Coccolithophore calcification response to past ocean acidification and climate change
Coccolithophore calcification response to past ocean acidification and climate change
Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions are forcing rapid ocean chemistry changes and causing ocean acidification (OA), which is of particular significance for calcifying organisms, including planktonic coccolithophores. Detailed analysis of coccolithophore skeletons enables comparison of calcite production in modern and fossil cells in order to investigate biomineralization response of ancient coccolithophores to climate change. Here we show that the two dominant coccolithophore taxa across the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) OA global warming event (~56 million years ago) exhibited morphological response to environmental change and both showed reduced calcification rates. However, only Coccolithus pelagicus exhibits a transient thinning of coccoliths, immediately before the PETM, that may have been OA-induced. Changing coccolith thickness may affect calcite production more significantly in the dominant modern species Emiliania huxleyi, but, overall, these PETM records indicate that the environmental factors that govern taxonomic composition and growth rate will most strongly influence coccolithophore calcification response to anthropogenic change.
5363
O’Dea, Sarah A.
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Gibbs, Samantha J.
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Bown, Paul R.
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Young, Jeremy R.
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Poulton, Alex J.
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Newsam, Cherry
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Wilson, Paul A.
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17 November 2014
O’Dea, Sarah A.
f341c5fb-b72e-42af-b25f-896e25b96141
Gibbs, Samantha J.
82dfbcbc-3a8a-40da-8a80-fe7ad83f3110
Bown, Paul R.
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Young, Jeremy R.
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Poulton, Alex J.
14bf64a7-d617-4913-b882-e8495543e717
Newsam, Cherry
306e3d91-87a1-44a0-afc5-71a9f7cf0e0d
Wilson, Paul A.
f940a9f0-fa5a-4a64-9061-f0794bfbf7c6
O’Dea, Sarah A., Gibbs, Samantha J., Bown, Paul R., Young, Jeremy R., Poulton, Alex J., Newsam, Cherry and Wilson, Paul A.
(2014)
Coccolithophore calcification response to past ocean acidification and climate change.
Nature Communications, 5, .
(doi:10.1038/ncomms6363).
Abstract
Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions are forcing rapid ocean chemistry changes and causing ocean acidification (OA), which is of particular significance for calcifying organisms, including planktonic coccolithophores. Detailed analysis of coccolithophore skeletons enables comparison of calcite production in modern and fossil cells in order to investigate biomineralization response of ancient coccolithophores to climate change. Here we show that the two dominant coccolithophore taxa across the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) OA global warming event (~56 million years ago) exhibited morphological response to environmental change and both showed reduced calcification rates. However, only Coccolithus pelagicus exhibits a transient thinning of coccoliths, immediately before the PETM, that may have been OA-induced. Changing coccolith thickness may affect calcite production more significantly in the dominant modern species Emiliania huxleyi, but, overall, these PETM records indicate that the environmental factors that govern taxonomic composition and growth rate will most strongly influence coccolithophore calcification response to anthropogenic change.
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Accepted/In Press date: 25 September 2014
Published date: 17 November 2014
Organisations:
Marine Biogeochemistry, Paleooceanography & Palaeoclimate
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Local EPrints ID: 372435
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/372435
PURE UUID: ce7ed8a3-d684-4811-968b-8f78d21c9848
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Date deposited: 03 Dec 2014 14:28
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:05
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Contributors
Author:
Sarah A. O’Dea
Author:
Samantha J. Gibbs
Author:
Paul R. Bown
Author:
Jeremy R. Young
Author:
Alex J. Poulton
Author:
Cherry Newsam
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