Milankovitch and sub-Milankovitch forcing of the Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) Terres Noires Formation (SE France) and global implications

2010

ABSTRACT High‐resolution analysis (2277 samples) of magnetic susceptibility (MS) was performed on ∼700‐m‐thick Early–Middle Oxfordian marine marls of the Terres Noires Formation, SE France. MS variations within these sediments record sub‐Milankovitch to Milankovitch frequencies with long‐term eccentricity (405 kyr and ∼2 Myr) being the most prominent. The 405 kyr cycle was used as a high‐resolution geochronometer for astronomical calibration of this poorly constrained interval of Late Jurassic time. The estimated duration of this Early–Middle Oxfordian interval concurs with the current International Geologic Time Scale GTS2004 (∼4 Myr), but the estimated durations of the corresponding ammon…