U-Pb age constraints on the Carboniferous-Permian transition in continental basins of eastern equatorial Pangaea (France): implications for the depositional history and correlations across the late Variscan Belt

Intramontane late Carboniferous-Permian basins of western Europe developed during the latest orogenic stages of the Variscan Mountain Belt in eastern Pangaea, at equatorial palaeolatitudes. Their stratigraphic framework is mainly based on continental subdivisions (e.g. Stephanian and Autunian continental stages), which can be contentious owing to biostratigraphic biases, resulting in long-distance diachronous subdivisions. To provide precise inter-basinal and global correlations to the internationally recognized chronostratigraphic marine stages, this study reports new U-Pb geochronology from the Aumance and Decize-La Machine basins, located in the northern French Massif Central. Zircon grains extracted from three volcanic ash-fall layers give weighted mean Pb-206/U-238 ages of 299.11 +/- 0.35, 298.73 +/- 0.36 and 298.59 +/- 0.35 Ma (2 sigma total propagated uncertainty) by the chemical abrasion isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry method, coinciding with the Carboniferous-Permian transition (Gzhelian and Asselian stages). These ages imply that the northern Massif Central basins developed synchronously in relatively short periods of time (<10 myr), reflecting substantial sedimentation rates. Finally, the new chronology of infilling of these basins confirms that they were connected during the late Carboniferous and early Permian periods, improving the knowledge on the late orogenic Variscan geodynamic setting in this area.