Nd isotope composition of conodonts: An accurate proxy of sea-level fluctuations

- Nd isotope composition of conodonts is an accurate recorder of changes in sea level.
- Lithology responded with delay to sea-level changes.
- The onset of organic-rich Kellwasser facies coincided with short-term regressive events.

Analyses of the Nd isotope composition of conodonts from the Anti-Atlas (Morocco), the Montagne Noire (France) and the Rhenohercynian domain (Germany) provide insight into the temporal and lateral variations in seawater geochemistry in the western part of the Variscan Sea during the Late Devonian. Most of the isotopic excursions accurately record changes in sea level. The εNd values decreased during regression phases when erosion accelerated supply of unradiogenic Nd from old continental sources. A rise in sea level generated a positive shift in εNd values due to input of more radiogenic oceanic water into the seawater reservoir of the shelf areas. The method has great potential for sea-level research, paleoceanography and correlation because sea-level changes can be precisely recognized even in successions with uniform, monotonous lithologies. However, it has a significant limitation being valid only in epeiric seas and shelf areas. We have used the Nd isotope record to reconstruct the eustatic sea-level changes in late Frasnian-early Famennian time. The onset of the organic-rich Kellwasser units coincides with negative trends in εNd values. This accords with oxygen deficiency at the sea bottom being initiated by short-term regressive events, which in turn would be consistent with cooling periods of glacial origin, as previous authors have suggested.

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