Linking biocalcification to the global carbon cycle: carbonate systems during the Paleogene

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Maria Mutti
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2002 to 2006
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5379757

A fundamental step to understand the link between the carbon cycle and changes in biocalcification rates requires constraining the controls on the expansion/restrictions of biocalcifiers in carbonate environments at times of major d13C excursion. We propose to tackle this problem investigating Paleogene carbonate systems in Spain, where the qualities of outcrops and the number of previous studies in the area provide excellent preconditions for the project. The Paleogene is an ideal time because it contains large magnitude events affecting both biocalcification and the carbon cycle. During the Paleogene, carbonate environments witnessed the rapid diversification, maximum diversity and later extinction of larger benthic foraminifera. In the early Paleogene, marine carbonate record a major excursion in d13C, a 3o/oo shift (the largest in the Cenozoic), indicating major changes in the global carbon cycle. This also provides the basis for a high-resolution chemostratigraphy troughout the Paleocene. We intend to construct integrated shelf to basins transects where we will integrate data on the distribution in time and space of carbonate facies (to constrain sea level changes and variability in biocalcification) with isotopic and geochemical data (to constrain ages via chemostratigraphy, and paleonvironmental changes). This will allow to identify biocalcification patterns and ultimately relate variations in carbon partitioning to climatic changes.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Helmut Weissert