A trace metal investigation of the radiocarbon anomaly in the eastern equatorial Pacific during the last glacial termination ...

For decades, the paleoclimate and paleoceanography community has attempted to find an explanation for the rise in atmospheric CO? and simultaneous drop in the radiocarbon content of the atmosphere during the last glacial termination. In this study, we investigate the possible release of CO?-rich hyd...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nishibayashi, Mark Hacker author
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Southern California Digital Library (USC.DL) 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-185290
https://digitallibrary.usc.edu/asset-management/2A3BF167G9JU
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Summary:For decades, the paleoclimate and paleoceanography community has attempted to find an explanation for the rise in atmospheric CO? and simultaneous drop in the radiocarbon content of the atmosphere during the last glacial termination. In this study, we investigate the possible release of CO?-rich hydrothermal fluids during the deglaciation, using the trace metal content of foraminifera as a proxy. We develop a methodology to analyze the concentration of trace metals in the planktonic foraminifera, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The elements analyzed, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu, are present in elevated concentrations in hydrothermal fluids compared to seawater. ? We investigate the trace element composition of foraminifera from two marine sediment cores from the eastern equatorial Pacific, VM21-30 and VM21-29. The Zn/Ca and Cu/Ca records from VM21-30 show a rapid increase in the deglacial section of the core, concurrent with the large drop in ...