Benthic Foraminiferal Oxygen Isotope Offsets Over The Last Glacial-Interglacial Cycle

Abstract

The oxygen isotope (?18O) offset between contemporaneous benthic foraminiferal species is often assumed constant with time and geographic location. We present an inventory of benthic foraminiferal species ?18O offsets from the major ocean basins covering the last glacial-interglacial cycle, showing that of the twenty down-core records investigated, twelve show significant temporal changes in ?18O offsets that do not resemble stochastic variability. Some of the temporal changes may be related to kinetic fractionation effects causing deglacial/interglacial enrichment or glacial depletion in mainly infaunal species, but additional research is needed to confirm this. In addition to stratigraphic implications the finding of temporally varying offsets between co-existing benthic foraminiferal species could have implications for sea-level, deep water temperature, and regional deep water ?18O estimates.

More information

Identifiers

Catalogue record

Export record

Altmetrics