Climatic precession is the main driver of Early Cretaceous sedimentation in the Vocontian Basin (France): Evidence from the Valanginian Orpierre succession
Introduction
The dominance of obliquity forcing to the detriment of the precession during some Mesozoic events, as the Oceanic Anoxic Events (Huang et al., 2010, Meyers et al., 2012), has stimulated studies to look for such differential expression and its potential implication for paleoenvironmental changes. The Valanginian Stage (Early Cretaceous) is known for significant changes in the global carbon cycle (Erba et al., 2004), and a possible climatic cooling (McArthur et al., 2007).
The Valanginian sequences in the Vocontian Basin (SE France) are characterized by marl–limestone alternations of astroclimatic origin (e.g., Huang et al., 1993, Gréselle and Pittet, 2010). A previous cyclostratigraphic study (Giraud et al., 1995) interpreted the Late Valanginian marl–limestone couplets in the Vocontian Basin as reflecting obliquity cycles. More recently, two high-resolution cyclostratigraphic studies in the Vocontian Basin (Fig. 1, Martinez et al., 2013, Charbonnier et al., 2013) came to opposing conclusions for the Late Valanginian cyclostratigraphy. Charbonnier et al. (2013) demonstrated that the couplets were driven by the precession with a modulation by the eccentricity. Martinez et al. (2013) interpreted the couplets, in the interval spanning the Neocomites peregrinus ammonite zone p.p., as obliquity in origin and discussed a possible implication for the existence of polar ice.
In this study, we examine if the assumption of obliquity forcing is correct, first through a detailed correlation between the aforecited sections, then by additional statistical tests applied to the most continuous interval at the Orpierre section. This interval should be used as a typical example for the record of orbital cycles in the Valanginian sequences. In addition, with its high-resolution and -fidelity, this interval permits to resolve the controversial interpretations of the Late Valanginian cyclostratigraphy. Finally, we discussed the implications of our study for climate and sea-level changes, and the strong impact of long-period orbital cyclicities on the sedimentary processes that make them well expressed in the outcrops (e.g., 405 kyr eccentricity).
Section snippets
Methods
Observational gaps and slumps are locally encountered in the Orpierre section (Charbonnier et al., 2013). To overcome this constraint, we focused on the uninterrupted ∼ 100 m thick interval, bounded by two slumps and spanning the NK3A p.p. and NK3B nannofossil zones (which roughly correspond to Saynoceras verrucosum and Neocomites peregrinus, ammonite zones; Fig. 2, Fig. 3). We selected this interval for time-series analysis (Fig. 4) and correlation because it is continuously resolved (Fig. 2,
Precession versus obliquity control of the Late Valanginian marl–limestone couplets
In the questionable interval (obliquity vs precession forcing hypothesis), the cyclostratigraphic correlation shows a reduced number of couplets within the 405 kyr eccentricity cycles, especially in the RA and VMC sections. We have counted 17 to 20 couplets at Orpierre versus only 9 to 12 couplets at RA and VMC. This has led the previous study to conclude the ratio 1/10 (i.e., 10 couplets within each 405 kyr cycle) at RA and VMC as indicating obliquity forcing of the couplets (Martinez et al.,
Conclusions
Controversial interpretations of Late Valanginian cyclostratigraphy (Vocontian Basin, SE France) lead to two different hypotheses: precession versus obliquity control of the marl–limestone couplets. High-resolution cyclostratigraphic correlation among all studied sections, together with time-series analysis applied to the most complete interval possessing the best constrained paleoclimatic record in the Orpierre section, shows evidence of precession-driven couplets modulated by the short and 405
Acknowledgments
S. Boulila and B. Galbrun are grateful for the support from the ISTEP Laboratory and the CNRS-INSU SYSTER grant-2015. S. Boulila thanks very much Jacques Laskar (Paris Observatory, IMCCE Laboratory) for very helpful discussion about the astronomical aspects. We are grateful for the thoughtful reviews provided by the reviewers and the Editor that considerably improved the paper.
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