Reconstructing Past Seawater Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca from Mid-Ocean Ridge Flank Calcium Carbonate Veins

Abstract

Cations in the Veins Major events in Earth's history, from climate change to tectonic activity, can be revealed by reconstructing past conditions of the oceans. Clues from ancient ocean chemistry can be found in the cation content of fossilized microorganisms, marine carbonates, or salt deposits from old coastal zones. As these proxies are prone to inconsistencies between samples and methodologies, Coggon et al. (p. 1114 , published online 4 February; see the Perspective by Elderfield ) estimated past seawater composition from the geochemistry of resistant carbonate veins precipitated within fresh basalts on the sea floor. The sudden rise to modern-day levels of ocean magnesium:calcium and strontium:calcium ratios occurred about 24 million years ago, and can be explained by a decrease in seafloor hydrothermal activity combined with a decrease in river discharge.