An evaluation of benthic foraminiferal U/Ca and U/Mn proxies for deep ocean carbonate chemistry and redox conditions

The deep ocean is thought to have played a crucial role in modulating atmospheric CO2 changes, and thus reconstructions of deep ocean conditions can place important constraints on the past global carbon cycle. Some previous studies suggested that foraminiferal U/Ca could be used to infer seawater carbonate chemistry changes, but others showed complications from diagenesis and temperature. A recent downcore study suggested that foraminiferal U/Mn may be used for sedimentary redoxconditions, but no core-top work has been done to investigate factors affecting U/Mn. We investigate controlling factors on U/Ca and U/Mn in two benthic foraminiferal species from 120 global core-tops and three Atlantic sediment cores. Our core-top data reveal no significant correlation between core-top benthic U/Ca and carbonate system parameters. The lack of an influence of deep-water [CO22-] on U/Ca is further supported by our downcore results. Together, our data highlight complications to use benthic U/Ca for deep-water carbonate chemistry reconstructions. Although no correlation is found between core-top U/Mn and hydrographic data, high-resolution U/Mn and U/Ca in core TNO57-21 show similar patterns to authigenic U (aU) and vary in tandem with atmospheric CO2 on millennial timescales. Changes in U/Mn, U/Ca and aU in TNO57-21 may reflect postdepositional diagenesis linked to sedimentary oxygen, which is controlled by subantarctic surface productivity and ventilation of deep South Atlantic in the past. We suggest that benthic U/Mn and U/Ca may be used as auxiliary indicators for past sedimentary redox-conditions and along with other proxies could reflect deep-water oxygenation.

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Figure S1 Tables S6, S7 and S8
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Table S1. Element/Ca ratios of C. wuellerstorfi together with core-top sample locations and hydrographic data.
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Table S2. Element/Ca ratios of C. mundulus together with core-top sample locations and hydrographic data.
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Table S3. Element/Ca ratios of C. mundulus for BOFS 17K.
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Table S4. Element/Ca ratios of C. wuellerstorfi for BOFS 8K.
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Table S5. Element/Ca ratios of C. wuellerstorfi for TNO57-21.
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How to cite
Chen Pujiao, Yu Jimin, Jin Zhangdong (2017). An evaluation of benthic foraminiferal U/Ca and U/Mn proxies for deep ocean carbonate chemistry and redox conditions. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems. 18 (2). 617-630. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GC006730, https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00420/53185/

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