the composition of marine plankton and elevated carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. This study is based on high-resolution sampling of two stratigraphic successions, located in Valdorbia (Umbria-Marche Apennines) and Monte Mangart (Julian Alps), Italy, which represent expressions of the Toarcian oceanic anoxic event in deep-water pelagic sediments. These successions are characterized by the occurrence of black shales showing relatively low total organic carbon concentrations (…

Diagenesis of clay minerals and K-bentonites in Late Permian/Early Triassic sediments of the Sichuan Basin (Chaotian section, Central China).

10 pages; International audience; Detailed clay mineralogical analyses were carried out on Late Permian/Early Triassic carbonate sediments exposed on the Chaotian section (Sichuan Basin, Central China). The clay assemblages are dominantly composed of illite in platform carbonates and clay seams, and illite-smectite mixed-layers (I/S) in tuff layers (K-bentonites) intercalated in the carbonate succession. Detrital and authigenic volcanogenic clay minerals have been partially replaced through illitisation processes during burial, raising questions about diagenetic effects. The precise determination of I/S occurring in K-bentonites shows that the sediments reached a temperature of about 180 °C…

Paléoenvironnements et caractérisation des roches mères pétrolières des séries pré-salifères du bassin intérieur du Gabon

Resume Le bassin interieur du Gabon, dont l'histoire est liee a la separation des continents Sud-Americain et Africain, comprend des depots continentaux fluvio-lacustres, localement glaciaires, dates du Precambrien superieur a l'Aptien p.p., surmontes par des facies marins aptiens et albiens. L'analyse par pyrolyse Rock–Eval d'echantillons d'affleurements et de forages preleves dans ce bassin met en evidence la presence de facies siliciclastiques riches en matiere organique (jusqu'a 25 % de carbone organique total) de types I et II. Ces niveaux, qui se rencontrent dans le Permien, le Neocomien-Barremien ainsi que dans l'Aptien, constituent d'excellentes roches meres et sont a l'origine des …

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…

Environmental change during the Early Cretaceous in the Purbeck-type Durlston Bay section (Dorset, Southern England): a biomarker approach.

20 pages; International audience; The Purbeck-type section (Durlston Bay, Dorset, UK) exhibits littoral lagoonal to lacustrine facies. It shows a gradual climatic/environmental change from semi-arid conditions associated with evaporites at the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition, to a more humid climate at the end of the Berriasian. Though generally organic-poor (total organic carbon, TOC, <1.3%), the Durlston Bay section shows an organic-rich episode (TOC up to 8.5%) located at the transition from evaporitic to more humid facies. A biomarker study was performed in order to determine the origin of the organic matter (OM) in the section and see if changes in organic sources accompanied the genera…

Comparative high-resolution chemostratigraphy of the Bonarelli Level from the reference Bottaccione section (Umbria-Marche Apennines) and from an equivalent section in NW Sicily: Consistent and contrasting responses to the OAE2

The Bonarelli Level (BL) from the upper Cenomanian portion of the reference Bottaccione section (central Italy) is characterized by the presence of black shales containing high TOC concentrations (up to 17%) and amounts of CaCO3 near to zero. In the absence of carbonate and, consequently, of relative carbon- and oxygen-isotopic data, the elemental geochemistry revealed to be a very useful tool to obtain information about the palaeoclimatic and palaeoceanographic evolution of the Tethys Ocean during the OAE2. Based on several geochemical proxies (Rb, V, Ni, Cr, Si, Ba), the BL is interpreted as a high-productivity event driven by increasingly warm and humid climatic conditions promoting an a…

A record of the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary climatic variation on the southern margin of the Tethys : clay minerals and palynofacies of the early Cretaceous Jebel Meloussi section (Central Tunisia, Sidi Kralif Formation)

Abstract In order to precise the paleogeographic extension of the climatic variation known at the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary, the sedimentary organic matter (palynofacies and Rock-Eval) and the clay minerals content of Berriasian sediments of the Sidi Kralif Formation are studied on the Jebel Meloussi section, central Tunisia. Standard sedimentological and palynofacies analysis allow to reconstruct the bathymetric curve and the sequence stratigraphic scheme. Using existing biostratigraphy based on calpionellids and ammonite zonation, the sequence stratigraphic interpretation can be correlated with the established eustatic chart. Clay mineral assemblages are characterized by a shift in the…

Conjunctive use of spectral gamma-ray logs and clay mineralogy in defining late Jurassic-early Cretaceous palaeoclimate change (Dorset, U.K.).

Abstract Detrital clay mineralogy is controlled by weathered source rock, climate, transport and deposition that in turn influence the spectral gamma-ray (SGR) response of resultant sediments. Whilst a palaeoclimate signal in clay mineralogy has been established in some ancient successions, the SGR response remains contentious, largely because the data sets have yet to be collected at the same or appropriate vertical scales to allow comparison. In addition, the influence of organic matter on SGR is not always considered. Here, we present clay mineralogical, total organic carbon (TOC) and SGR analyses from the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous of the Wessex Basin, a period of previously doc…

First record of early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a from the Paris Basin (France) - Climate signals on a terrigenous shelf

Abstract In 2013, Andra (French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency) drilled boreholes to the south-east of the Paris Basin, to characterise Aptian and Albian clayey formations, including the ‘Argiles a Plicatules’ Formation dated as early Aptian. One of these boreholes intersected this formation with an excellent recovery allowing detailed biostratigraphy (ammonites), sedimentology, clay mineralogy, isotope geochemistry (δ13Corg) and Rock-Eval analyses to be performed. The base of the formation corresponds to transgressive dark-grey silty clays with iron oolites and plant debris indicating a coastal environment evolving up-section to upper offshore environments. Higher in the succ…

Palynofacies and calcareous nannofossils in the Upper Kimmeridgian, southeastern Paris basin (France)

AbstractThe Upper Kimmeridgian Members “Calcaires blancs supérieurs” and the “Marnes à exogyres supérieures” of the southeastern Paris basin were investigated for their palynofacies and calcareous nannofossils. These members display alternating limestone-marl lithotypes and represent shallow marine palaeoenvironments. The lower carbonate member is interpreted as a proximal palaeoenvironment (palaeobathymetry = 5 to 10 m), where storm and swell deposits were prevalent and the salinity was occasionally weak. The relative richness of brown phytoclasts in this part is favoured by good preservation related to restricted conditions. These conditions would explain the dominance of the nannofoss…

Proceedings of Réanimation 2017, the French Intensive Care Society International Congress

Specifications for carbonate content quantification in recent marine sediments using Rock-Eval pyrolysis

11 pages; International audience; The amount of CaCO3 in sediments and/or sedimentary rocks is usually measured by calcimetry while the nature of the carbonates is determined by X-ray diffraction. Recently, a carbonate recognition method based on the results of Rock-Eval pyrolysis was proposed in 2014 by Pillot et al. [1]. Rock-Eval pyrolysis is also widely used for the characterization of recent sediments. However, later in 2015 Baudin et al. [2] noticed that some of the characteristics of recent sediments tended to produce different results from those of more classical Rock-Eval analyses, causing bias in interpretations.In this study, the thermal stability of fossil and recent marine carb…

Late Cretaceous palaeoenvironments expressed by the clay mineralogy of Cenomanian–Campanian chalks from the east of the Paris Basin

Abstract The clay fraction of Cenomanian–Campanian chalks cored at Poigny and Sainte-Colombe, close to Provins (east-south-east of Paris), includes variable proportions of smectitic minerals, illite and kaolinite. The smectitic sediments (which constitute the background of low-terrigenous supply throughout the stratigraphic interval) resulted mainly from the warm, humid climate and high sea level that prevailed during Late Cretaceous in this area. During the Late Turonian, the smectitic sedimentation was interrupted by significant detrital inputs of illite and kaolinite. This reflected tectonic rejuvenation of landmasses coeval with an explosive volcanism expressed by the occurrence of bent…

Enregistrement du cycle du carbone à la transition Oxfordien inférieur-moyen dans l'est du Bassin de Paris

Long-term lacustrine paleo-productivity and/or paleo-anoxia trends controlled by eccentricity cycles in the continental Autun Basin (France) at the Carboniferous/Permian boundary

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The organic-rich lacustrine beds of the Autun Basin (France) were deposited from the late Gzhelian (late Carboniferous) to the Sakmarian (early Permian), encompassing the Carboniferous-Permian boundary (&amp;amp;#8764;299 Ma). Those deposits reach up to 1500 m thick, and correspond to a tropical, intra-mountainous late-orogenic basin infilling associated with the Variscan orogeny (Marteau, 1983; Schneider et al., 2006). Organic-rich and laminated facies are attributed to distal lacustrine environments which sometimes alternate with silty to sandy rich deltaic depositional environments (Mercuzot et al., 2019). The four successive formations (respectively the Igornay, Muse, …

Lower Aptian climate and recording of the oceanic anoxic event 1a on the terrigenous shelf of the Paris Basin.

The marine geochemical record of the OAE 2 (~94 Ma) at high latitude: Example of the IODP Site U1516 (Exp. 369; Mentelle Basin, SW Australia)

High-resolution geochemical and biotic records of the Tethyan 'Bonarelli Level' (OAE2, latest Cenomanian) from the Calabianca-Guidaloca composite section, northwestern Sicily, Italy

Abstract High-resolution micropalaeontological and chemostratigraphic records for the upper Cenomanian portion of the Calabianca–Guidaloca composite section (NW Sicily) provide new insight into the palaeoclimatic and palaeoceanographic evolution of the Tethys Ocean. The Bonarelli Level equivalent was identified on the basis of lithology and well constrained by calcareous plankton biostratigraphy and radiolarian assemblages, as well as by the δ 13 C curve showing a marked positive excursion (up to 4.7‰). The Bonarelli Level equivalent deposition is characterized by highly eutrophic conditions as testified by radiolarian proliferation. Black shale samples from the Calabianca–Guidaloca composi…

Mass mortality or exceptional fossilization ? The case of the early and middle Toarcian fossiliferous beds from the Digne-Les-Bains area (southeastern France)

Abstract The latest Domerian to late Toarcian sedimentary series (from −190 Ma up to −180 Ma) from the « Réserve Géologique de Haute-Provence » (southeastern France) yields two kinds of remarkable fossiliferous beds. The greatest interest of the early Toarcian type is the occurrence of ichtyosaur remains (at least in six sites) among many other fossils such as ammonites, belemnites, bivalves, wood. The middle Toarcian type is specifically rich in ammonites and nautiluses. Litho- and biostratigraphical, palaeontological, sedimentological and geochemical analyses allow us to determine whether these fossiliferous beds are the results of mass mortalities, linked or not to biological crisis, o…