Abstract Échaillon stone, a Mesozoic platform limestone from SE France, is proposed as a Global Heritage Stone Resource. The Échaillon stone quarries are located at the western termination of the Alps, near the city of Grenoble. Stone from the main Échaillon quarries is an Upper Jurassic to Berriasian bioclastic near-reef limestone, renowned for its two characteristic white and pink colours. Two ancillary quarries nearby, the Lignet and Rovon quarries, provided the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian to Aptian) Yellow Échaillon stone, of lagoonal origin. Échaillon stone's unique characteristics, resistance to weathering and high aesthetic values made it a prized building and ornamental material used in many significant historical buildings in Europe, North Africa and the USA. Although the first use of Échaillon stone in buildings dates from the Gallo-Roman period, the industrial use ranges from the mid-nineteenth century, during the heyday of the Beaux-Arts architecture period in France, to the mid-twentieth century. The reputation of Échaillon stone was bolstered by world-renowned architects, sculptors and artists who used it for historical building ornament and sculptures. By the turn of the twentieth century, production started to decline and it ceased by the middle of that century.

ABSTRACT Recently, a set of mercury (Hg) anomalies in Valanginian sediments recovered from European sections demonstrated that an important magmatic pulse occurred at the onset of the Weissert episode. In this study, we report the distribution of Hg contents near the onset of the Weissert episode from localities outside of Europe, in the proto–Atlantic Ocean (Blake Bahama and Cap Hatteras Basins, Deep Sea Drilling Project [DSDP] Holes 534A and 603B) and southern Tethys Ocean (Argo Abyssal Plain, Ocean Drilling Program [ODP] Hole 765C), in order to evaluate the global impact of volcanism during the Valanginian. In addition, we also reinvestigated the Orpierre and Angles sections of the Vocontian Basin at a very high time resolution, to examine the potential impact of regional volcanic activity during that time interval. The onset of the Weissert episode in the proto-Atlantic and in the southern Tethyan cores is marked by significant increases in Hg contents. The persistence of the Hg anomaly in Hg/total organic carbon and Hg/Al ratios suggests that Hg enrichments were not primarily controlled by runoff processes and/or redox conditions, but instead indicate an increase in volcanic activity. The Hg enrichments recorded from localities outside of Europe at different latitudes were correlated to those previously observed in European sections, thereby confirming the presence of a global Hg peak at the onset of the Weissert episode. This peak was probably related to the emplacement of the Paraná-Etendeka large igneous province, suggesting a key role for volcanic activity during the Valanginian global environmental perturbations. In coeval intervals in the Vocontian Basin, Hg records show abrupt and short-lived enrichments, which correspond in the sedimentary successions to a goethite-rich ocher-colored layer. Two regional processes could explain Hg deposition and sequestration in this region: increased Hg sequestration by organic matter production in an oxygen-depleted environment, and/or the presence of regional volcanic activity, which is also indicated by the occurrence of a distal volcanic ash layer.

ABSTRACT In total, 33 and 65 chrome-spinel (Cr-spinel) grains in the >63 and 32–63 μm size fractions, respectively, were recovered from 12 beds in two stratigraphically separated groups along the 240-m-thick Monte Acuto section of the Maiolica limestone in central Italy, spanning from the Berriasian to the early Hauterivian. The chemistry of these detrital spinels suggests they may represent windblown ophiolitic detritus, showing the evolution of an ophiolite evolving from a mid-ocean-ridge basalt setting (Bosso section) to a suprasubduction-zone setting, including a backarc and an arc setting (Monte Acuto section). The source of the Maiolica detrital minerals may have been the obducting ophiolites of the Albanides and/or the Hellenides, which show a similar evolution. In this case, it is particularly important to note how the Cr-spinel detritus in the Maiolica limestone records this evolution over a relatively short period of time, lasting ~10 m.y.