High Precision Femtosecond Laser Ablation ICP\u2010MS Measurement of Benthic Foraminiferal Mn\u2010Incorporation for Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction: A Case Study From the Plio\u2010Pleistocene Caribbean Sea

OpenAlex İngilizce

Abstract Closure of the Central American Seaway (CAS) and hydrology of the Caribbean Sea triggered Northern Hemisphere Glaciation and played an important role in the Pliocene to modern‐day climate re‐establishing the deep and surface ocean currents. New data on Mn/Ca obtained with femtosecond laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry on well‐preserved tests of the epibenthic foraminifer Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi and infaunal C. mundulus contribute to the interpretation of paleoenvironmental conditions of the Caribbean Sea between 5.2 and 2.2 Ma (million years) across the closure of the CAS. Hydrothermal activity at the Lesser Antilles may be a primary source of Mn in the well‐oxygenated Plio‐Pleistocene Caribbean Sea. Incorporation of Mn in the benthic foraminifer shell carbonate is assumed to be affected by surface ocean nutrient cycling, and may hence be an indicator of paleoproductivity.