Coccolithophore calcification response to past ocean acidification and climate change.
Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions are forcing rapid ocean chemistry changes and causing ocean acidification (OA), which is of particular significance for calcifying organisms, including planktonic coccolithophores. Detailed analysis of coccolithophore skeletons enables comparison of calcite production in modern and fossil cells in order to investigate biomineralization response of ancient coccolithophores to climate change. Here we show that the two dominant coccolithophore taxa across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) OA global warming event (~56 million years ago) exhibited morphological response to environmental change and both showed reduced calcification rates. However, only Coccolithus pelagicus exhibits a transient thinning of coccoliths, immediately before the PETM, that may have been OA-induced. Changing coccolith thickness may affect calcite production more significantly in the dominant modern species Emiliania huxleyi, but, overall, these PETM records indicate that the environmental factors that govern taxonomic composition and growth rate will most strongly influence coccolithophore calcification response to anthropogenic change.
Department of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
Sarah A
SA
O'Dea
Department of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
Samantha J
SJ
Gibbs
Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Paul R
PR
Bown
Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Jeremy R
JR
Young
Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, Waterfront Campus, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
Alex J
AJ
Poulton
1] Department of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK [2] Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Cherry
C
Newsam
Department of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of Southampton, Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK.
Paul A
PA
Wilson
D002113:Calcification, Physiologic; D057486:Carbon Cycle; D057231:Climate Change; D005580:Fossils; D058087:Haptophyta / Q000378:metabolism*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010933:Plankton / Q000378:metabolism*