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Geochemistry of recent tests ofEchinocyamus pusillus: Constraints for temperature and salinity

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Abstract

A set of 370 tests of the irregular echinoid speciesEchinocyamus pusillus from 15 European locations (Baltic Sea, North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea), representing a salinity range between 22 and 39% and a variability in annual average temperatures between 9.5 and 20°C, were analyzed for their Mg content by X-ray diffraction. For 50 of these samples — from all sampled sites — the δ18O and δ13C values were measured additionally. The data are discussed in the context of physiological and environmental (salinity, temperature) control.

The Mg content of the skeletons strongly correlates with the average annual temperature but not with salinity while the δ18O values seem to be influenced by physiological as well as environmental parameters. The oxygen and partly also the carbon isotope data are clearly correlated with the salinity, reflecting the dominant influence of the isotopic composition of the ambient seawater. On the other hand, for samples from biotopes with constant salinity but varying temperatures the temperature dependency on18O fractionation is clearly monitored in the skeletons. However, for most of the non-Mediterranean samples the measured δ18O values are more positive than the expected equilibrium values, probably as a result of vital effects. The degree of this disequilibrium decreases with increasing temperature, with sea urchins from the warmest marine environments of the eastem Mediterranean Sea precipitating their skeletons in or near equilibrium.

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  1. Institut für Geologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780, Bochum, Germany

    Detlev K. Richter & Peter Bruckschen

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  1. Detlev K. Richter
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  2. Peter Bruckschen
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Correspondence to Peter Bruckschen.

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Richter, D.K., Bruckschen, P. Geochemistry of recent tests ofEchinocyamus pusillus: Constraints for temperature and salinity. Carbonates Evaporites 13, 157–167 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03176589

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