Seasonal Sr/Ca, and 44Ca/40Ca co-variation in Arctica islandica

Full text: We have studied the Ca isotopic variations and Sr/Ca ratios within an A. islandica shell in relation to temperature fluctuations of the ambient seawater with sub-seasonal resolution. The long-lived bivalve A. islandica dwells at 10-200 m depth throughout much of the North Atlantic continental shelf. Its shells represent a promising SST archive for boreal marine settings. The A. islandica shell used for this study was collected at 60-m depth near the former position of the Nantucket Shoals Lightship. The years 1956-1958 were analyzed for both, Sr/Ca ratios and δ44/40Ca, with 1957 being the best resolved. The δ44/40Ca are highly correlated with Sr/Ca ratios (r= 0.92 for 1957). The positive correlation of Sr/Ca ratios and temperature in A. islandica is in accordance with published data on other bivalves, but contrary to thermodynamic expectations and e.g. coral data. The same inversion is found for Ca isotope fractionation: the δ44/40Ca correlation with temperature of A. islandica is negative, while all δ44/40Ca temperature gradients published so far (inorganic precipitates and foraminifera data) show varying degrees of positive correlation. Thus, as for Sr/Ca, the temperature correlation of δ44/40Ca in A. islandica is not under thermodynamic control. It appears inevitable to conclude that biological effects dominate both, Sr incorporation and Ca isotope fractionation in A. islandica. Growth rates and food supply are parameters that might relate Sr/Ca ratios as well as Ca isotopic compositions to vital activity and thus indirectly to temperature. In any case the high correlation of Sr/Ca ratios and Ca isotope fractionation indicates a common metabolic process for the observed variations. (author)