Calibration and application of the 'clumped isotope' thermometer to foraminifera for high-resolution climate reconstructions

To validate our calibration study and test the applicability of our measuring technique to paleoclimate and paleoceanographic studies we measured the isotope composition of Globigerinoides ruber (white) at high-resolution in a sediment core covering the last 700 years in the Gulf of Taranto (Mediterranean Sea). The results show that it is necessary to average a relatively large number of analyses to achieve a consistent temperature signal for the detection of small sea surface temperature changes. Although with the current analytical system, 'clumped isotope' thermometry is only applicable to the analysis of relatively large SST changes in marine sediments, further technical improvements may make this a very powerful technique for paleoceanographic studies.