Augmenting our palaeoceanographic toolbox using the geochemistry of coccoliths
07/12/2016
IPGP - Îlot Cuvier
13:30
Séminaires Géochimie
Salle 310
Michaël Hermoso
Oxford University - IPGP
During this seminar, I will present a series of biogeochemical works during which coccolithophores (calcifying unicellular algae) have been cultured in the laboratory with a geological perspective. Subjecting geologically-relevant coccolithophore species to a wide range of temperatures, pCO2, pH and light, and measuring key biogeochemical parameters have enabled a comprehensive vision on the expression of the vital effects in calcite biominerals, such as the coccoliths. A better mechanistic understanding of the interaction between the environment, algal physiology and the vital effect that collectively dictates the isotopic compositions of the coccoliths allows new palaeoclimatic information to be unravelled from the geological archive, as will be exemplified by greenhouse periods during which existing proxies for temperature and pCO2 are likely flawed.