Using the elements in the ocean, marine invertebrates and single-celled organisms, such as bivalves and foraminifera, are able to build elaborate shells that record the properties of their surrounding environment. By studying the chemical composition of the shells using a mass spectrometer, scientists can reconstruct past ocean temperatures and environments, and study the evolution of methane seepages.
These reconstructions are key to understanding the present and future climate changes.
Text: Mariana Esteves and Giuliana Panieri
The mass spectrometer located at the Stable Isotope Laboratory (SIL), CAGE/UiT, was acquired at the beginning of CAGE, and has since been extensively used for both internal research and external projects, contributing to numerous high impact publications on climate research.
The use of the CAGE mass spectrometer was key to producing the geochemical data for a paper published last week in the journal Science Advances. In this study, an international group of scientists reconstructed changes in the Fram Strait water column over the past 800 years, using geochemical and ecological data from ocean sediments. The mass spectrometer at the SIL Laboratory measured the oxygen stable isotopes from a common benthic (seafloor dwelling) foraminifera species, Nonionella labradorica, contributing to the understanding that the Arctic Ocean began to experience ‘Atlantification’ (a phenomenon when warmer and saltier waters flow into the Arctic Ocean from the Atlantic) earlier than previously thought. Since the beginning of the last century (1900), the Arctic Ocean temperature has increased by approx. 2°C, while sea ice has retreated and salinity has increased. This research provides the first historical perspective on the Atlantification of the Arctic Ocean.
