T5. Chemostratigraphy through time and space: Reconstruction of palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate by using geochemical proxies and isotopes

Chemostratigraphy is a long-known tool for stratigraphic correlations as well as to identify past climatic and paleoceanographic changes. The elemental and isotopic composition of sedimentary rocks and modern sediments can in fact provide a large amount of information on the depositional environment, such as sediment sources and sediment transports, ocean circulation, past climates, organic productivity and preservation of organic matter, redox conditions of the sea-floor and water column, levels of oxygenation, diagenesis and post-depositional changes in the stratigraphic and sedimentary sequences. Further, the isotopic composition and the concentration of a given element in a rock or sediment sample depends on the relative proportions of its constituent phases, which are primarily derived from the continents, the sea and ocean floor, and the water column. Biological and physical processes during deposition along with post-depositional chemical reactions produce a component mixture that can provide noteworthy information about the palaeoceanographic and palaeoclimatic conditions during the sedimentation. The elemental and isotopic composition can thus complement, support, and increase the interpretations resulting from the sedimentary and paleontological investigations. Thus, chemostratigraphy is one of the most intriguing topics and powerful tools to unravel the complex processes that controlled Earth's evolution, global changes and their interplay with biotic evolution. Spanning from the Paleozoic to the Present, the session welcomes contributions addressing different time scales and stratigraphic resolutions, from centennial scales to millions of years.