Team
TERre - Transition Eau Ressources
Biography
Damien Huyghe is a researcher specializing in geosciences, whose work focuses on reconstructing paleoenvironments and paleoclimates through geochemical and sedimentological analysis. His research centers on several major themes, notably the study of past extreme climate events (such as the Middle Eocene climatic optimum) and their impact on coastal and marine ecosystems. He has helped clarify seasonal variations in ocean temperatures by using geochemical proxies (δ18O, Δ47) applied to fossil records, such as mollusk shells. A significant part of his expertise also involves the use of bivalves—particularly oysters—as environmental archives to reconstruct past living conditions, ranging from tidal scales to annual climate variations. His recent work also explores the interactions between tectonics, climate, and surface processes, particularly in orogenic settings such as the Pyrenees or the Andes, where he analyzes the evolution of sedimentary basins and drainage networks in response to tectonic and climatic forcings.
Publication(s)
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2026
Middle Eocene hyperthermal seasonality from Paris Basin marine mollusks DOI : 10.1016/j.palaeo.2026.113547
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2025
Oyster shells as archives of present and past environmental variability and life history traits: A multi-disciplinary review of sclerochronology methods and applications DOI : 10.1002/lol2.10461
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2025
Middle Miocene climate evolution in the northern Mediterranean region (Digne–Valensole basin, SE France) DOI : 10.5194/cp-21-841-2025
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2025
Tracking lithospheric delamination and surface processes across the Messinian salinity crisis DOI : 10.1038/s41467-025-59481-z
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2024
Coupling of X-ray fluorescence and strontium isotopes to track the influence of brine in continental deposits: study of Oligocene sediments in the Digne area (SE basin, France) DOI : 10.1144/jgs2024-042
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2023
The Neogene to Quaternary evolution of the Neuquén Andes broken foreland forced by tectonic, climatic and surface processes (southern Central Andes) DOI : 10.1016/j.jsames.2023.104620
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2023
Lateral river erosion impacts the preservation of Neolithic enclosures in alluvial plains DOI : 10.1038/s41598-023-43849-6
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2023
Tectono-geomorphological evolution of the Eastern Pyrenees: Insights from thermo-kinematic modeling DOI : 10.1016/j.tecto.2023.230057
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2022
Clumped isotopes in modern marine bivalves DOI : 10.1016/j.gca.2021.09.019
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2020
Oxygen isotope disequilibrium in the juvenile portion of oyster shells biases seawater temperature reconstructions DOI : 10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106777
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2020
Long-term dynamic topographic support during post-orogenic crustal thinning revealed by stable isotope (δ18O) paleo-altimetry in eastern Pyrenees DOI : 10.1038/s41598-020-58903-w
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2020
Quaternary tectonic and climate changes at the origin of travertine and calcrete in the eastern betics (Almería region, SE Spain) DOI : 10.1144/jgs2020-025
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2019
Neogene sedimentation and tectonics in the Collón Curá basin (Patagonian Andes of Argentina) DOI : 10.1016/j.jsames.2019.102244
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2019
Most Earth-surface calcites precipitate out of isotopic equilibrium DOI : 10.1038/s41467-019-08336-5
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2019
New insights into oyster high-resolution hinge growth patterns DOI : 10.1007/s00227-019-3496-2
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2019
Long-term evolution of the west African transform margin: Estimates of denudation from Benin using apatite thermochronology DOI : 10.1144/jgs2018-078
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2018
Impact of topography, climate and moisture sources on isotopic composition (δ18O & δD) of rivers in the Pyrenees: Implications for topographic reconstructions in small orogens DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.12.035
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2017
Significance of shallow-marine and non-marine algae stable isotope (δ18O) compositions over long periods: Example from the Palaeogene of the Paris Basin DOI : 10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.06.017
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2017
Rift-to-collision sediment routing in the Pyrenees: A synthesis from sedimentological, geochronological and kinematic constraints DOI : 10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.07.004
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2016
Evolution of the Late Pleistocene Aspe River (Western Pyrenees, France). Signature of climatic events and active tectonics DOI : 10.1016/j.crte.2015.07.003
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2015
Neogene tectonostratigraphic history of the southern Neuquén basin (39°-40°30′S, Argentina): Implications for foreland basin evolution DOI : 10.1111/bre.12091
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2015
Geomorphologic evidence for Plio-Quaternary shortening in the southern Neuquén basin (40°S, Argentina) DOI : 10.1111/ter.12176
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2015
Fluid systems and fracture development during syn-depositional fold growth: An example from the Pico del Aguila anticline, Sierras Exteriores, southern Pyrenees, Spain DOI : 10.1016/j.jsg.2014.11.003
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2015
Palaeogene climate evolution in the Paris Basin from oxygen stable isotope (δ18O) compositions of marine molluscs DOI : 10.1144/jgs2015-016
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2012
Middle Lutetian climate in the Paris Basin: Implications for a marine hotspot of paleobiodiversity DOI : 10.1007/s10347-012-0307-3
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2012
Large scale facies change in the middle Eocene South-Pyrenean foreland basin: The role of tectonics and prelude to Cenozoic ice-ages DOI : 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2012.01.004
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2012
The Ostracod fauna from the outcroup "la falunière" of Grignon (Lutetian, Paris Basin): Stratigraphical implications; [Les ostracodes de la falunière de Grignon (Lutétien du Bassin de Paris): Implications stratigraphiques] DOI : 10.5252/g2012n4a12
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2012
Oxygen isotopes of marine mollusc shells record Eocene elevation change in the Pyrenees DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2012.06.035
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2009
Paleogene propagation of the southern Pyrenean thrust wedge revealed by finite strain analysis in frontal thrust sheets: Implications for mountain building DOI : 10.1016/j.epsl.2009.10.002
Teaching
Geoscience and the Anthropocene (GA)
The “Geosciences and the Anthropocene” GA course takes place at several sites impacted by human activity, specifically chosen to deepen students’ understanding of the challenges related to climate change and the energy transition. This course is organized as a one-week intensive off-campus session. For logistical reasons related to the large number of students, the class is divided into six groups working independently under the guidance of a multidisciplinary teaching team. The six groups will be based in the following areas: Paris and Morvan (Île-de-France) Digne-les-Bains and surrounding area (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) Laragne and surrounding area (Hautes-Alpes) Romanche and Drac Valleys (Isère and Hautes-Alpes) Western Pyrenees (French and Spanish) Roya Valley (Alpes-Maritimes) For each group, the teaching team consists of 2 to 3 faculty members, each of whom will supervise a group of 8 students. Within these small groups, instruction will alternate between observation sessions of natural features, independent work sessions in which students are invited to observe and analyze the geological terrain relevant to the instruction they have received, tutorials, and visits to key sites or engineering structures. Over the course of the week, each team will present the results of their workshops to all the students in their group.
VS Geology Internship
Natural Environments (Research Quarter)
Métiers Ingénieur généraliste
MS MIRIS
Option Géosciences
PhD supervision
- 2025 The evolution of temperatures and the flow of the Seine upstream of Paris during the Holocene. DELMETZ Matthias
- 2024 Expression of extreme global warming: the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum DI FILIPPO Luca
- 2024 Image analysis for lithology characterization ZEGHDOUD Raounek
- 2019 What climate variability ahead? Insights from middle Eocene sedimentary archives of the Paris Basin MARLOT Loïc
- 2018 The controlling factors of continental sedimentation in the Southwestern Alps at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary HAMON Alexandre