Environmental and biological controls on Na∕Ca ratios in scleractinian cold-water corals

  • Here we present a comprehensive attempt to correlate aragonitic Na∕Ca ratios from Desmophyllum pertusum (formerly known as Lophelia pertusa), Madrepora oculata and a caryophylliid cold-water coral (CWC) species with different seawater parameters such as temperature, salinity and pH. Living CWC specimens were collected from 16 different locations and analyzed for their Na∕Ca ratios using solution-based inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) measurements. The results reveal no apparent correlation with salinity (30.1–40.57 g kg−1) but a significant inverse correlation with temperature (−0.31±0.04 mmolmol−1∘C−1). Other marine aragonitic organisms such as Mytilus edulis (inner aragonitic shell portion) and Porites sp. exhibit similar results highlighting the consistency of the calculated CWC regressions. Corresponding Na∕Mg ratios show a similar temperature sensitivity to Na∕Ca ratios, but the combination of two ratios appears to reduce the impact of vital effects and domain-dependent geochemical variation. The high degree of scatter and elemental heterogeneities between the different skeletal features in both Na∕Ca and Na∕Mg, however, limit the use of these ratios as a proxy and/or make a high number of samples necessary. Additionally, we explore two models to explain the observed temperature sensitivity of Na∕Ca ratios for an open and semi-enclosed calcifying space based on temperature-sensitive Na- and Ca-pumping enzymes and transport proteins that change the composition of the calcifying fluid and consequently the skeletal Na∕Ca ratio.

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Author:Nicolai SchleinkoferORCiDGND, Jacek RaddatzORCiDGND, André FreiwaldORCiDGND, David EvansORCiD, Lydia Beuck, Andres Rüggeberg, Volker Liebetrau
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-525882
DOI:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-3565-2019
ISSN:1726-4189
Parent Title (English):Biogeosciences
Publisher:Copernicus
Place of publication:Katlenburg-Lindau [u. a.]
Contributor(s):Aldo Shemesh
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2019
Date of first Publication:2019/09/20
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2019/12/23
Volume:16
Issue:18
Page Number:18
First Page:3565
Last Page:3582
Note:
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Note:
Diskussionspapier erschienen in: Biogeosciences discussions, 2019, doi:10.5194/bg-2019-40
HeBIS-PPN:459377434
Institutes:Geowissenschaften / Geographie / Geowissenschaften
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 55 Geowissenschaften, Geologie / 550 Geowissenschaften
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Open-Access-Publikationsfonds:Geowissenschaften / Geographie
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0