Chemostratigraphy of the Lower Miocene Beynes-Chateauredon series (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).

The paucity of biostratigraphic information makes the stratigraphic attribu tion of continental series difficult to establish. To compensate for this l ack of data we developed a chemostratigraphic analysis on Lower Miocene ser ies (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), based on the delta(13)C isotopic composition of the pedogenic carbonate glaebules preserved in the paleosols. The curve obtained proved to be an excellent tool: 1) at a regional scale, to correl ate continental sections that show rapid lateral facies variations over a d istance of nearly 10 km; 2) at a global scale, to correlate the fluctuation s of the delta(13)C signal of the continental series with those of the mari ne realm, thus providing an excellent stratigraphic framework with a time r esolution in the range of a hundred thousand years. The results obtained gi ve an Aquitanian age to the first two thirds of the studied series and a Bu rdigalian age to the upper part. They also provide interesting results on t he evolution of the vegetation in response to the Aquitanian marine transgr ession. (C) 2000 Academie des sciences / Editions scientifiques et medicale s Elsevier SAS.