Filling sequence in Late Paleozoic continental basins: A chimera of climate change? A new light shed given by the Graissessac–Lodève basin (SE France)

Chronostratigraphy and Paleoclimatology of the Lodève Basin, France: Evidence for a pan-tropical aridification event across the Carboniferous–Permian boundary

“…3) span over 650 m of section (the lower third of the measured succession). The calculated rock accumulation rates for this member are~0.43 m/ka; extrapolating this rate indicates that the entire 1150 m of the Octon Member could have been deposited over approximately 2.65 Ma, a much shorter duration than previously interpreted Pochat and Van Den Driessche, 2011). Similarly the entire Salagou Formation could have been deposited in approximately 4 Ma under these accumulation rates.…”

“…Both studies concluded that the carbonates were diagenetically overprinted and not appropriate for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Pochat and Van Den Driessche (2011) built upon previous studies in other continental rift basins (Lefournier, 1980;Lambiase, 1990;Schlische, 1991;Prosser, 1993;Harris et al, 2004;Pochat et al, 2005) to develop a model of lacustrine sedimentation in the Lodève Basin. Their model hypothesizes that lake water volumes did not change substantially throughout the Carboniferous-Permian, but that lake surface areas did change.…”

“…Furthermore, the presence of contemporaneous Histosol formation in separate basins around the Massif Central suggests a regional climate that was conducive to the accumulation of surficial organic matter and peat accumulation rather than a more local tectonic driver (cf. Pochat and Van Den Driessche, 2011). The absence of Histosols in younger Permian strata in the Lodève Basin suggests that climatic conditions dried to the extent that such conditions were no longer conducive to peat formation or that sedimentary accumulation rates increased substantially.…”

“…At this time it remains unclear if this paleoclimate trend is limited to the western tropics or if it extends throughout the tropics. The Lodève Basin in the south of France was chosen as an ideal location to extend Carboniferous-Permian climate trends from the western, to the central, Pangean landmass because of previously developed stratigraphic and paleoecological frameworks and the presence of multiple ashes throughout the succession (Körner et al, 2003;Schneider et al, 2006;Pochat and Van Den Driessche, 2011).…”

Impact of continental motion and dynamic glaciations on low-latitude climate during the Carboniferous: The record of the Wyoming Shelf (Western United States)

“…In doing so, they noted the challenges entailed in deconvolving the effects of global climate change from those caused by the latitudinal drift of continental masses (Roscher and Schneider, 2006;. Among the recognized trends of paleoclimate change, the late Pennsylvanian increase in aridity recorded in the paleotropics is a subject of vigorous debate as to causal mechanisms (Phillips et al, 1974;Cleal and Thomas, 2005;Pochat and Van Den Driessche, 2011;Gulbranson et al, 2015). The late Pennsylvanian has received considerable attention by researchers, while the Mississippian to Middle Pennsylvanian is relatively poorly understood.…”