A multi-proxy study of Pliocene sediments from Île de France, North-East Greenland

A multi-technique approach has been used to study a Pliocene shallow water marine deposit, designated the Île de France Formation, in North-East Greenland. The sequence is correlated on the basis of 87Sr–86Sr ratios in shells and palaeomagnetic studies with the Gauss normal polarity chron, which is dated to between 2.60 and 3.58 Ma years BP. This dating is in accordance with amino acid epimerisation and evidence from dinoflagellates, foraminifers and molluscs. Sediments, marine molluscs and foraminifers show that the sequence was deposited on the inner shelf, below storm wave base. Seawater temperatures were much higher than today, as demonstrated by the occurrence of a number of southern extra-limital species. The same applies to air temperature, and the few remains of land plants may indicate a forested upland with Picea and Thuja. A number of extinct taxa are present, including Nucula jensenii that is erected as a new species.