Diagenesis and the reconstruction of paleoenvironments: A method to restore original δO values of carbonate and phosphate from fossil tooth enamel |
| |
Authors: | Antoine Zazzo Christophe Lécuyer Simon MF Sheppard André Mariotti |
| |
Institution: | 1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 114 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada 2 Dynamique de l’Evolution humaine, CNRS UPR 2147, 44 rue de l’Amiral Mouchez, 75014 Paris, France 3 Laboratoire “Paléoenvironnements and Paléobiosphère” CNRS UMR 5125, Batiment Géode, Campus de la Doua, Université Claude Bernard Lyon, 69622 Villeurbanne, France 4 Institut Universitaire de France, 103 boulevard Saint-Michel, 75005 Paris, France 5 Laboratoire de Sciences de la Terre, CNRS UMR 5570, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 allée d’Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France 6 Laboratoire de Biogéochimie des Milieux Continentaux, UMR 7618 INRA-CNRS-IRD, IFR EGER 106, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 78850 Thivernal-Grignon, France |
| |
Abstract: | Intra-tooth δ18O variations within the carbonate (δ18Oc) and phosphate (δ18Op) components of tooth apatite were measured for Miocene and Pliocene hypsodont mammals from Afghanistan, Greece and Chad in order to evaluate the resistance of enamel to diagenetic alteration. Application of water-apatite interaction models suggest that the different kinetic behaviours of the phosphate-water and carbonate-water systems can be used to detect subtle oxygen isotope disequilibria in fossil enamel when intra-individual variations are considered. Selective alteration of the oxygen isotope composition from the carbonate component of Afghan and Greek enamels suggests inorganic isotopic exchange processes. Microbially-induced isotopic exchange for phosphate is demonstrated for the first time in enamel samples from Chad, in association with extensive recrystallization. In Chad, δ18Op values were derived from partial isotopic exchange with fossil groundwater during early diagenesis. Mass balance calculations using average carbonate content in enamel as a proxy for recrystallization, and the lowest δ18Op value of dentine as a proxy for the isotopic composition of the diagenetic fluid, indicate that diagenesis can alter δ18Op by as much as 3‰ in some enamel samples. This diagenetic alteration is also responsible for a decrease in intra-individual variations of up to 1‰ in affected specimens. The effects of diagenesis on δ18Op values of fossil enamel are not systematic, however, and can only be estimated if sequential δ18Op and δ18Oc analyses are performed on fossil enamel and dentine. Reconstruction of large temporal- or spatial-scale paleoclimates based on δ18Op analyses from mammalian teeth cannot be considered valid if enamel has been affected by bacterial activity or if the data cannot be corrected for diagenetic effects. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|