Boron based geochemical reconstructions of ocean pH and atmospheric CO₂ in the geological record ...

The boron isotope proxy is a valuable tool for reconstructing ocean pH and atmospheric CO₂ in Earth’s history. Its use on foraminifera in deep sea sediment cores has helped shape our understanding of Cenozoic carbon cycling and climate change, yet most of the extreme examples of biotic and climatic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Trudgill, Molly Diana
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: The University of St Andrews 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.17630/sta/327
https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/27101
Description
Summary:The boron isotope proxy is a valuable tool for reconstructing ocean pH and atmospheric CO₂ in Earth’s history. Its use on foraminifera in deep sea sediment cores has helped shape our understanding of Cenozoic carbon cycling and climate change, yet most of the extreme examples of biotic and climatic change are in the geological record, where the proxy has seen limited use. The boron isotope proxy’s widespread usage is also hindered by the challenges involved in traditional methods for measuring it: gravity microcolumns require exacting laboratory conditions and are time intensive. Older samples may have more variable matrices which can also be a problem for a gravity column. In order to expand the boron isotope proxy into a wider variety of matrices, Chapter 3 presents a new batch method for the purification of boron from its sample matrix. Together with methodological improvements for measurement by MC-ICPMS discussed in Chapter 2, these developments allow for measurement of a wide variety of samples with ...