Projects per year
Abstract
Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions directly or indirectly drive ocean acidification, warming and enhanced stratification. The combined effects of these processes on marine planktic calcifiers at decadal to centennial timescales are poorly understood. Here, we analyze size normalized planktic foraminiferal shell weight, shell geochemistry, and supporting proxies from 3 sediment cores in the Mediterranean Sea spanning several centuries. Our results allow us to investigate the response of surface-dwelling planktic foraminifera to increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide. We find that increased anthropogenic carbon dioxide levels led to basin wide reductions in size normalized weights by modulating foraminiferal calcification. Carbon (δ13C) and boron (δ11B) isotopic compositions also indicate the increasing influence of fossil fuel derived carbon dioxide and decreasing pH, respectively. Alkenone concentrations and test accumulation rates indicate that warming and changes in biological productivity are insufficient to offset acidification effects. We suggest that further increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide will drive ongoing reductions in marine biogenic calcification in the Mediterranean Sea.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Communications Earth & Environment |
Volume | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 28 Aug 2023 |
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Dive into the research topics of 'Anthropogenic acidification of surface waters drives decreased biogenic calcification in the Mediterranean Sea'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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OldCO2NewArchives: CO2 reconstruction: OldCO2NewArchives: CO2 Reconstruction over the last 100 Myr from novel geological archives
Rae, J. W. B. (PI)
1/02/19 → 31/01/24
Project: Fellowship
Datasets
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Changes in planktic foraminiferal shell chemistry and size normalized weight at three sites in the western Mediterranean Sea, and complementary age model, sea surface temperature and biomarker data
Pallacks, S. (Contributor), Ziveri, P. (Contributor), Schiebel, R. (Contributor), Vonhof, H. B. (Contributor), Rae, J. W. B. (Contributor), Littley, E. (Contributor), García-Orellana, J. (Contributor), Langer, G. (Contributor), Grelaud, M. (Contributor) & Martrat, B. (Contributor), PANGAEA, 2023
Dataset