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Temperature dependence of clumped isotopes (∆47) in aragonite
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  • Niels Jonathan de Winter,
  • Rob Witbaard,
  • Ilja Japhir Kocken,
  • Inigo A Müller,
  • Jingjing Guo,
  • Barbara Goudsmit,
  • Martin Ziegler,
  • Niels Jonathan de Winter
Niels Jonathan de Winter
Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Rob Witbaard
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
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Ilja Japhir Kocken
Utrecht University, Utrecht University
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Inigo A Müller
Université de Genève, Université de Genève
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Jingjing Guo
Utrecht University, Utrecht University
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Barbara Goudsmit
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
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Martin Ziegler
Utrecht University, Utrecht University
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Niels Jonathan de Winter
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

Clumped isotope thermometry can independently constrain the formation temperatures of carbonates, but a lack of precisely temperature-controlled calibration samples limits its application on aragonites. To address this issue, we present clumped isotope compositions of aragonitic bivalve shells grown under highly controlled temperatures (1‒18°C), which we combine with clumped isotope data from natural and synthetic aragonites from a wide range of temperatures (1‒850°C). We observe no discernible offset in clumped isotope values between aragonitic foraminifera, mollusks, and abiogenic aragonites or between aragonites and calcites, eliminating the need for a mineral-specific calibration or acid fractionation factor. However, due to non-linear behavior of the clumped isotope thermometer, including high-temperature (>100°C) datapoints in linear clumped isotope calibrations causes them to underestimate temperatures of cold (1‒18°C) carbonates by 2.7 ± 2.0°C (95% confidence level). Therefore, clumped isotope-based paleoclimate reconstructions should be calibrated using samples with well constrained formation temperatures close to those of the samples.