1. Ca13C16O16O16O + Ca12C18O16O16O = Ca13C18O16O16O + Ca12C16O16O16O
Temperature Dependence of 13C-18O “clumping” in Synthetic Aragonite: Calibration of a New Paleothermometer PI: James Farquhar, University of Maryland, College Park with Sang-Tae Kim, McMaster University and Weifu Gui, Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Ca13C16O16O16O + Ca12C18O16O16O = Ca13C18O16O16O + Ca12C16O16O16O
The goal of our ACS-PRF funded research is to provide scientists with a high-quality calibration of an inorganic aragonite clumped isotope paleothermometer. The new clumped isotope paleothermometer based on the abundance of the doubly-substituted CO3 isotopologue, 13C18O16O2 in the aragonite mineral lattice. It provides a calibration that can be used in situations where inorganic aragonite rather than calcite forms. It also will allow for determination of the formation temperature of the carbonate. With the temperature constrained, the isotopic composition of oxygen can then be used to constrain the isotopic composition of past ocean water which in turn can be used to place constraints on the mass of water in the oceans compared to the mass of water in ice sheets.