Oxygen isotope compositions of phosphate from Middle Miocene–Early Pliocene marine vertebrates of Peru

• Published in: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
• Main Authors: Amiot, Romain, Goehlich, Ursula B., Lécuyer, Christophe, de Muizon, Christian, Cappetta, Henri, Fourel, François, Héran, Marie-Anne, Martineau, François
• Other Authors: PaleoEnvironnements et PaleobioSphere (PEPS), Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paléobiodiversité et paléoenvironnements, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2008
• Subjects: oxygen isotopes; pisco formation; Peru; pliocene; miocene; vertebrates; [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology; Ice cap
• Online Access: https://hal.science/halsde-00455146; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.04.001

International audience Phosphatic remains of marine vertebrates recovered from five fossil sites of the Pisco Formation ranging from the latest Middle/earliest Late Miocene (Ca 11–13 Ma) to the Early Pliocene (Ca 3.5 Ma) have been analysed for their oxygen isotope compositions (δ18Op). Coexisting seals, dolphins, whales, penguins and sharks from each locality have distinct δ18Op values reflecting ecology and physiology differences, ranging from 18.2‰ to 21.4‰ for marine mammals, from 19.5‰ to 21.5‰ for marine birds and from 20.9‰ to 23.1‰ for sharks. Systematic offsets observed between dolphin teeth and bones as well as between dolphin and whale bones indicate that the fractionation equation established by using data from extant cetaceans may not be directly applicable to Miocene cetaceans in order to estimate water δ18Ow values. Assuming that polar ice-caps were not totally developed during this time interval, marine palaeotemperatures ranging from 13.0 ± 1.3 °C to 17.2 ± 1.3 °C were estimated. Comparison of our results with those obtained in other World's areas suggests that the oxygen isotope ratios of Pisco vertebrates reflect the influence of both global and local events, such as the setting of the Atacama Desert, the cold Humboldt Current or the global phases of ice-cap growth and decay.