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Silicon-isotope composition of diatoms as an indicator of past oceanic change

Nature volume 395, pages 680–683 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Silicon is essential for the growth of diatoms, a group of phytoplankton with opal (amorphous hydrated silica) shells. Diatoms largely control the cycling of silicon in the ocean1 and, conversely, diatom silica production rates can be limited by the availability of silicic acid2. Diatoms are biogeochemically important in that they account for an estimated 75% of the primary production occurring in coastal and nutrient-replete waters1, rising to more than 90% during ice-edge blooms such as occur in the Ross Sea, off Antarctica3. There are few means by which to reconstruct the history of diatom productivity and marine silicon cycling, and thus to explore the potential contribution of diatoms to past oceanic biogeochemistry or climate. Indices based on the accumulation of sedimentary opal are often biased by the winnowing and focusing of sediments and by opal dissolution4,5,6,7. Normalization of opal accumulation records using particle-reactive natural radionuclides may correct for sediment redistribution artefacts and the dissolution of opal within sediments6,8, but not for opal dissolution before it arrives at the sea floor. Half of the opal produced in the euphotic zone may dissolve before sinking to a depth of 200 m (ref. 1), constituting a potentially large bias to both normalized and uncorrected records of opal accumulation. Here we exploit the potential that variations in the ratio of 30Si to 28Si in sedimentary opal may provide information on past silicon cycling that is unbiased by opal dissolution. Our silicon stable-isotope measurements suggest that the percentage utilization of silicic acid by diatoms in the Southern Ocean during the last glacial period was strongly diminished relative to the present interglacial.

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Figure 1: δ30Si, percentage C.davisiana and δ13Corg against depth in the southeast Indian core E50-11 (55° 56′ S, 104° 57′ E, 3,923 m below sea level, m.b.s.l.).
Figure 2: δ30Si and other proxies against depth in Indian Ocean core RC11-94 (54°48′ S, 53° 03′ E, 4,3.03 m.b.s.l.).
Figure 3: δ30Si and other proxies against depth in South Atlantic sediment core RC13-269 (52° 38′ S, 00° 08&.prime; W, 2,591 m.b.s.l.).

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. J. DeMaster and P. N. Froelich for reviews; P. N. Froelich for the per cent opal data; D. W. Lea, H. Berg, L. K. Crowder, W. Golden, J. Kennett, R. L. Ripperdan and K. Shea for advice and support; and the curator of the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory for samples. This work was supported by the NSF.

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Author notes

  1. C. L. De La Rocha

    Present address: Berkeley Center for Isotope Geochemistry, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720-4767, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, California, USA

    C. L. De La Rocha, M. A. Brzezinski & M. J. DeNiro

  2. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, California, USA

    C. L. De La Rocha & M. A. Brzezinski

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106, California, USA

    M. J. DeNiro

  4. Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100, Rehovot, Israel

    A. Shemesh

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Correspondence to C. L. De La Rocha.

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De La Rocha, C., Brzezinski, M., DeNiro, M. et al. Silicon-isotope composition of diatoms as an indicator of past oceanic change. Nature 395, 680–683 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/27174

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