Environmental changes around the Oligocene/Miocene boundary in the Limagne graben, Massif Central, France

Abstract

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, gastropods, ostracods, mammals, birds and reptiles remains) associated with stromatolites. Mammal remains, well described in this area from the literature, were used to constrain the chronostratigraphic context of this lacustrine basin, with refinement thanks to new carbon and oxygen isotope measurements, palynological and sedimentological data. In this work, the available information obtained from a classical paleoecological study has been refined by new carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of carbonates and fish teeth retrieved from the washed sediment residues. The results of this study confirm that the Oligocene/Miocene boundary in Europe was a general period of aridity, associated with a cooler climate, which could be the cause of the decline in mammal paleodiversity observed during this period. The gradual evolution from brackish to fresh waters is indicated by the presence of ostracods and gastropods, and the major development of caddisflies. This period is associated to humid climatic conditions while a gradual increase in temperature took place throughout the second part of the Aquitanian. These environmental changes were driven by strong variations of temperatures and a contrasted seasonality.