Fish tooth oxygen isotopes as indicators of Lutetian seawater paleotemperatures and paleoecology in the tropical Neo-Tethys (Arabian Platform)

Deville de Periere M, Joachimski M, Chattopadhyay S, Guinot G, Adnet S (2025)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2025

Journal

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology Elsevier

Book Volume: 675

Pages Range: 113108

Article Number: 113108

DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.113108

Abstract

The shallow marine deposits of the Lutetian of Saudi Arabia (Dammam Formation) yield common and diverse marine biota, including abundant isolated fish teeth. Several taxa of ray-finned fishes and elasmobranchs, dominated by sand tiger sharks, tiger sharks, and hammerhead sharks were used for oxygen isotope analysis of tooth apatite (δ18Op) to estimate seawater temperatures in the tropical Neo-Tethys during the Lutetian. Petrographic observations including cathodoluminescence and rare earth element (REE) concentrations were used to assess a possible diagenetic overprint. REEs and cathodoluminescence data suggest that dentine tissue is systematically altered by diagenesis, whereas enamel(oid) is well preserved and can be used for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. δ18Op in shark tooth enameloid varies between 18.0 and 21.9 ‰ (average value of 19.4 ± 0.8 ‰, n = 31), corresponding to an average calculated temperature of 27.9 ± 3.4 °C using δ18Owater of −0.5 ‰ V-SMOW. Ray-finned fish δ18Op values range from 19.4 ‰ to 20.9 ‰ (average 20.0 ± 0.4 ‰, n = 31), with an average calculated temperature of 27.3 ± 2.1 °C using δ18Owater of 0 ‰ V-SMOW. The higher δ18Op values of ray-finned fish, however, are interpreted to be influenced by higher evaporation rates nearshore. Calculated temperatures from shark teeth are consistent with modeled Eocene sea surface temperatures, suggesting that shark tooth δ18O can be a useful proxy for paleoenvironmental reconstructions at basin scale.

Authors with CRIS profile

Michael Joachimski Lehrstuhl für Geologie (Exogene Dynamik)

Involved external institutions

University of Montpellier / Université Montpellier FR France (FR) Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) DE Germany (DE) Saudi Aramco Research & Development Center SA Saudi Arabia (SA)

How to cite

APA:

Deville de Periere, M., Joachimski, M., Chattopadhyay, S., Guinot, G., & Adnet, S. (2025). Fish tooth oxygen isotopes as indicators of Lutetian seawater paleotemperatures and paleoecology in the tropical Neo-Tethys (Arabian Platform). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 675, 113108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.113108

MLA:

Deville de Periere, Matthieu, et al. "Fish tooth oxygen isotopes as indicators of Lutetian seawater paleotemperatures and paleoecology in the tropical Neo-Tethys (Arabian Platform)." Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 675 (2025): 113108.

BibTeX: Download