Ocean Acidification

Compared with traditional bulk foraminiferal analysis methods, in situ analysis of individual foraminiferal tests (individual foraminiferal analysis or IFA) offers several advantages over traditional bulk methods, including enhanced temporal resolution where fossiliferous sample material is limited as well as potentially resolving seasonal-scale climate variability in deep time. Despite these advantages, applications of element-to‑calcium (El/Ca) ratios and δ¹¹B in benthic foraminifera using IFA remain limited, and the biogeochemical drivers of intra-test and inter-test geochemical variability are poorly constrained. In this study, we systematically evaluate El/Ca ratios and δ¹¹B in individual benthic foraminifera. By analysing Holocene epifaunal benthic foraminiferal species Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi from a deep ocean core site (ODP Site 999), we conclude that intra- and inter-test variabilities are regulated by ontogenetic effects resulting in inter-test variabilities of ±0.14 mmol/mol Mg/Ca, ± 14 μmol/mol B/Ca, and ± 0.18 ‰ δ¹¹B. Application of the IFA method to epifaunal benthic foraminifera species Cibicides lobatulus from a box core in the English Channel, UK reveals ~0.1 pH units acidification and ~ 1 °C warming since the mid-19th century. By demonstrating that individual-level variability in reconstructed temperature and pH tracks seasonal trends in the available contemporaneous water-column instrumental measurements at the same site, we provide a ground-truthing to our multi-proxy IFA methodology, and also demonstrate the potential for benthic IFA to provide seasonal-scale reconstructions of ocean climate over hundreds to millions of years.

Yang Z., Standish C. D., Brown R. M., Rafter P. A., Hart M. B., Babila T. L. & Foster G. L., 2026. Individual foraminiferal analysis: a promising tool for high-resolution temperature and pH reconstruction. Chemical Geology: 123395. doi: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2026.123395. Article.