This study, based on a multidisciplinary approach including
micropaleontology, sedimentology, mineralogy and geochemistry, evaluates
the Paleocene-Eocene transition in Tunisia. At Foum Selja, sediment
deposition occurred in the shallow, restricted Gafsa Basin influenced by
the adjacent Saharan platform. During the early Paleocene this area
experienced a warm and humid climate that changed to warm but arid
climatic conditions during the Paleocene-Eocene transition. At Elles the
sediment deposition in the EI Kef Basin occurred in an open marine
environment connected to the Tethys. During the late Paleocene, the
Tethyan region was submitted to a seasonal warm climate changing to a
warm and humid climate across the P/E transition and becoming
seasonal/arid in the early Eocene. From Africa to northern Europe,
kaolinite, a strong marker of warmth and humidity disappeared
diachronously suggesting a latitudinal shift in the source area of this
mineral and consequently in the climatic zones, from lower to higher
latitudes. The P/E transition observed at Elles corresponds to a 2.7 m
thick clay layer and is marked by a drastic decrease in carbonate
sedimentation, a negative delta(13)C excursion of 1.3 parts per thousand
and increased detrital input. The presence of a condensed interval, the
accumulation of phosphate deposits after the P/E event, which obliterate
the original isotopic signal and strong dissolution of the planktic
fauna and flora in these phosphatic layers, all are criteria that
prevent the Elles section to be a potential GSSP candidate for the P/E
boundary.