A benthic monitor for coastal water dissolved oxygen variation: Mn/Ca ratios in tests of an epifaunal foraminifer

Abstract

An appropriate proxy could help to better understand dissolved oxygen variations in the past, helping to predict potential outcomes of future environmental changes. In the Changjiang Estuary (China), the foraminifer Cribrononion subincertum (C. subincertum) shows a distinct population maximum in the topmost sediment, an indication of an epifaunal species. Therefore, the geochemical composition of C. subincertum tests could record changes in the region’s bottom water chemistry. Our results showed that Mn/Ca ratios in tests of living (Rose-Bengal stained) C. subincertum analyzed by LA-ICP-MS were responsive to variations of bottom water dissolved oxygen concentrations, with average foraminiferal Mn/Ca ratios three times higher during low-oxygen period than in winter. In the uppermost centimeters of sediment, wider ranges of foraminiferal Mn/Ca occurred in summer compared to winter ranges. Our results imply that this epifaunal benthic foraminiferal species could serve as a useful benthic monitor with the Mn/Ca ratios representing a reliable proxy of hypoxia in the past.