Diagenetic effects on uranium isotope fractionation in carbonate sediments from the Bahamas

The early diagenetic behavior of U isotopes in Bahamas carbonate sediments is likely broadly representative of carbonate diagenesis in the geological past. We suggest that the mean diagenetic offset determined in this study be applied when reconstructing seawater δ238U from ancient carbonates. Furthermore, early diagenesis induces significant statistical variability in sediment δ238U values, pointing to the need for large, high resolution data sets in order to average out stochastic variations in individual bulk sediment samples.