『Abstract
This paper presents multi-species records of the Li/Ca ratio
and Li isotopic composition (δ7Li) of planktonic foraminifera
from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans for the past 18 Ma. The Li/Ca
record is corrected for interspecific offsets determined from
recent (Holocene) foraminifera; interspecific offsets in δ7Li
are not significant. Despite different diagenetic histories, the
records produced from both oceans are remarkably consistent. Corrected
planktonic foraminiferal Li/Ca ratios range from 6.3 to 10.9μmol/mol,
while planktonic foraminiferal δ7Li ranges from 25
to 31‰. Both records are interpreted in terms of long-term changes
in seawater Li/Ca and δ7Li, enabling issues related
to higher-resolution variability in Li/Ca and δ7Li
to be ignored. By assuming that the hydrothermal flux of Li into
the oceans, and the flux of Li removed from the oceans during
low-temperature uptake by marine basalts and sediments, have not
changed significantly since 18 Ma, and using published records
for the seawater calcium concentration, the seawater Li/Ca and
δ7Li records can be used to estimate global average
river δ7Li and Li fluxes. Our records indicate the
river flux of dissolved Li decreased between 16 and 〜8 Ma while
the δ7Li value of the river input increased. These
data imply that both silicate weathering rates and weathering
intensity decreased over this interval which may have been responsible
for putative increases in levels of atmospheric CO2.
In contrast, the riverine flux of Li has increased since 〜8 Ma
while its δ7Li value has increased. This implies that
the silicate weathering rate has increased, while weathering intensity
has decreased, since that time.
Keywords: Li isotopes; planktonic foraminifera; paleoceanography;
silicate weathering; atmospheric CO2』
1. Introduction
2. Materials and methods
3. Results
4. Discussion
4.1. Variation in seawater Li and δ7Li
4.2. Silicate weathering, atmospheric CO2
and climate
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References