Paleomagnetic Correlation of the Mediterranean Upper Neogene Biochronology and Villafranchian Vertebrate Sites of the Massif Central, France

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Abstract
Magnetostratigraphic studies of Pliocene-Pleistocene continental deposits on the Plateau de Perrier and in the Le Puy-en-Velay basin (Massif Central), as well as in the Riez-Valensole basin (Alpes de Haute Provence, Mediterranean South), provide decisive reference dating of several well-known fossil-bearing Villafranchian sites. These are well distributed in the tephrostratigraphy on both sides of the Gauss/Matuyama geomagnetic boundary: the Roca-Neyra fauna falls within the Matuyama chron, while older sediments at Les Etouaires are situated just above the normal-reversed transition. The Vialette section lies below this reversal, within the Gauss chron. In the Riez-Valensole basin, the discovery of the Gauss/Matuyama boundary toward the top of the Puimoisson section leads to an excellent correlation with the Massif Central localities. Rodents of the Seynes zone occur below the reversal, while Equus appears just above. This calibration improves the Mediterranean upper Neogene biochronology and allows a direct correlation with Villafranchian vertebrate sites of the Massif Central.