Collaborative Research: Benthic Flux and Early Diagenesis of Selected Trace Elements

小行星9616241 海水和沉积物记录中的微量元素分布常被用作现代和古海洋学条件或过程的替代物。 然而，在充分发挥其潜力之前，必须澄清这些元素在海底沉积和浅埋后的行为。在这项研究中，俄勒冈州州立大学和南加州大学的研究人员将研究两种潜在的古指示元素钡和锗的地球化学，这两种元素存在于从几个海洋区域收集的沉积物中沉积的浮游海洋生物的坚硬部分。具体来说，他们将评估的共同假设，即锗是不分馏沉积硅质硅藻壳和钡：海水中的碱度关系是有关的有机碳分解，溶解钡，溶解碳酸钙之间的耦合化学计量。这些结果有望更好地确定这些元素作为古海洋重建工具的优势和局限性。

9616241 McManus Trace element distributions in seawater and in the sediment record are often used as proxies for both modern and paleooceanographic conditions or processes. However, before their full potential can be realized, the behavior of these elements after deposition and shallow burial on the seafloor must be clarified. In this study, researchers at Oregon State University and the University of Southern California will study the geochemistry of two potential paleoindicator elements, barium and germanium, in the hard parts of planktonic marine organisms deposited in sediments collected from several oceanic regions. Specifically they will evaluate the common assumptions that Ge is not fractionated from deposited siliceous frustules and that the Ba: Alkalinity relation in seawater is related to a coupled stoichiometry between organic carbon decomposition, dissolution of barium, and dissolution of calcium carbonate. The results are expected to better define the advantages and limitations of these elements as tools for paleooceanographic reconstructions.