On culture artefacts in coccolith morphology

Coccolith malformations occur more frequently in cultured specimens than in specimens from natural samples, a phenomenon commonly termed ‘culture artefacts’. The causes of culture artefacts are unknown. Here, we tested the effect of culture flask shape, mixing, and cell density on the morphology of Emiliania huxleyi coccoliths. While there was no effect of different culture flask types typically used in coccolithophore culturing, continuous mixing reduced the percentage of malformations by ca. 11 % in exponential-phase cells (cell density ca. 80 × 103 cells per ml) and ca. 17 % in stationary-phase cells (cell density ca. 2 × 106 cells per ml). Stationary-phase cells displayed 19 % more malformations than mid-exponential-phase cells when not mixed at all and 20 % more malformations when continuously mixed. It is concluded that the lack of mixing and unnaturally high cell densities, typical for coccolithophore stock cultures, are partly responsible for culture artefacts

CO2 mediation of adverse effects of seawater acidification inCalcidiscus leptoporus

The coccolithophore Calcidiscus leptoporus (strain RCC1135) was grown in dilute batch culture at CO2 levels ranging from similar to 200 to similar to 1600 mu atm. Increasing CO2 concentration led to an increased percentage of malformed coccoliths and eventually (at similar to 1500 mu atm CO2) to aggregation of cells. Carbonate chemistry of natural seawater was manipulated in three ways: first, addition of acid; second, addition of a IICO3-/CO32- solution; and third, addition of both acid and IICO3-/CO32- solution. The data set allowed the disentangling of putative effects of the different parameters of the carbonate system. It is concluded that CO2 is the parameter of the carbonate system which causes both aberrant coccolithogenesis and aggregation of cells

Li Partitioning Into Coccoliths of Emiliania huxleyi : Evaluating the General Role of “Vital Effects” in Explaining Element Partitioning in Biogenic Carbonates

Emiliania huxleyi cells were grown in artificial seawater of different Li and Ca concentrations and coccolith Li/Ca ratios determined. Coccolith Li/Ca ratios were positively correlated to seawater Li/Ca ratios only if the seawater Li concentration was changed, not if the seawater Ca concentration was changed. This Li partitioning pattern of E. huxleyi was previously also observed in the benthic foraminifer Amphistegina lessonii and inorganically precipitated calcite. We argue that Li partitioning in both E. huxleyi and A. lessonii is dominated by a coupled transmembrane transport of Li and Ca from seawater to the site of calcification. We present a refined version of a recently proposed transmembrane transport model for Li and Ca. The model assumes that Li and Ca enter the cell via Ca channels, the Li flux being dependent on the Ca flux. While the original model features a linear function to describe the experimental data, our refined version uses a power function, changing the stoichiometry of Li and Ca. The version presented here accurately predicts the observed dependence of DLi on seawater Li/Ca ratios. Our data demonstrate that minor element partitioning in calcifying organisms is partly mediated by biological processes even if the partitioning behavior of the calcifying organism is indistinguishable from that of inorganically precipitated calcium carbonate

Exploring foraminiferal Sr/Ca as a new carbonate system proxy

In present day paleoclimate research one of the most pressing challenges is the reconstruction of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. A variety of proxies for several components of the marine inorganic carbon system have been developed in this context (e.g. B isotopes, B/Ca, U/Ca) to allow reconstruction of past seawater pH, HCO3− and CO32− and thereby facilitate estimates of past atmospheric pCO2. Based on culture experiments using the benthic foraminifera Ammonia sp. we describe a positive correlation between Sr/Ca and the carbonate system, namely DIC/bicarbonate ion concentration. Foraminiferal Sr/Ca ratios provide potentially additional constraints on the carbonate system proxy, because the analysis of foraminiferal carbonate Sr/Ca is straightforward and not easily contaminated. Applying our calibration to a published dataset of paleo-Sr/Ca suggests the validity of Sr/Ca as a carbonate system proxy. Furthermore, we explore how our data can be used to advance conceptual understanding of the foraminiferal biomineralization mechanism

Effect of different seawater Mg2Â + concentrations on calcification in two benthic foraminifers

Magnesium, incorporated in foraminiferal calcite (Mg/CaCC), is used intensively to reconstruct past seawater temperatures but, in addition to temperature, the Mg/CaCC of foraminiferal tests also depends on the ratio of Mg and Ca in seawater (Mg/CaSW). The physiological mechanisms responsible for these proxy relationships are still unknown. This culture study investigates the impact of different seawater Mg2 + on calcification in two benthic foraminiferal species precipitating contrasting Mg/{CaCC}: Ammonia aomoriensis, producing low-Mg calcite and Amphistegina lessonii, producing intermediate-Mg calcite. Foraminiferal growth and test thickness were determined and, Mg/Ca was analyzed using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry ({LA}-{ICP}-{MS}). Results show that at present-day seawater Mg/{CaSW} of {\textasciitilde} 5, both species have highest growth rates, reflecting their adaptation to modern seawater element concentrations. Test thickness is not significantly affected by different Mg/{CaSW}. The relationship between Mg/{CaSW} and Mg/{CaCC} shows a distinct positive y-axis intercept, possibly reflecting at least two processes involved in foraminiferal biomineralization. The associated Mg partition ({DMg}) changes non-linearly with increasing Mg/{CaSW}, hence suggesting that the {DMg} is best described by an exponential function approaching an asymptote

On the Singular Weyl-Titchmarsh Function of Perturbed Spherical Schroedinger Operators

We investigate the singular Weyl-Titchmarsh m-function of perturbed spherical Schroedinger operators (also known as Bessel operators) under the assumption that the perturbation $q(x)$ satisfies $x q(x) \in L^1(0,1)$. We show existence plus detailed properties of a fundamental system of solutions which are entire with respect to the energy parameter. Based on this we show that the singular m-function belongs to the generalized Nevanlinna class and connect our results with the theory of super singular perturbations.Comment: 35 page