Vital effects in coccolith calcite: Cenozoic climate‐p CO2drove the diversity of carbon acquisition strategies in coccolithophores?
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Coccoliths, calcite plates produced by the marine phytoplankton coccolithophores, have previously shown a large array of carbon and oxygen stable isotope fractionations (termed “vital effects”), correlated to cell size and hypothesized to reflect the varying importance of active carbon acquisition strategies. Culture studies show a reduced range of vital effects between large and small coccolithophores under high CO 2, consistent with previous observations of a smaller range of interspecific vital effects in Paleocene coccoliths. We present new fossil data examining coccolithophore vital effects over three key Cenozoic intervals reflecting changing climate and atmospheric partial pressure of CO 2(p CO 2). Oxygen and carbon stable isotopes of size‐separated coccolith fractions dominated by different species from well preserved Paleocene‐Eocene thermal maximum (PETM, ∼56 Ma) samples show reduced interspecific differences within the greenhouse boundary conditions of the PETM. Conversely, isotope data from the Plio‐Pleistocene transition (PPT; 3.5–2 Ma) and the last glacial maximum (LGM; ∼22 ka) show persistent vital effects of ∼2‰. PPT and LGM data show a clear positive trend between coccolith (cell) size and isotopic enrichment in coccolith carbonate, as seen in laboratory cultures. On geological timescales, the degree of expression of vital effects in coccoliths appears to be insensitive to p CO 2 changes over the range ∼350 ppm (Pliocene) to ∼180 ppm (LGM). The modern array of coccolith vital effects arose after the PETM but before the late Pliocene and may reflect the operation of more diverse carbon acquisition strategies in coccolithophores in response to decreasing Cenozoic p CO 2.
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Non-equilibrium oxygen-18 effects in coccolithophores have varied drastically at geologic time scales.
“the observation that non-equilibrium oxygen-18 effects in coccolithophores have varied drastically at geologic time scales22,57 offers a cautionary tale regarding the long-term applicability of modern calibrations for biogenic carbonates.”
From Most Earth-surface calcites precipitate out of isotopic equilibrium (2019) · cites this paper as [22]
Many carbonate calibrations display similar temperature sensitivities, with δ18O values decreasing by 0.2‰ per K around 20 °C, but certain types of carbonates such as speleothems, corals, or coccoliths are clearly influenced by additional parameters beyond precipitation temperature.
“Although many of these calibrations display similar temperature sensitivities, with δ18O values decreasing by 0.2‰ per K around 20 °C, certain types of carbonates, such as speleothems19,20, corals5,21, or coccoliths22, are clearly influenced by additional parameters beyond precipitation temperature.”
From Most Earth-surface calcites precipitate out of isotopic equilibrium (2019) · cites this paper as [22]
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References 111 · Cited by 58
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- Authors
- Bolton, C. T., Stoll, H. M., & Mendez‐Vicente, A.
- Affiliations
- Universidad de Oviedo (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Bolton, Clara T.
- Venue
- Paleoceanography
- Publisher
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Published
- 2012-11-03
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- A4204
- ISSN
- 0883-8305 (ISSN-L)
- 1944-9186
- OpenAlex
- W1625995244
- Semantic Scholar
- f3bb6695d510294ebd807bdff3a2c6011851975f
- Cited by
- 58
- References
- 111
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 3.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Paleoceanography (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Consultation of the Doctoral Thesis Database (TESEO) (Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0628336)
- Williams College
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (240222)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › Calcium Carbonate Crystallization and Inhibition
- Keywords
- coccolithophores, coccoliths, vital effects, carbon isotope fractionation, oxygen isotope fractionation, atmospheric pCO2, Cenozoic climate, Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Pliocene-Pleistocene transition, Last Glacial Maximum, coccolith size, phytoplankton
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