Reassessment of amber-bearing deposits of Provence, southeastern France

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The Upper Cretaceous sedimentary succession cropping out in the Sainte-Baume Massif (Var, southeastern France) is of late Turonian to Campanian age. There, complex imbrication and rapid evolution in space and time of shallow-marine, fluvio-deltaic and lacustrine environments at the front of the North Provence Durancian uplift occur during the Santonian. Marly and/or sandy strata rich in lignite remains and amber grains are interspersed throughout the Santonian series. According to new in situ collections, the features of the amber grains, and their micro-inclusions, are similar to those found in well-known amber-bearing sites from the Bouches-du-Rhône department. This testifies of a widespread resin-producing tree forests in southeastern France at that time.

Section: Palaeoenvironmental Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

An overview of the Santonian amber-bearing deposits of the Sainte-Baume Massif, southeastern France

Frau¹,

Martin²,

Martin³

et al. 2021

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New fossil assemblage with amber, plants and vertebrates from the lower Cenomanian near Châtellerault (Vienne, western France)

Valentin

Garcia

Gómez

et al. 2020

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A large number of fossil-rich beds have been located from over 30 km along the Tours-Poitiers High Speed Line (LGV) during earthworks prior to its construction, and particularly amber was collected from Scorbé-Clairvaux (locality of La Bergeonneau) to the north of Poitiers. The paper describes also amber grains from Châtellerault (locality of La Désirée) discovered during the development of sewage treatment plant along the Vienne river. Inner Cenomanian shelly sandstones and siltstones of Scorbé-Clairvaux contain rare amber pieces associated with seed plants (Frenelopsis sp., Nehvizdya sp., and angiosperm seeds) and a diversified fauna, composed of micro-remains of 27 taxa, comprising elasmobranchs (Carcharias Haimerichia amonensis Cappetta et Case, 1975, Protolama sp. and Squalicorax sp.), actinopterygians (Enchodus sp. and Pycnodontidae), reptiles including vertebrae the marine snake Simoliophis rochebrunei Sauvage,1880 , some rare solemydid plates (cf. Plastremys), teeth of three crocodilian families (Apatosauridae, Goniopholididae and Bernissartiidae) and an undetermined dinosaurian long bone fragment.

Amber, from deposit to inclusions: new data

Martin¹,

Martin²

2021

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A la mémoire de Gérard Breton Nous avons souhaité dédier ce numéro spécial consacré à l'ambre à la mémoire de notre collègue Gérard Breton récemment décédé. Titulaire de l'agrégation en Sciences Naturelles, docteur d'état es-sciences Gérard Breton a d'abord enseigné dans des établissements d'enseignement secondaire puis a exercé pendant 32 ans les fonctions de Directeur du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle du Havre (1973-2005). En véritable naturaliste animé d'une constante curiosité scientifique, Gérard Breton, a abordé de nombreux thèmes d'études dans le domaine de la paléontologie. Plus particulièrement, son apport pour la connaissance des micro-inclusions de l'ambre depuis un peu plus d'une vingtaine d'années a été constant et riche en informations et concepts. A la suite des auteurs qui ont décrit et figuré des microorganismes contenus dans des ambres d'âge et provenances variés (e.g.