No abstract

The trace element composition of planktic foraminiferal calcite provides a useful means of determining past surface ocean conditions. We have assembled the results of culture experiments for three species of symbiont-bearing planktic foraminifera, Globigerinoides ruber, Globigerinoides sacculifer, and Orbulina universa, and one symbiont-barren species, Globigerina bulloides, to evaluate their responses to temperature, salinity, pH, carbonate ion, and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) growth conditions. Trace element ratios (Li/Ca,

Boron/calcium ratios were measured in four benthic foraminiferal species (three calcitic: Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi, Cibicidoides mundulus, and Uvigerina spp., and one aragonitic: Hoeglundina elegans) from 108 core-top samples located globally. 2− ] on B/Ca have been established to be 1.14 ± 0.048 and 0.69 ± 0.072 μmol/mol per μmol/kg for C. wuellerstorfi and C. mundulus, respectively. The uncertainties associated with reconstructing bottom water Δ[CO 32− ] using B/Ca in C. wuellerstorfi and C. mundulus are about ±10 μmol/kg. A preliminary application shows that the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) B/Ca ratios were increased by 12% at 1-2 km and decreased by 12% at 3.5-4.0 km relative to Holocene values in the North Atlantic Ocean. This implies that the LGM [CO 32− ] was higher by ∼ 25-30 μmol/kg at intermediate depths and lower by ∼ 20 μmol/kg in deeper waters, consistent with glacial water mass reorganization in the North Atlantic Ocean inferred from other paleochemical proxies.

We have measured B/Ca ratios in Globigerina bulloides and Globorotalia inflata for a series of core tops from the North Atlantic and the Southern Ocean and in Globigerinoides ruber (white) from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) site 668B on the Sierra Leone Rise in the eastern equatorial Atlantic. B/Ca ratios in these species of planktonic foraminifera seem unaffected by dissolution on the seafloor. K D shows a strong species-specific dependence on calcification temperature, which can be corrected for using the Mg/Ca temperature proxy. A preliminary study of G. inflata from Southern Ocean sediment core CHAT 16K suggests that temperature-corrected B/Ca was $30% higher during the last glacial. Correspondingly, pH was 0.15 units higher and aqueous PCO 2 was 95 matm lower at this site at the Last Glacial Maximum. The covariation between reconstructed PCO 2 and the atmospheric pCO 2 from the Vostok ice core demonstrates the feasibility of using B/Ca in planktonic foraminifera for reconstructing past variations in pH and PCO 2 .Citation: Yu, J., H. Elderfield, and B. Hönisch (2007), B/Ca in planktonic foraminifera as a proxy for surface seawater pH,

Atmospheric CO2 was ∼90 ppmv lower at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) compared to the late Holocene, but the mechanisms responsible for this change remain elusive. Here we employ a carbon isotope‐enabled Earth System Model to investigate the role of ocean circulation in setting the LGM oceanic δ13C distribution, thereby improving our understanding of glacial/interglacial atmospheric CO2 variations. We find that the mean ocean δ13C change can be explained by a 378 ± 88 Gt C(2σ) smaller LGM terrestrial carbon reservoir compared to the Holocene. Critically, in this model, differences in the oceanic δ13C spatial pattern can only be reconciled with a LGM ocean circulation state characterized by a weak (10–15 Sv) and relatively shallow (2000–2500 m) North Atlantic Deep Water cell, reduced Antarctic Bottom Water transport (≤10 Sv globally integrated), and relatively weak (6–8 Sv) and shallow (1000–1500 m) North Pacific Intermediate Water formation. This oceanic circulation state is corroborated by results from the isotope‐enabled Bern3D ocean model and further confirmed by high LGM ventilation ages in the deep ocean, particularly in the deep South Atlantic and South Pacific. This suggests a poorly ventilated glacial deep ocean which would have facilitated the sequestration of carbon lost from the terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere.