Marine science reveals climate change lessons recorded by tiny polar organisms.
An international research team led by University of Galway has discovered a new method to accurately measure past polar sea surface temperature changes and climate change.
In a new study published in Nature Communications, Dr Audrey Morley, lecturer in Geography and Ryan Institute and iCRAG Deputy Director, reveals how polar climate history can be detected by analysing the shells of foraminifera - microorganisms no bigger than a grain of sand.
The scientists involved in the project describe the research method as invaluable, as it can be applied to new and previously published datasets worldwide to re-evaluate the magnitude and geographical extent of marine polar climate change.
Foraminifera are small unicellular organisms which build a miniscule shell out of calcium carbonate and other elements available in seawater. In doing so, they record the chemistry and climate of seawater in their shell. At the end of their life, the empty shells sink to the seafloor and are deposited in sediment, like a marine archive year after year, millennia after millennia.
Through analysis of the magnesium and calcium (Mg/Ca) preserved in the shells, scientists can get an indirect measure or ‘proxy’ of sea surface temperatures.
These climate proxies allow scientists to reveal earth climate history from a few hundred years to billions of years ago and thereby improve an understanding of future climate change. However, in cold polar waters this method doesn’t work because it is compromised by the carbonate chemistry of seawater, leaving us without a tool to measure past marine polar climates.
The new research method solves a long-standing problem in Arctic Climate Science.
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