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Late Pleistocene climatic change in the French Jura (Gigny) recorded in the δ18O of phosphate from ungulate tooth enamel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Magali Fabre ,
Christophe Lécuyer ,
Jean-Philip Brugal ,
Romain Amiot ,
François Fourel  and
François Martineau
Magali Fabre
Affiliation:
UMR CNRS 6636, Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme, 5 rue du Château de l'Horloge, BP 647, 13094, Aix-en-Provence cedex 2, France
Christophe Lécuyer*
Affiliation:
UMR CNRS 5125 “PaléoEnvironnements & PaléobioSphère”, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, Campus de la Doua, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France
Jean-Philip Brugal
Affiliation:
UMR CNRS 6636, Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme, 5 rue du Château de l'Horloge, BP 647, 13094, Aix-en-Provence cedex 2, France
Romain Amiot
Affiliation:
UMR CNRS 5125 “PaléoEnvironnements & PaléobioSphère”, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, Campus de la Doua, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France
François Fourel
Affiliation:
UMR CNRS 5125 “PaléoEnvironnements & PaléobioSphère”, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, Campus de la Doua, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France
François Martineau
Affiliation:
UMR CNRS 5125 “PaléoEnvironnements & PaléobioSphère”, Université Lyon 1, Lyon, Campus de la Doua, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France
*
⁎Corresponding author.
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Abstract

Oxygen isotope compositions of phosphate in tooth enamel from large mammals (i.e. horse and red deer) were measured to quantify past mean annual air temperatures and seasonal variations between 145 ka and 33 ka in eastern France. The method is based on interdependent relationships between the δ18O of apatite phosphate, environmental waters and air temperatures. Horse (Equus caballus germanicus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) remains have δ18O values that range from 14.2‰ to 17.2‰, indicating mean air temperatures between 7°C and 13°C. Oxygen isotope time series obtained from two of the six horse teeth show a sinusoidal-like signal that could have been forced by temperature variations of seasonal origin. Intra-tooth oxygen isotope variations reveal that at 145 ka, winters were colder (− 7 ± 2°C) than at present (3 ± 1°C) while summer temperatures were similar. Winter temperatures mark a well-developed West–East thermal gradient in France of about − 9°C, much stronger than the −4°C difference recorded presently. Negative winter temperatures were likely responsible for the extent and duration of the snow cover, thus limiting the food resources available for large ungulates with repercussions for Neanderthal predators.

Keywords

Oxygen isotopePhosphateUngulatePleistoceneClimate
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 75 , Issue 3 , May 2011 , pp. 605 - 613
Copyright
University of Washington

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