Comparison of Ba/Ca and δ¹⁸OWATER as freshwater proxies: a multi-species core-top study on planktonic foraminifera from the vicinity of the Orinoco River mouth ...

• Main Authors: Bahr, André, Schönfeld, Joachim, Hoffmann, Julia, Voigt, Silke, Aurahs, Ralf, Kucera, Michal, Flögel, Sascha, Jentzen, Anna, Gerdes, Axel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2013
• Subjects: Planktonic foraminifera
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.820222; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.820222

Past river run-off is an important measure for the continental hydrological cycle and the as-sessment of freshwater input into the ocean. However, paleosalinity reconstructions applying different proxies in parallel often show offsets between the respective methods. Here, we compare the established foraminiferal Ba/Ca and d18OWATER salinity proxies for their capability to record the highly seasonal Orinoco freshwater plume in the eastern Caribbean. For this purpose we obtained a data set comprising Ba/Ca and d18OWATER determined on multiple spe-cies of planktonic foraminifera from core tops distributed around the Orinoco river mouth. Our findings indicate that interpretations based on either proxy could lead to different conclu-sions. In particular, Ba/Ca and d18OWATER diverge in their spatial distribution due to different governing factors. Apparently, the Orinoco freshwater plume is best tracked by Ba/Ca ratios of G. ruber (pink and sensu lato morphotypes), while d18OWATER based on the same species is more ... : Supplement to: Bahr, André; Schönfeld, Joachim; Hoffmann, Julia; Voigt, Silke; Aurahs, Ralf; Kucera, Michal; Flögel, Sascha; Jentzen, Anna; Gerdes, Axel (2013): Comparison of Ba/Ca and d18Owater as freshwater proxies: A multi-species core-top study on planktonic foraminifera from the vicinity of the Orinoco River mouth. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 383, 45-57 ...