Temperature Calibration of Elevated Mg/Ca in Planktic Foraminifera Shells From the Hypersaline Gulf of Aqaba

N. Levy*, A. Torfstein, R. Schiebel, N. Chernihovsky, K. P. Jochum, U. Weis, B. Stoll, G. H. Haug

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Mg/Ca of marine calcareous Planktic Foraminifera (PF) shells is commonly used for sea surface temperature reconstructions. However, compared to open marine environments, hypersaline (>40) oligotrophic seas have been shown to accommodate PF with higher Mg/Ca and divergent temperature to Mg/Ca relationships. To investigate influencing factors of PF Mg uptake in hypersaline regions, we measured the Mg/Ca of two flux-dominating PF species, Globigerinoides ruber albus and Turborotalita clarkei, derived from a monthly resolved time series of sediment traps in the Gulf of Aqaba, northern Red Sea as well as the corresponding temperature, salinity, and pH values. The PF exhibit elevated Mg/Ca which cannot be explained by post-deposition or interstitial sediment diagenetic processes. G. ruber albus displays Mg/Ca trends that strongly follow seasonal mixed layer temperature changes. Conversely, T. clarkei Mg/Ca trends do not follow temperature but rather show significant Mg/Ca enrichment following mixing of the surface water column. We present a framework for incorporating elevated Mg/Ca into global Mg/Ca-T calibrations for G. ruber albus and present a new Mg/Ca-T calibration suitable for hypersaline marine environments.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2022GC010742
JournalGeochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
Volume24
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2023

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© 2023 The Authors. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union.

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