The impact of salinity on the Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratio in the benthic foraminifera Ammonia tepida: Results from culture experiments

Over the last decade, sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructed from the Mg/Ca ratio of foraminiferal calcite has increasingly been used, in combination with the δ18O signal measured on the same material, to calculate the δ18Ow, a proxy for sea surface salinity (SSS). A number of studies, however, have shown that the Mg/Ca ratio is also sensitive to other parameters, such as pH or [CO32-], and salinity. To increase the reliability of foraminiferal Mg/Ca ratios as temperature proxies, these effects should be quantified in isolation. Individuals of the benthic foraminifera Ammonia tepida were cultured at three different salinities (20, 33 and 40 psu) and two temperatures (10-15 °C). The Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios of newly formed calcite were analyzed by Laser Ablation ICP-MS and demonstrate that the Mg concentration in A. tepida is overall relatively low (mean value per experimental condition between 0.5 and 1.3 mmol/mol) when compared to other foraminiferal species, Sr being similar to other foraminiferal species. The Mg and Sr incorporation are both enhanced with increasing temperatures. However, the temperature dependency for Sr disappears when the distribution factor DSr is plotted as a function of calcite saturation state (Ω). This suggests that a kinetic process related to Ω is responsible for the observed dependency of Sr incorporation on sea water temperature. The inferred relative increase in DMg per unit salinity is 2.8% at 10 °C and 3.3% at 15 °C, for the salinity interval 20-40 psu. This implies that a salinity increase of 2 psu results in enhanced Mg incorporation equivalent to 1 °C temperature increase. The DSr increase per unit salinity is 0.8% at 10 °C and 1.3% at 15 °C, for the salinity interval 20-40 psu.