Collaborative Research: Incorporation and Preservation of Magnesium in Planktonic Foraminifera: Implications for Mg-Paleothermometry and Calcite Solubility

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole MA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will examine the relationships between calcite solubility, water temperature, Mg/Ca and oxygen isotopic ratios in planktic foraminifera. Individual specimens from 6 depth transects in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans will be analyzed for geochemical variables and for size-normalized mass, concentrating on core tops but including some comparison with samples from the last glacial maximum. The effect of different cleaning techniques upon geochemistry will also be examined, and exploratory work witll be done on the use of electron microprobe, synchrotron X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy to identify the mineralogy of Mg incorporation.