Search results for "Geologic Time"
showing 10 items of 21 documents
Interpretation of the nitrogen isotopic composition of Precambrian sedimentary rocks: Assumptions and perspectives
2016
International audience; Nitrogen isotope compositions in sedimentary rocks (d(15)N(sed)) are routinely used for reconstructing Cenozoic N-biogeochemical cycling and are also being increasingly applied to understanding the evolution of ancient environments. Here we review the existing knowledge and rationale behind the use of d(15)N(sed) as a proxy for the Precambrian N-biogeochemical cycle with the aims of (i) identifying the major uncertainties that affect analyses and interpretation of nitrogen isotopes in ancient sedimentary rocks, (ii) developing a framework for interpreting the Precambrian d(15)N(sed) record, (iii) testing this framework against a database of Precambrian d(15)N(sed) va…
The first 40Ar-39Ar date from Oxfordian ammonite-calibrated volcanic layers (bentonites) as a tie-point for the Late Jurassic.
2013
AbstractEight volcanic ash layers, linked to large explosive events caused by subduction-related volcanism from the Vardar Ocean back-arc, interbedded with marine limestones and cherts, have been identified in the Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation (northeastern Italy). The thickest ash layer, attributed to the Gregoryceras transversarium ammonite Biozone (Oxfordian Stage), yields a precise and reliable 40Ar–39Ar date of 156.1 ± 0.89 Ma, which is in better agreement with GTS2004 boundaries than with the current GTS2012. This first biostratigraphically well-constrained Oxfordian date is proposed as a new radiometric tie-point to improve the Geologic Time Scale for the Late Jurassic, where a…
Astrochronology of the Valanginian Stage from reference sections (Vocontian Basin, France) and palaeoenvironmental implications for the Weissert Even…
2013
12 pages; International audience; High-resolution gamma-ray measurements performed on five biostratigraphically well-dated reference sections from the Vocontian Basin (south-eastern France) are used to develop a new astrochronology of the Valanginian Stage and its subdivisions (i.e. ammonite and calcareous nannofossil zones and subzones). Spectral analyses show a pervasive dominance of 405-kyr eccentricity cycles with the expression of 100-kyr eccentricity, obliquity and precession. Previous rough estimates of Valanginian Stage duration ranged from 3.9 to 6.5 myr but were generally based on less reliable or indirect methods. This study provides a precise duration of 5.08 myr, tuning the ser…
High-resolution clay mineralogy as a proxy for orbital tuning: example of the Hauterivian-Barremian transition in the Betic Cordillera (SE Spain).
2012
11 pages; International audience; The response of clay mineral assemblages to potential orbital forcing is tested in Mesozoic hemipelagic marl- limestone rhythmites of the Río Argos section (Betic Cordillera, Southeastern Spain). Along the section, marls are pervasively enriched in kaolinite and illite, whereas limestones are enriched in smectite-rich illite/smectite mixed-layers, suggesting that marl-limestone alternations are produced by cyclic high-frequency fluctuations of continental runoff. Spectral analyses show that clay mineral assemblages evolve accordingly to precession, obliquity and eccentricity cycles. Durations of ammonite zones are assessed at 535 kyr for the Late Hauterivia…
Chronostratigraphy and geochronology: A proposed realignment.
2013
We propose a realignment of the terms geochronology and chronostratigraphy that brings them broadly into line with current use, while simultaneously resolving the debate over whether the Geological Time Scale should have a “single” or “dual” hierarchy of units: Both parallel sets of units are retained, although there remains the option to adopt either a single (i.e., geochronological) or a dual hierarchy in particular studies, as considered appropriate. Thus, geochronology expresses the timing or age of events (depositional, diagenetic, biotic, climatic, tectonic, magmatic) in Earth’s history (e.g., Hirnantian glaciation, Famennian-Frasnian mass extinction). Geochronology can also qualify r…
The population genomics of archaeological transition in west Iberia: Investigation of ancient substructure using imputation and haplotype-based metho…
2017
We analyse new genomic data (0.05–2.95x) from 14 ancient individuals from Portugal distributed from the Middle Neolithic (4200–3500 BC) to the Middle Bronze Age (1740–1430 BC) and impute genomewide diploid genotypes in these together with published ancient Eurasians. While discontinuity is evident in the transition to agriculture across the region, sensitive haplotype-based analyses suggest a significant degree of local hunter-gatherer contribution to later Iberian Neolithic populations. A more subtle genetic influx is also apparent in the Bronze Age, detectable from analyses including haplotype sharing with both ancient and modern genomes, D-statistics and Y-chromosome lineages. However, t…
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…
Astrochronology of the Valanginian-Hauterivian stages (Early Cretaceous): chronological relationships between the Paraná-Etendeka large igneous provi…
2015
16 pages; International audience; The Geological Time Scale shows large uncertainties on durations and ages of Berriasian to Albian stages (Early Cretaceous), which impact climate and paleoceanographic reconstructions. Here, we provide a new astrochronology of the Hauterivian Stage anchored on (1) recent biostratigraphically well-constrained published radio-isotopic dates, and (2) a previously published astrochronology of the Valanginian Stage. A new duration of the Hauterivian Stage is assessed here at 5.93 ± 0.41 myr. The retained age model, anchored on a latest CA-ID-TIMS U–Pb age from a tuff level in the Hauterivian of the Neuquén Basin (Argentina), dates the base of the Valanginian Sta…
Paleoceanography of the Late Cretaceous northwestern Tethys Ocean: Seasonal upwelling or steady thermocline?
2020
In this study we attempted to assess whether seasonal upwelling or a steady thermocline persisted at the western margin of the Tethys Ocean during the late Turonian-early Coniacian interval. For this scope, we employed novel and published stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) data of various organisms (bivalves, bivalves, brachiopods, fish and belemnites). New seasonally resolved temperature estimates were based on the δ18O record of sequentially sampled inoceramid (Inoceramus sp.) and rudist (Hippurites resectus) shells from the Scaglia Rossa and Gosau deposits of northern Italy and western Austria, respectively. Diagenetic screening was performed using reflected light, cathodoluminescence (CL), sc…
Investigating the influence of climate changes on rodent communities at a regional-scale (MIS 1-3, southwestern France).
2016
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…