Foraminiferal Calcification Response to Glacial-Interglacial Changes in Atmospheric CO 2

Abstract

A record of foraminiferal shell weight across glacial-interglacial Termination I shows a response related to seawater carbonate ion concentration and allows reconstruction of a record of carbon dioxide in surface seawater that matches the atmospheric record. The results support suggestions that higher atmospheric carbon dioxide directly affects marine calcification, an effect that may be of global importance to past and future changes in atmospheric CO 2 . The process provides negative feedback to the influence of marine calcification on atmospheric carbon dioxide and is of practical importance to the application of paleoceanographic proxies.