A paleoenvironmental standard section for Early Ilerdian tropical carbonate factories (Corbieres, France; Pyrenees, Spain)

Early Ilerdian (Early Eocene, Shallow Benthic Zones 5 and 6) carbonate systems of the Pyrenees shelf were deposited after a time of severe climatic (‘Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum, PETM’) and phylogenetic (‘Larger Foraminifer Turnover’) changes. They reflect the radiation of nummulitid, alveolinid, and orbitolitid larger foraminifera after remarkable biotic changes at the end of the Paleocene, and announce their subsequent flourishing in the Middle Eocene.A paleoenvironmental model for tropical carbonate environments of this particular time interval is provided herein. During the Early Ilerdian, the inner and middle ramp deposits from Minerve, Campo and Serraduy revealed the end-member of a tropical carbonate factory with carbonate production dominated by the end-members of biotically (photo-autotrophic skeletal) controlled and biotically induced carbonate precipitation. Inner platform environments are dominated by alveolinids and in part by orbitolitids, middle platform environments are dominated by nummulitids. Corals are present, but they do not form reefs, which is a typical feature for the Eocene. Nummulite shoal complexes, which are well-known from the Middle Eocene are also absent during the studied Early Ilerdian interval, which may reflect the early evolutionary stage of this group.