Tracing the impact of coastal water geochemistry on the Re-Os systematics of macroalgae: Insights from the basaltic terrain of Iceland

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
• Main Authors: Sproson, Adam, Selby, David, Gannoun, Abdelmouchine, Burton, Kevin, Dellinger, Mathieu, Lloyd, Jeremy
• Other Authors: Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans (LMV), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne (UJM)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement et la société-Université Clermont Auvergne 2017-2020 (UCA 2017-2020 )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire de Physique du Globe de Clermont-Ferrand (OPGC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne 2017-2020 (UCA 2017-2020 )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne 2017-2020 (UCA 2017-2020 )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Earth Sciences Durham, Durham University, Department of Earth Sciences USC Los Angeles, University of Southern California (USC)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Iceland; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.uca.fr/hal-01876957; https://hal.uca.fr/hal-01876957/document; https://hal.uca.fr/hal-01876957/file/2018JG004492.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004492

International audience This study presents rhenium (Re) and osmium (Os) elemental and isotope data for macroalgae, dissolved load, and bed load from Icelandic coastal and/or river waters, an environment adjacent to predominantly basaltic terrains, ranging in age from historic to ~12 Ma. Both the Re (0.1 to 88.4 ppb) and Os (3.3 to 254.5 ppt) abundance in macroalgae are shown to be primarily controlled by uptake from the dissolved load of local seawater and are largely dependent on the relative influence of local freshwater inputs. Incorporation of Re and Os into macroalgae appears to be complicated by additional Re and Os uptake from the bed load. The 187Os/188Os (0.16 to 0.99) composition of macroalgae is highly variable and is explained in terms of an unradiogenic 187Os/188Os contribution from rivers draining younger basaltic catchments that have undergone congruent weathering (and/or hydrothermal input) and a radiogenic 187Os/188Os contribution from two distinct sources: rivers draining older catchments that have undergone incongruent weathering of radiogenic primary basaltic minerals and North Atlantic seawater. The 187Re/188Os composition (~65 to 40,320) of macroalgae traces that of water, with higher values associated with higher salinity waters, but far exceeds the 187Re/188Os of water due to the preferential uptake of Re over Os by macroalgae in areas of high dissolved and/or bed load Re abundances. This study substantiates the utility of macroalgae as a proxy for the long‐term (months to years) average 187Os/188Os composition of seawater, which holds the potential to elucidate a range of Earth system and anthropogenic processes.