Articles | Volume 18, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-449-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-449-2022
Research article
 | 
07 Mar 2022
Research article |  | 07 Mar 2022

Parallel between the isotopic composition of coccolith calcite and carbon levels across Termination II: developing a new paleo-CO2 probe

Camille Godbillot, Fabrice Minoletti, Franck Bassinot, and Michaël Hermoso

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Cited articles

Aloisi, G.: Covariation of metabolic rates and cell size in coccolithophores, Biogeosciences, 12, 4665–4692, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-4665-2015, 2015. 
Bach, L. T., MacKinder, L. C. M., Schulz, K. G., Wheeler, G., Schroeder, D. C., Brownlee, C., and Riebesell, U.: Dissecting the impact of CO2 and pH on the mechanisms of photosynthesis and calcification in the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi, New Phytol., 199, 121–134, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12225, 2013. 
Badger, M. P. S., Chalk, T. B., Foster, G. L., Bown, P. R., Gibbs, S. J., Sexton, P. F., Schmidt, D. N., Pälike, H., Mackensen, A., and Pancost, R. D.: Insensitivity of alkenone carbon isotopes to atmospheric CO2 at low to moderate CO2 levels, Clim. Past, 15, 539–554, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-539-2019, 2019. 
Bassinot, F. and Labeyrie, L.: IMAGES – MD 101 à bord du Marion-Dufresne du 29 mai au 11 juillet 1995. A coring cruise of the R/V Marion Dufresne in the North Atlantic Ocean and Norwegian Sea, Les Publications de l'Institut français pour la recherche et la technologie polaires. Les Rapports des campagnes à la mer, 96–1, 221, 1996. 
Beaufort, L., Probert, I., De Garidel-Thoron, T., Bendif, E. M., Ruiz-Pino, D., Metzl, N., Goyet, C., Buchet, N., Coupel, P., Grelaud, M., Rost, B., Rickaby, R. E. M., and De Vargas, C.: Sensitivity of coccolithophores to carbonate chemistry and ocean acidification, Nature, 476, 80–83, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10295, 2011. 
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Short summary
We test a new method to reconstruct past atmospheric CO2 levels based on the geochemistry of pelagic algal biominerals (coccoliths), which recent culture and numerical experiments have related to ambient CO2 concentrations. By comparing the isotopic composition of fossil coccoliths to the inferred surface ocean CO2 level at the time they calcified, we outline a transfer function and argue that coccolith vital effects can be used to reconstruct geological pCO2 beyond the ice core record.
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