Elderfield Henry

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Elderfield
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Henry
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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Article
    Comment on “Modern-age buildup of CO2 and its effects on seawater acidity and salinity” by Hugo A. Loáiciga
    (American Geophysical Union, 2007-09-25) Caldeira, Ken ; Archer, David ; Barry, James P. ; Bellerby, Richard G. J. ; Brewer, Peter G. ; Cao, Long ; Dickson, Andrew G. ; Doney, Scott C. ; Elderfield, Henry ; Fabry, Victoria J. ; Feely, Richard A. ; Gattuso, Jean-Pierre ; Haugan, Peter M. ; Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove ; Jain, Atul K. ; Kleypas, Joan A. ; Langdon, Chris ; Orr, James C. ; Ridgwell, Andy ; Sabine, Christopher L. ; Seibel, Brad A. ; Shirayama, Yoshihisa ; Turley, Carol ; Watson, Andrew J. ; Zeebe, Richard E.
  • Article
    Authigenic uranium in foraminiferal coatings : a proxy for ocean redox chemistry
    (American Geophysical Union, 2012-09-08) Boiteau, Rene M. ; Greaves, Mervyn ; Elderfield, Henry
    The rate of uranium accumulation in oceanic sediments from seawater is controlled by bottom water oxygen concentrations and organic carbon fluxes—two parameters that are linked to deep ocean storage of CO2. To investigate glacial-interglacial changes in what is known as authigenic U, we have developed a rapid method for its determination as a simple addition to a procedure for foraminiferal trace element analysis. Foraminiferal calcite acts as a low U substrate (U/Ca < 15 nmol/mol) upon which authigenic U accumulates in reducing sediments. We measured a downcore record of foraminiferal U/Ca from ODP Site 1090 in the South Atlantic and found that U/Ca ratios increase by 70–320 nmol/mol during glacial intervals. There is a significant correlation between U/Ca records of benthic and planktonic foraminiferal species and between U/Ca and bulk sediment authigenic U. These results indicate that elevated U/Ca ratios are attributable to the accumulation of authigenic U coatings in sediments. Foraminiferal Mn/Ca ratios were lower during the glacial intervals, suggesting that the observed U accumulation on the shells is not directly linked to U incorporation into secondary manganese phases. Thus, foraminiferal U/Ca ratios may provide useful information on past changes in sediment redox conditions.
  • Preprint
    Controls on stable isotope and trace metal uptake in Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral) from an Antarctic sea-ice environment
    ( 2008-11) Hendry, Katharine R. ; Rickaby, Rosalind E. M. ; Meredith, Michael P. ; Elderfield, Henry
    The polar foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral) dominates assemblages from the high latitude Southern Ocean, which is a key region for paleoclimate studies. Here, we use N. pachyderma (s.) harvested from sediment traps off the West Antarctic Peninsula to construct a seasonal time series for the calibration of calcite proxies in a high latitude seasonal sea-ice environment where temperature is decoupled from other environmental parameters. We have used a combination of δ18OCaCO3 and δ13CCaCO3 to decipher the calcification temperature and salinity, which reflect that N. pachyderma (s.) live in surface waters throughout the year, and at the ice-water interface in austral winter. Further, our results demonstrate that, during winter, the uptake of trace metals into N. pachyderma (s.) calcite is influenced by secondary environmental conditions in addition to temperature during periods of sea-ice. We suggest an elevated carbonate ion concentration at the ice-water interface resulting from biological utilisation CO2 could influence calcification in foraminifera. We demonstrate that for N. pachyderma (s.) Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios are linear functions of calcification temperature and [CO32-]. N. pachyderma (s.) Mg/Ca ratios exhibit temperature sensitivity similar to previous studies (~ 10 % per °C) and a sensitivity to [CO32-] of ~ 1 % per μmol kg-1). Sr/Ca ratios are less sensitive to environmental parameters, exhibiting < 1% increase per °C and per 10 μmol kg-1. We show how a multi-proxy approach could be used to constrain past high latitude surface water temperature and [CO32-].
  • Preprint
    The influence of salinity on Mg/Ca in planktic foraminifers - evidence from cultures, core-top sediments and complementary δ18O
    ( 2013-06) Honisch, Barbel ; Allen, Katherine A. ; Lea, David W. ; Spero, Howard J. ; Eggins, Stephen M. ; Arbuszewski, Jennifer ; deMenocal, Peter B. ; Rosenthal, Yair ; Russell, Ann D. ; Elderfield, Henry
    The Mg/Ca ratio in foraminiferal calcite is one of the principal proxies used for paleoceanographic temperature reconstructions, but recent core-top sediment observations suggest that salinity may exert a significant secondary control on planktic foraminifers. This study compiles new and published laboratory culture experiment data from the planktic foraminifers Orbulina universa, Globigerinoides sacculifer and Globigerinoides ruber, in which salinity was varied but temperature, pH and light were held constant. Combining new data with results from previous culture studies yields a Mg/Ca-sensitivity to salinity of 4.4±2.3%, 4.7±1.2%, and 3.3±1.7% per salinity unit (95% confidence), respectively, for the three foraminifer species studied here. Comparison of these sensitivities with core-top data suggests that the much larger sensitivity (27±4% per salinity unit) derived from Atlantic core-top sediments in previous studies is not a direct effect of salinity. Rather, we suggest that the dissolution correction often applied to Mg/Ca data can lead to significant overestimation of temperatures. We are able to reconcile culture calibrations with core-top observations by combining evidence for seasonal occurrence and latitude-specific habitat depth preferences with corresponding variations in physico-chemical environmental parameters. Although both Mg/Ca and δ18O yield temperature estimates that fall within the bounds of hydrographic observations, discrepancies between the two proxies highlight unresolved challenges with the use of paired Mg/Ca and δ18O analyses to reconstruct paleo-salinity patterns across ocean basins. The first step towards resolving these challenges requires a better spatially and seasonally resolved δ18Osw archive than is currently available. Nonetheless, site-specific reconstructions of salinity change through time may be valid.