Calcium isotopic composition of high-latitude proxy carrier Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sin.)

International audienceThe accurate reconstruction of sea surface temperature (SST) history in climate-sensitive regions (e.g. tropical and polar oceans) became a challenging task in palaeoceanographic research. However, biogenic shell carbonate SST proxies successfully developed for tropical regions often fail in cool water environments. Their major regional shortcomings and the cryptic diversity now found within the major high latitude proxy carrier Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sin.) highlight an urgent need to develop complementary SST proxies for these cool water regions. Here we incorporate the genetic component into a calibration study of a new SST proxy for the high latitudes. We found that the calcium isotopic composition (?44/40Ca) of calcite from genotyped net catches and core-top samples of the planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sin) is strongly related to temperature and unaffected by genetic variations. The temperature sensitivity has been found to be 0.17 (±0.04)? per 1°C highlighting its potential for downcore applications in open marine cool-water environments. Our results further indicate that however in extreme polar environments, below a critical threshold temperature of 2.0 (±0.5)°C and salinity of 33.0 (±0.5)? a prominent shift in biomineralization affect the Ca isotope composition of N. pachyderma (sin.) becoming insensitive to temperature. These findings highlight the need of systematic calibration studies to unravel the influencing factors on Ca isotope fractionation and to validate the proxies' applicability

Major, minor, trace element, Sm-Nd and Sr isotope compositions of mafic rocks from the earliest oceanic crust of the Alpine Tethys

Recent isotopic and biochronologic dating has demonstrated that the Gets nappe contains remnants of the oldest part of the oceanic crust of the Alpine Tethys. The ophiolites are associated with deep sea sediments, platform carbonates and continental crustal elements suggesting a transitional environment between continental and oceanic crust. Therefore, the ophiolites from the Gets nappe provide the opportunity to assess the nature of mantle source and the magma evolution during the final rifting stage of the European lithosphere. Trace clement analyses of mafic rocks can he divided into two sets: (1) P, Zr and Y contents are consistent with those of mid-ocean ridge basalts and REE patterns have a P-MORB affinity. (2) P,Zr Ti and Y contents are compatible with within-plate basalts and are characterized by REE spectra similar to that of T-MORB. Both have Nd isotopic compositions similar to those of synrift magma of the Red Sea and to the Rhine Graben. The model ages are in agreement with an LREE-enriched subcontinental mantle source derived from depleted mantle 800 to 900 Ma ago. Minor, trace element and Sm-Nd compositions suggest that these rocks are basaltic relies of an earliest stage of oceanic spreading i.e. an embryonic ocean. Comparison between REE patterns, Nd and Sr isotope compositions, isotopic and biochronologic ages from different Alpine Tethys ophiolites shows that samples with enriched LREE are from the older ophiolitic suites and are relies of the embryonic ocean floor. Later phases of ocean spreading are characterized by basalts that are depleted in LREE

Unusually heavy stable Mo isotope signatures of the Ottawa River: Causes and implications for global riverine Mo fluxes

The accurate use of Mo isotope mass balance modelling of ancient oceans relies on the assumption that the δ98Mo of modern riverine inputs represents a reasonable estimate of the past. A growing number of studies of global rivers have demonstrated significant variation in δ98Mo from the bedrock sources of Mo. The Ottawa River, Canada, was previously identified as having an anomalously heavy Mo isotope composition, with a δ98Mo signature close to seawater (2.3‰), for a seemingly pristine natural river. To further explore this unusual signature, we collected and filtered 29 water samples from the Ottawa River, tributaries, and small lakes, and analysed them for Mo isotopes as well as major and trace elements. Here, we fully document heavy δ98Mo signatures throughout the Ottawa River and its absence in surrounding areas of the wider Ottawa River basin (ORB). Our results reveal a progressive upstream increase in both Mo concentration and δ98Mo signatures in the Ottawa River towards values even heavier than seawater, up to 3.13‰ – the heaviest Mo isotopic signature of river water measured to date. In contrast, the tributaries and lakes display far lighter and more consistent δ98Mo signatures within the range previously found in other rivers. Weathering of an isotopically heavy bedrock source, fractionation during weathering and retention of light isotopes in soils have all been proposed as sources of heavy δ98Mo in rivers; however, none of these mechanisms can satisfactorily explain our new observations. Colloidal and particulate processes that remove elements downstream, as inferred from some trace element proxies, also cannot explain the decreasing δ98Mo, since the preferential removal of light Mo isotopes is predicted from these processes. Similarly, the downstream trends show no apparent relationships with constructed dams or known potential industrial sources. Therefore, our findings from the Ottawa River are best explained as the dilution of a yet unidentified point source of heavy Mo upstream of sampling, or a significant permanent sink for light isotopes existing only in the upper reaches of the catchment. In both cases, anthropogenic contribution from a large mining district in the headwaters of the river must be considered and should be explored further. Fractionation of Mo in waste rock storage facilities have been previously identified and may provide an unnatural sink for isotopically light Mo through the Rayleigh-type fractionation of dissolved Mo on oxyhydr(oxide) mineral surfaces. The implied anthropogenic alteration of the natural Mo cycle highlights the significant and wide-reaching effects of unnatural point sources of Mo on the cumulative δ98Mo signatures of the catchment, and emphasises the necessity for detailed geochemical screening of anomalous river water isotope signatures before natural isotope compositions are inferred

Molybdenum isotope fractionation in pelagic euxinia: Evidence from the modern Black and Baltic Seas

Here we present stable isotope data for vertical profiles of dissolved molybdenum of the modern euxinic water columns of the Black Sea and two deeps of the Baltic Sea. Dissolved molybdenum in all water samples is depleted in salinity-normalized concentration and enriched in the heavy isotope (δ98Mo values up to + 2.9‰) compared to previously published isotope data of sedimentary molybdenum from the same range of water depths. Furthermore, δ98Mo values of all water samples from the Black Sea and anoxic deeps of the Baltic Sea are heavier than open ocean water. The observed isotope fractionation between sediments and the anoxic water column of the Black Sea are in line with the model of thiomolybdates that scavenge to particles under reducing conditions. An extrapolation to a theoretical pure MoS42− solution indicates a fractionation constant between MoS42− and authigenic solid Mo of 0.5 ± 0.3‰. Measured waters with all thiomolybdates coexisting in various proportions show larger but non-linear fractionation. The best explanation for our field observations is Mo scavenging by the thiomolybdates, dominantly — but not exclusively — present in the form of MoS42−. The Mo isotopic compositions of samples from the sediments and anoxic water column of the Baltic Sea are in overall agreement with those of the Black Sea at intermediate depth and corresponding sulphide concentrations. The more dynamic changes of redox conditions in the Baltic deeps complicate the Black Sea-derived relationship between thiomolybdates and Mo isotopic composition. In particular, the occasional flushing/mixing, of the deep waters, affects the corresponding water column and sedimentary data. δ98Mo values of the upper oxic waters of both basins are higher than predicted by mixing models based on salinity variations. The results can be explained by non-conservative behaviour of Mo under suboxic to anoxic conditions in the shallow bottom parts of the basin, most pronounced on the NW shelf of the Black Sea

The impact of igneous bedrock weathering on the Mo isotopic composition of stream waters: Natural samples and laboratory experiments

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