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Sr isotope composition of sea water over the past 75 Myr

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Abstract

The 87Sr/86Sr ratio of ancient seawater, as recorded in marine carbonates, is an important tracer of long-term variations in ocean chemistry1–5. However, the Sr isotope balance of the oceans has been difficult to constrain; consequently, attempts to evaluate the temporal 87Sr/86Sr changes have been largely qualitative. To constrain the causes of these variations we have measured 87Sr/86Sr ratios in carefully cleaned unrecrystallized foraminifera from DSDP sites 21 and 357. The data presented here have been quantitatively modelled taking advantage of recent advances in understanding of the Sr geochemical cycle. They suggest that whereas hydrothermal fluxes and carbonate recycling are of major importance in defining the marine 87Sr/86Sr ratio, the major control over its variations through the Cenozoic has been changes in the isotope composition of Sr derived from the weathering of silicate rocks.

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Author notes

  1. M. R. Palmer

    Present address: Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 06511, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    M. R. Palmer

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0EZ, UK

    H. Elderfield

Authors
  1. M. R. Palmer
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  2. H. Elderfield
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Palmer, M., Elderfield, H. Sr isotope composition of sea water over the past 75 Myr. Nature 314, 526–528 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1038/314526a0

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