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Environmental versus biomineralization controls on the intratest variation in the trace element composition of the planktonic foraminifera G. inflata and G. scitula
Author(s) -
Hathorne Ed C.,
James Rachael H.,
Lampitt Richard S.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
paleoceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1944-9186
pISSN - 0883-8305
DOI - 10.1029/2009pa001742
Subject(s) - foraminifera , calcite , sediment trap , geology , electron microprobe , water column , chemical composition , trace element , mineralogy , analytical chemistry (journal) , oceanography , precipitation , empa , salinity , seawater , environmental chemistry , chemistry , geochemistry , organic chemistry , benthic zone , physics , meteorology
The intratest variation in the chemical composition of Globorotalia scitula and G. inflata recovered from a sediment trap sample collected at 3000 m in the North Atlantic in early spring has been investigated using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry and electron microprobe. Mg/Ca, Li/Ca, B/Ca, Mn/Ca, and Ba/Ca vary by up to a factor of 10 through the test walls. Water column properties, including temperature and salinity, are well documented at the trap site, and the observed variations are too large to be explained by vertical migration of the foraminifera. However, changes in calcite precipitation rate, crystal structure, or the chemical composition of the internal calcification reservoir also cannot, by themselves, fully account for the pattern of intratest variability. Nevertheless, the average Mg/Ca for each chamber generally produces a Mg/Ca temperature that matches that measured in the water column. The exception is small, morphologically distinct G. inflata tests that have anomalously high Mg/Ca.

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