Late Pleistocene (MIS 3-4) climate inferred from micromammal communities and δ18O of rodents from Les Pradelles, France.

12 pages International audience The middle Paleolithic stratigraphic sequence of Les Pradelles (Charente, France) spans from the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 until the middle of MIS 3. Micromammal remains are present in all the stratigraphic levels, offering a rare opportunity to address the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary Research
Main Authors: Royer, Aurélien, Lécuyer, Christophe, Montuire, Sophie, Escarguel, Gilles, Fourel, François, Mann, Alan, Maureille, Bruno
Other Authors: Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon - Terre, Planètes, Environnement Lyon (LGL-TPE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-École normale supérieure - Lyon (ENS Lyon), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), Biogéosciences UMR 6282 Dijon (BGS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bourgogne (UB)-AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement, Department of Anthropology, Princeton University, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Study supported by a grant by the Department of Charente (CG16; France), and by the French CNRS.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2013
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Online Access:https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00836873
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2013.03.007
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Summary:12 pages International audience The middle Paleolithic stratigraphic sequence of Les Pradelles (Charente, France) spans from the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 until the middle of MIS 3. Micromammal remains are present in all the stratigraphic levels, offering a rare opportunity to address the questions of both environmental and climatic fluctuations throughout this period. Climate modes were studied through the taphonomy, biodiversity and oxygen isotope compositions of phosphate (δ18Op) from 66 samples of rodent tooth enamel. The δ18Op values from the lower sedimentary levels provide summer mean air temperatures of 19 ± 2°C (level 2/1) and of 16 ± 2°C (levels 2A, 2B and 4A). Within the middle of sequence (level 4B), a paleobiodiversity change can be identified with an increase of Dicrostonyx torquatus, which is associated with the largest amplitude in δ18Op values and the highest maximal δ18Op values. At the top of the sequence (level 5-2), a biodiversity change is observed with the increase of Microtus arvalis, but without any change in δ18Op values. The association of cold rodent species with unexpected high and large amplitudes in the δ18Op values of their teeth, possibly indicative of aridity, suggests their deposition during a Heinrich event.