Seawater pH reconstruction using boron isotopes in multiple planktonic foraminifera species with different depth habitats and their potential to constrain pH and pCO(2) gradients

Type Article
Date 2020-07
Language English
Author(s) Guillermic Maxence1, 2, Misra Sambuddha3, 4, Eagle Robert1, 2, Villa Alexandra1, 5, Chang FengmingORCID6, Tripati Aradhna1, 2
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Calif Los Angeles, Dept Earth Planetary & Space Sci, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, Inst Environm & Sustainabil, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA.
2 : Inst Univ Europeen Mer, UBO, Lab Geosci Ocean, UMR6538, Rue Dumont dUrville, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
3 : Indian Inst Sci, Ctr Earth Sci, Bengaluru 560012, Karnataka, India.
4 : Univ Cambridge, Dept Earth Sci, Godwin Lab Palaeoclimate Res, Cambridge, England.
5 : Univ Wisconsin, Dept Geosci, Madison, WI 53706 USA.
6 : Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Oceanol, Key Lab Marine Geol & Environm, Qingdao 266071, Peoples R China.
Source Biogeosciences (1726-4170) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2020-07 , Vol. 17 , N. 13 , P. 3487-3510
DOI 10.5194/bg-17-3487-2020
WOS© Times Cited 6
Abstract

Boron isotope systematics of planktonic foraminifera from core-top sediments and culture experiments have been studied to investigate the sensitivity of delta B-11 of calcite tests to seawater pH. However, our knowledge of the relationship between delta B-11 and pH remains incomplete for many taxa. Thus, to expand the potential scope of application of this proxy, we report delta B-11 data for seven different species of planktonic foraminifera from sediment core tops. We utilize a method for the measurement of small samples of foraminifera and calculate the delta B-11-calcite sensitivity to pH for Globigerinoides ruber, Trilobus sacculifer (sacc or without sacc), Orbulina universa, Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, Globorotalia menardii, and Globorotalia tumida, including for unstudied core tops and species. These taxa have diverse ecological preferences and are from sites that span a range of oceanographic regimes, including some that are in regions of air-sea equilibrium and others that are out of equilibrium with the atmosphere. The sensitivity of delta(11)B(carbonate )to delta B-11(borate) (e.g., Delta delta B-11(carbonate)/Delta delta B-11(borate)) in core tops is consistent with previous studies for T. sacculifer and G. ruber and close to unity for N. dutertrei, O. universa, and combined deep-dwelling species. Deep-dwelling species closely follow the core-top calibration for O. universa, which is attributed to respiration-driven microenvironments likely caused by light limitation and/or symbiont-host interactions. Our data support the premise that utilizing boron isotope measurements of multiple species within a sediment core can be utilized to constrain vertical profiles of pH and pCO(2) at sites spanning different oceanic regimes, thereby constraining changes in vertical pH gradients and yielding insights into the past behavior of the oceanic carbon pumps.

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Guillermic Maxence, Misra Sambuddha, Eagle Robert, Villa Alexandra, Chang Fengming, Tripati Aradhna (2020). Seawater pH reconstruction using boron isotopes in multiple planktonic foraminifera species with different depth habitats and their potential to constrain pH and pCO(2) gradients. Biogeosciences, 17(13), 3487-3510. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3487-2020 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00687/79861/