Accomplishment Based Renewal: Experimental Verification of Stable Isotope and Trace Metal Incorporation in Living Planktonic Foraminifera

位于戴维斯的加州大学的一位研究人员建议收集活的浮游有孔虫，并使用先前资助期间建立的程序培养收集到的个体。 一旦有孔虫在受控条件下使其壳钙化，将收集壳和培养水样品进行地球化学分析。 这些贝壳和水样将用于完成正在进行的地球化学实验，用新的代用品进行校准实验（例如，Li/Ca，Zn/Ca，7 Li，U/Ca），研究了浮游有孔虫钙化的机制和在壳钙化过程中发生的壳地球化学变异，并探索了新的地球化学关系（即，不同海水Mg和Ca浓度对贝壳地球化学的影响）和使用活的浮游有孔虫的代用指标。 从这项研究中收集到的信息将校准新的和现有的地球化学代理，其置信度是使用沉积物陷阱或岩心顶部研究等替代方法时无法获得的。这项工作将提供一个无与伦比的机会，深入了解生物矿化和地球化学变化的过程中，在微观尺度上，并提供一个数据集，可用于了解海水化学变化对有孔虫壳地球化学的影响。 这将使研究人员能够更好地解释化石记录中的数据。至于更广泛的影响，这项研究将确保来自各机构的一批研究生和博士后接受PI和该领域其他专家关于收集和培养这些水生生物程序的培训，从而确保这些技术传给下一代科学家。 本科生将参与本研究的实地部分。

A researcher at the University of California at Davis proposes to collect living planktonic foraminifera and culture collected individuals using procedures established during prior funding periods. Once the foraminifera has calcified its shell under controlled conditions, the shells and culture water sample will be collected for geochemical analysis. These shells and water samples will be used to complete on-going geochemical experiments, conduct calibration experiments with new proxies (e.g., Li/Ca, Zn/Ca, 7Li, U/Ca), study the mechanisms of planktonic foraminifera calcification and shell geochemical variability that occurs during shell calcification and explore new geochemical relationships (i.e., the impact of different seawater Mg and Ca concentrations on shell geochemistry) and proxies using living planktonic foraminifera. The information gathered from this research will calibrate new and existing geochemical proxies with a level of confidence that cannot be obtained on planktonic species when using alternative approaches, such as sediment trap or core-top studies. This work will provide an unparalleled opportunity to gain insight into the processes of biomineralization and geochemical variation at the microscale, and provide a data set that can be used to understand the impact of changing seawater chemistry on foraminifera shell geochemistry. This will allow researchers to better interpret data from the fossil record. As regards broader impacts, this study will ensure that a group of graduate students and post-docs from various institutions be trained by the PI and other experts in the field on the procedures for collecting and culturing these planktonic organisms, thereby ensuring that these techniques are passed on to the next generation of scientists. Undergraduate students will be involved in the field component of this research.