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Silica oxygen isotopes in diatoms: a 20,000 yr record in deep-sea sediments

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Abstract

PALAEOTEMPERATURE determinations based on oxygen isotope composition of planktonic foraminifera are well established for Quaternary and Tertiary deep-sea sediments1–4. Wide areas of the ocean floor, however, are lacking suitable calcareous fossils due to dissolution or unfavourable ecological conditions. Here we show that isotopic analyses of diatom frustules can adequately substitute for the analyses of calcareous micro-fossils. To test the efficiency of diatoms as an isotopic palaeothermometer5,6, we compare the oxygen isotope records of diatoms and of planktonic foraminifera in a box-core from the eastern equatorial Pacific (PLDS 72, latitude 01°08′N; longitude 109°15′6″W; water depth 3,626 m). This core was among other box-cores raised during the S.I.O. Pleiades expedition between May and September 1976, in an effort to obtain undisturbed samples of the uppermost deposits in this fertile area of pelagic sedimentation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093

    NAJA MIKKELSEN

  2. Centre des Faibles Radioactivités, Laboratoire mixte, CNRS-CEA, 91190, Gif sur Yvette, France

    L. LABEYRIE JR

  3. Scripps Institution of Oceanograph, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92093

    W. H. BERGER

Authors
  1. NAJA MIKKELSEN
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  2. L. LABEYRIE JR
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  3. W. H. BERGER
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MIKKELSEN, N., LABEYRIE, L. & BERGER, W. Silica oxygen isotopes in diatoms: a 20,000 yr record in deep-sea sediments. Nature 271, 536–538 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/271536a0

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