Palaeoclimate & Sediment Dynamics (PDS)

The research activities carried out by the Paleoclimate and Sediment Dynamics (PDS) team are multidisciplinary and focus on several interrelated themes. They rely on the use of various tools (PANOPLY platform) in the fields of sedimentology (grain size analysis), mineralogy (clays), palaeontology (coccolithophorids, foraminifera, deep-sea corals), elemental geochemistry (TOC, CaCO₃, XRF, Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, Br/Ca…) and isotopic (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C, εNd, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) geochemistry, and geochronology (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar, tephrochronology, Uranium Series).

They are primarily aimed at reconstructing and dating Quaternary climate changes across different temporal scales (decadal to orbital) and geographical scales (local, regional, global) by studying the interactions within the Earth system’s external compartments (ocean, atmosphere, biosphere, continental surfaces). Their objective is to understand:

• the processes of formation (erosion/weathering), transport (eolian and fluvial transport) and deposition of sediments in the oceans, in relation to the Save hydrological cycle, and particularly in the context of the monsoon.
• the impact of changes in ocean circulation and biological productivity on the carbon cycle, and more specifically on changes in atmospheric pCO₂.

To place the sedimentary sequences studied (marine cores, (paleo)lacustrine environments, volcanic sequences, and even archaeological sites) within a robust chronological framework (notably through tephrochronology), enabling the archives to be linked together.