Tuning the Mg/Ca Paleothermometer for High-Latitude Species and Insights into Intraspecific and Intrashell Variability

Abstract:

The Mg/Ca of planktic foraminifera shells has become a widely used paleothermometer. However, culture-based calibrations have been confined primarily to low-latitude species with limited data from species growing below 12°C. Some core-top calibrations on high-latitude Neogloboquadrinids raise questions about the influence of [CO₃^-2] and low Mg/Ca “crusts” on shell geochemistry (e.g. 1). This study seeks to extend the low temperature range of culture-based calibrations to temperatures relevant in high-latitudes and active upwelling areas, taking into account the wide range of [CO₃^-2] observed in these environments. We further examine whether intrashell geochemical variability in the form of “crusting” poses a limitation to Mg/Ca paleothermometry of crust-forming species.

Here we present the results of laboratory experiments with living Neogloboquadrina incompta and Neogloboquadrina pachyderma collected and cultured at UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory at temperatures between 6° and 12°C and a range of [CO₃^-2]. We use a combination of Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry and Electron Microprobe mapping, to analyze both intraspecific and intrashell variability in Mg/Ca. We extend existing culture-based temperature calibrations to 6°C, while accounting for the effect of environmental [CO₃^-2]. Single-shell analyses reveal a high degree of intraspecific variability in the Mg/Ca of calcite grown under stable laboratory conditions. Intrashell analyses identify characteristic low Mg/Ca "crusts" in N. incomptagrown at constant temperature, which record chamber average Mg/Ca within the range of uncrusted conspecifics grown at the same temperature.

1. R. Kozdon et al., Reassessing Mg/Ca temperature calibrations of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral) using paired δ44/40Ca and Mg/Ca measurements. Geochem Geophys. 10, Q03005 (2009).