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Decrease in coccolithophore calcification and CO2 since the middle Miocene

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  • Clara T. Bolton

    (Oviedo University
    Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, CEREGE UM34, 13545)

  • María T. Hernández-Sánchez

    (Oviedo University)

  • Miguel-Ángel Fuertes

    (Grupo de Geociencias Oceánicas, University of Salamanca)

  • Saúl González-Lemos

    (Oviedo University)

  • Lorena Abrevaya

    (Oviedo University)

  • Ana Mendez-Vicente

    (Oviedo University)

  • José-Abel Flores

    (Grupo de Geociencias Oceánicas, University of Salamanca)

  • Ian Probert

    (CNRS, Sorbonne Universités-Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) Paris 06, FR2424, Roscoff Culture Collection, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Place Georges Teissier)

  • Liviu Giosan

    (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

  • Joel Johnson

    (University of New Hampshire)

  • Heather M. Stoll

    (Oviedo University)

Abstract

Marine algae are instrumental in carbon cycling and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) regulation. One group, coccolithophores, uses carbon to photosynthesize and to calcify, covering their cells with chalk platelets (coccoliths). How ocean acidification influences coccolithophore calcification is strongly debated, and the effects of carbonate chemistry changes in the geological past are poorly understood. This paper relates degree of coccolith calcification to cellular calcification, and presents the first records of size-normalized coccolith thickness spanning the last 14 Myr from tropical oceans. Degree of calcification was highest in the low-pH, high-CO2 Miocene ocean, but decreased significantly between 6 and 4 Myr ago. Based on this and concurrent trends in a new alkenone ɛp record, we propose that decreasing CO2 partly drove the observed trend via reduced cellular bicarbonate allocation to calcification. This trend reversed in the late Pleistocene despite low CO2, suggesting an additional regulator of calcification such as alkalinity.

Suggested Citation

  • Clara T. Bolton & María T. Hernández-Sánchez & Miguel-Ángel Fuertes & Saúl González-Lemos & Lorena Abrevaya & Ana Mendez-Vicente & José-Abel Flores & Ian Probert & Liviu Giosan & Joel Johnson & Heathe, 2016. "Decrease in coccolithophore calcification and CO2 since the middle Miocene," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-13, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10284
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10284
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