In the last years, several astrochronological frameworks have been published on the Aptian Stage and yield scattered duration of this stage, ranging from 7.2 to 9.6 Ma (Leandro et al., 2022; Charbonnier et al., 2023). Here, I reassess the time scale of the Aptian by using several datasets published from Spain, France and Italy (Beil et al., 2020; Leandro et al., 2022; Charbonnier et al., 2023; Rodriguez-Martinez et al., 2024) to provide a consistent time scale between these basins. The 405-ka eccentricity is recorded and can be correlated thanks to biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy between these basins. A provision duration of the Aptian Stage falls in between 8 and 9 Ma, with a preferred duration of 8.3 Ma, starting 121.15 Ma and ending 112.9 Ma. Importantly the duration of the OAE1a is assessed at 1.2 Ma. According to the timescale I propose here, he OAE1a started 119.9 Ma and ended 118.7 Ma, in a good agreement with recently published U-Pb from Japan (Li et al., 2024). Altogether, these data point toward a converging astrochronology for the Aptian Stage from multiple sites.

References:

Beil, S., et al., 2020. Climate of the Past 16, 757–782. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-16-757-2020.

Charbonnier, G., et al., 2023. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 610, 118104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118104.

Leandro, C.G., et al., 2022. Nature Communications 13, 2941. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30075-3.

Li, Y., et al., 2024. Science Advances 10, eadn8365. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adn8365.

Martinez-Rodriguez, R., et al., 2024. Global and Planetary Change 233, 104361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2024.104361.