Coupled Mg/Ca and clumped isotope analyses of foraminifera provide consistent water temperatures

• Published in: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
• Main Authors: Breitenbach, Sebastian F.M., Mleneck-Vautravers, Maryline J., Grauel, Anna Lena, Lo, Li, Bernasconi, Stefano M., Müller, Inigo A., Rolfe, James, Gázquez, Fernando, Greaves, Mervyn, Hodell, David A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Clumped isotopes; Mg/Ca analysis; Paleoceanography; Paleoclimatology; Planktonic foraminifera
• Online Access: https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/coupled-mgca-and-clumped-isotope-analyses-of-foraminifera-provide-consistent-water-temperatures(f3786558-32a3-418f-8ff2-34f34da2fde7).html; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.03.010

The reliable determination of past seawater temperature is fundamental to paleoclimate studies. We test the robustness of two paleotemperature proxies by combining Mg/Ca and clumped isotopes (Δ 47 ) on the same specimens of core top planktonic foraminifera. The strength of this approach is that Mg/Ca and Δ 47 are measured on the same specimens of foraminifera, thereby providing two independent estimates of temperature. This replication constitutes a rigorous test of individual methods with the advantage that the same approach can be applied to fossil specimens. Aliquots for Mg/Ca and clumped analyses are treated in the same manner following a modified cleaning procedure of foraminifera for trace element and isotopic analyses. We analysed eight species of planktonic foraminifera from coretop samples over a wide range of temperatures from 2 to 29°C. We provide a new clumped isotope temperature calibrations using subaqueous cave carbonates, which is consistent with recent studies. Tandem Mg/Ca–Δ 47 results follow an exponential curve as predicted by temperature calibration equations. Observed deviations from the predicted Mg/Ca-Δ 47 relationship are attributed to the effects of Fe-Mn oxide coatings, contamination, or dissolution of foraminiferal tests. This coupled approach provides a high degree of confidence in temperature estimates when Mg/Ca and Δ 47 yield concordant results, and can be used to infer the past δ 18 O of seawater (δ 18 O sw ) for paleoclimate studies.