Gernot Nehrke

Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung

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Jelle Bijma

Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung

Gerald Langer

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Gert‐Jan Reichart

Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

Lennart de Nooijer

Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

Gerhard Dieckmann

Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung

Claus‐Dieter Hillenbrand

British Antarctic Survey

Gerhard Kühn

Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung

Dieter Wolf‐Gladrow

Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung

Anton Eisenhauer

GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel

Johann Philipp Klages

Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung

Cooperative Institutions

Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung

101

University of Bremen

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Kiel University

University of Cambridge

Ruhr University Bochum

GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel

Utrecht University

University of Plymouth

International Ocean Discovery Program

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Confocal Raman microscope mapping as a tool to describe different mineral and organic phases at high spatial resolution within marine biogenic carbonates: case study on Nerita undata (Gastropoda, Neritopsina)

Biogeosciences (2011)

Gernot Nehrke J. Nouet

Abstract. Marine biogenic carbonates formed by invertebrates (e.g. corals and mollusks) represent complex composites of one or more mineral phases and organic molecules. This complexity ranges from the macroscopic structures observed with the naked eye down to sub micrometric structures only revealed by micro analytical techniques. Understanding to what extent and how organisms can control the formation of these structures requires that the mineral and organic phases can be identified and their spatial distribution related. Here we demonstrate the capability of confocal Raman microscopy applied to cross sections of a shell of Nerita undata to describe the distribution of calcite and aragonite including their crystallographic orientation with high lateral resolution (~300 nm). Moreover, spatial distribution of functional groups of organic compounds can be simultaneously acquired, allowing to specifically relate them to the observed microstructures. The data presented in this case study highlights the possible new contributions of this method to the description of modalities of Nerita undata shell formation, and what could be expected of its application to other marine biogenic carbonates. Localization of areas of interest would also allow further investigations using more localized methods, such as TEM that would provide complementary information on the relation between organic molecules and crystal lattice.

10.5194/bg-8-3761-2011

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Evidence for methane production by the marine algae Emiliania huxleyi

Biogeosciences (2016)

Katharina Lenhart Thomas Klintzsch Gerald Langer Gernot Nehrke Michael Bunge

Abstract. Methane (CH4), an important greenhouse gas that affects radiation balance and consequently the earth's climate, still has uncertainties in its sinks and sources. The world's oceans are considered to be a source of CH4 to the atmosphere, although the biogeochemical processes involved in its formation are not fully understood. Several recent studies provided strong evidence of CH4 production in oxic marine and freshwaters, but its source is still a topic of debate. Studies of CH4 dynamics in surface waters of oceans and large lakes have concluded that pelagic CH4 supersaturation cannot be sustained either by lateral inputs from littoral or benthic inputs alone. However, regional and temporal oversaturation of surface waters occurs frequently. This comprises the observation of a CH4 oversaturating state within the surface mixed layer, sometimes also termed the "oceanic methane paradox". In this study we considered marine algae as a possible direct source of CH4. Therefore, the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi was grown under controlled laboratory conditions and supplemented with two 13C-labeled carbon substrates, namely bicarbonate and a position-specific 13C-labeled methionine (R-S-13CH3). The CH4 production was 0.7 µg particular organic carbon (POC) g−1 d−1, or 30 ng g−1 POC h−1. After supplementation of the cultures with the 13C-labeled substrate, the isotope label was observed in headspace CH4. Moreover, the absence of methanogenic archaea within the algal culture and the oxic conditions during CH4 formation suggest that the widespread marine algae Emiliania huxleyi might contribute to the observed spatially and temporally restricted CH4 oversaturation in ocean surface waters.

Emiliania huxleyi

Biogeochemical Cycle

Coccolithophore

Total inorganic carbon

Haptophyte

10.5194/bg-13-3163-2016

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Citations (118)

Erratum to “Framboidal vaterite aggregates and their transformation into calcite: A morphological study” [J. Crystal Growth 287(2006)528]

Journal of Crystal Growth (2006)

Gernot Nehrke Philippe Van Cappellen C.H. van der Weijden

Vaterite

Crystal (programming language)

Morphology

10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2006.01.019

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Citations (2)

The effects of environment on Arctica islandica shell formation and architecture

Biogeosciences (2017)

Stefania Milano Gernot Nehrke Alan D. Wanamaker Irene Ballesta-Artero Thomas Brey

Abstract. Mollusks record valuable information in their hard parts that reflect ambient environmental conditions. For this reason, shells can serve as excellent archives to reconstruct past climate and environmental variability. However, animal physiology and biomineralization, which are often poorly understood, can make the decoding of environmental signals a challenging task. Many of the routinely used shell-based proxies are sensitive to multiple different environmental and physiological variables. Therefore, the identification and interpretation of individual environmental signals (e.g., water temperature) often is particularly difficult. Additional proxies not influenced by multiple environmental variables or animal physiology would be a great asset in the field of paleoclimatology. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential use of structural properties of Arctica islandica shells as an environmental proxy. A total of 11 specimens were analyzed to study if changes of the microstructural organization of this marine bivalve are related to environmental conditions. In order to limit the interference of multiple parameters, the samples were cultured under controlled conditions. Three specimens presented here were grown at two different water temperatures (10 and 15 °C) for multiple weeks and exposed only to ambient food conditions. An additional eight specimens were reared under three different dietary regimes. Shell material was analyzed with two techniques; (1) confocal Raman microscopy (CRM) was used to quantify changes of the orientation of microstructural units and pigment distribution, and (2) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to detect changes in microstructural organization. Our results indicate that A. islandica microstructure is not sensitive to changes in the food source and, likely, shell pigment are not altered by diet. However, seawater temperature had a statistically significant effect on the orientation of the biomineral. Although additional work is required, the results presented here suggest that the crystallographic orientation of biomineral units of A. islandica may serve as an alternative and independent proxy for seawater temperature.

Prioritization

10.5194/bg-14-1577-2017

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Citations (27)

Clay minerals of sediment cores 9R and 10R at site PS104_20-2

Johann Philipp Klages Ulrich Salzmann Torsten Bickert Claus‐Dieter Hillenbrand Karsten Gohl

Sediment core

10.1594/pangaea.906081

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Late Holocene to Recent aragonite‐cemented transgressive lag deposits in the Abu Dhabi lagoon and intertidal sabkha

Sedimentology (2020)

Yuzhu Ge Chelsea Pederson Stephen W. Lokier Jan P. Traas Gernot Nehrke

Abstract Modern cemented intervals (beachrock, firmgrounds to hardgrounds and concretionary layers) form in the lagoon and intertidal sabkha of Abu Dhabi. Seafloor lithification actively occurs in open, current‐swept channels in low‐lying areas between ooid shoals, in the intertidal zone of the middle lagoon, some centimetres beneath the inner lagoonal seafloor (i.e. within the sediment column) and at the sediment surface the intertidal sabkha. The concept of ‘concretionary sub‐hardgrounds’, i.e. laminar cementation of sediments formed within the sediment column beneath the shallow redox boundary, is introduced and discussed. Based on calibrated radiocarbon ages, seafloor lithification commenced during the Middle to Late Holocene ( ca 9000 cal yr bp ), and proceeds to the present‐day. Lithification occurs in the context of the actualistic relative sea‐level rise shifting the coastline landward across the extremely low‐angle carbonate ramp. The cemented intervals are interpreted as parasequence boundaries in the sense of ‘marine flooding surfaces’, but in most cases the sedimentary cover overlying the transgressive surface has not yet been deposited. Aragonite, (micritic) calcite and, less commonly, gypsum cements lithify the firmground/hardground intervals. Cements are described and placed into context with their depositional and marine diagenetic environments and characterized by means of scanning electron microscope petrography, cathodoluminescence microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The morphology of aragonitic cements changes from needle‐shaped forms in lithified decapod burrows of the outer lagoon ooidal shoals to complex columnar, lath and platy crystals in the inner lagoon. Precipitation experiments provide first tentative evidence for the parameters that induce changes in aragonite cement morphology. Data shown here shed light on ancient, formerly aragonite‐cemented seafloors, now altered to diagenetic calcites, but also document the complexity of highly dynamic near coastal depositional environments.

Lithification

Sabkha

Ooid

Authigenic

Cementation (geology)

10.1111/sed.12707

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Citations (26)

Impact of seawater Ca2+ on the calcification and calcite Mg/Ca of Amphistegina lessonii

Antje Mewes Gerald Langer Silke Thoms Gernot Nehrke Gert‐Jan Reichart

Abstract. Mg/Ca ratios in foraminiferal tests are routinely used as paleo temperature proxy, but on long timescales, also hold the potential to reconstruct past seawater Mg/Ca. Impact of both temperature and seawater Mg/Ca on Mg incorporation in foraminifera have been quantified by a number of studies. The underlying mechanism responsible for Mg incorporation in foraminiferal calcite and its sensitivity to environmental conditions, however, is not fully identified. A recently published biomineralization model (Nehrke et al., 2013) proposes a combination of transmembrane transport and seawater leakage or vacuolization to link calcite Mg/Ca to seawater Mg/Ca and explains inter-species variability in Mg/Ca ratios. To test the assumptions of this model, we conducted a culture study in which seawater Mg/Ca was manipulated by varying [Ca2+] and keeping [Mg2+] constant. Foraminiferal growth rates, test thickness and calcite Mg/Ca of newly formed chambers were analyzed. Results showed optimum growth rates and test thickness at Mg/Ca closest to that of ambient seawater. Calcite Mg/Ca is positively correlated to seawater Mg/Ca, indicating that not absolute seawater [Ca2+] and [Mg2+], but the telative ratio controls Mg/Ca in tests. These results demonstrate that the calcification process cannot be based only on seawater vacuolization, supporting the mixing model proposed by Nehrke et al. (2013). Here we, however, suggest a transmembrane transport fractionation that is not as strong as suggested by Nehrke et al. (2013).

10.5194/bgd-11-17463-2014

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Citations (2)

Refining the interpretation of lacustrine carbonate isotope records: Implications of a mineralogy-specific Lake Van case study

Chemical Geology (2019)

Jeremy McCormack Gernot Nehrke Niels Jöns Adrian Immenhauser Ola Kwiecien

Oxygen and carbon isotope (δ18O and δ13C) data from bulk carbonates are widely applied proxies for temperature, the precipitation/evaporation ratio and productivity in lacustrine palaeohydrology and palaeoclimatology. In case of the terminal and alkaline Lake Van, however, previous studies have shown that bulk oxygen isotope compositions are in disagreement with other proxies when interpreted in a conventional manner. Similarly, the reports on the nature and the timing and site of carbonate precipitation in Lake Van are inconsistent. This study provides evidence on the mineralogy (X-ray powder diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscope imaging, confocal Raman microscopy, electron microprobe analysis) and isotope composition (δ18O and δ13C) of non-skeletal carbonate minerals in a Lake Van sedimentary profile spanning the last ca. 150 kyr. Carbonate phases present in the sediment include aragonite, low-Mg calcite, and calcian dolomite. Dolomite forms as an early diagenetic phase and occurs episodically in high concentrations driving the bulk isotope record towards the higher dolomite δ18O and varying δ13C values. Aragonite and low-Mg calcite precipitate in the surface water and are present in the sediments in varying amounts (relative aragonite to calcite content for dolomite-poor samples Ar/(Ar + Cc) of 93 to 41 wt%). In an attempt to explain this variation, we revised a precipitation model based on annually laminated sediments containing both aragonite and calcite spatially separated in light and dark coloured laminae, respectively. According to our model, spring calcite precipitation, under close-to-freshwater conditions, is followed by evapoconcentration-driven aragonite precipitation in late summer. The precipitation of these carbonate polymorphs from chemically differing surface waters (i.e. freshwater-influenced and evapoconcentrated) leads to distinctly different oxygen and carbon isotope signatures between sedimentary penecontemporaneous aragonite and calcite. The δ18O and δ13C values of aragonite relative to calcite are significantly higher by several per mille than inferred from aragonite-calcite fractionation factors alone, suggesting that the generalised assumption of sedimentary coeval calcite and aragonite precipitating from water with the same isotopic composition is flawed. The here proposed revised hydrologically-separated carbonate precipitation model is not only taking (i) differences in the isotopic fractionation between carbonate minerals into account, but also (ii) considering the hydrological conditions and the processes favouring the precipitation of a given mineral and ultimately controlling its isotopic composition. If mixed mineralogies are present, this mineralogy-specific approach has the potential of refining environmental reconstructions and reconciling apparently equivocal interpretations of different proxy records.

Carbonate minerals

δ18O

10.1016/j.chemgeo.2019.03.014

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Citations (41)

EMP and SIMS studies on Mn/Ca and Fe/Ca systematics in benthic foraminifera from the Peruvian OMZ: a contribution to the identification of potential redox proxies and the impact of cleaning protocols

Biogeosciences (2012)

Nicolaas Glock Anton Eisenhauer Volker Liebetrau Michael Wiedenbeck C. Hensen

Abstract. In this study we present an initial dataset of Mn/Ca and Fe/Ca ratios in tests of benthic foraminifera from the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) determined with SIMS. These results are a contribution to a better understanding of the proxy potential of these elemental ratios for ambient redox conditions. Foraminiferal tests are often contaminated by diagenetic coatings, like Mn rich carbonate- or Fe and Mn rich (oxyhydr)oxide coatings. Thus, it is substantial to assure that the cleaning protocols are efficient or that spots chosen for microanalyses are free of contaminants. Prior to the determination of the element/Ca ratios, the distributions of several elements (Ca, Mn, Fe, Mg, Ba, Al, Si, P and S) in tests of the shallow infaunal species Uvigerina peregrina and Bolivina spissa were mapped with an electron microprobe (EMP). To visualize the effects of cleaning protocols uncleaned and cleaned specimens were compared. The cleaning protocol included an oxidative cleaning step. An Fe rich phase was found on the inner test surface of uncleaned U. peregrina specimens. This phase was also enriched in Al, Si, P and S. A similar Fe rich phase was found at the inner test surface of B. spissa. Specimens of both species treated with oxidative cleaning show the absence of this phase. Neither in B. spissa nor in U. peregrina were any hints found for diagenetic (oxyhydr)oxide or carbonate coatings. Mn/Ca and Fe/Ca ratios of single specimens of B. spissa from different locations have been determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Bulk analyses using solution ICP-MS of several samples were compared to the SIMS data. The difference between SIMS analyses and ICP-MS bulk analyses from the same sampling sites was 14.0–134.8 μmol mol−1 for the Fe/Ca and 1.68(±0.41) μmol mol−1 for the Mn/Ca ratios. This is in the same order of magnitude as the variability inside single specimens determined with SIMS at these sampling sites (1σ[Mn/Ca] = 0.35–2.07 μmol mol−1; 1σ[Fe/Ca] = 93.9–188.4 μmol mol−1). The Mn/Ca ratios in the calcite were generally relatively low (2.21–9.93 μmol mol−1) but in the same magnitude and proportional to the surrounding pore waters (1.37–6.67 μmol mol−1). However, the Fe/Ca ratios in B. spissa show a negative correlation to the concentrations in the surrounding pore waters. Lowest foraminiferal Fe/Ca ratios (87.0–101.0 μmol mol−1) were found at 465 m water depth, a location with a strong sharp Fe peak in the pore water next to the sediment surface and respectively, high Fe concentrations in the surrounding pore waters. Previous studies found no living specimens of B. spissa at this location. All these facts hint that the analysed specimens already were dead before the Fe flux started and the sampling site just recently turned anoxic due to fluctuations of the lower boundary of the OMZ near the sampling site (465 m water depth). Summarized Mn/Ca and Fe/Ca ratios are potential proxies for redox conditions, if cleaning protocols are carefully applied. The data presented here may be rated as base for the still pending detailed calibration.

EMPA

10.5194/bg-9-341-2012

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Citations (51)

Methane production by three widespread marine phytoplankton species: release rates, precursor compounds, and potential relevance for the environment

Biogeosciences (2019)

Thomas Klintzsch Gerald Langer Gernot Nehrke Anna Wieland Katharina Lenhart

Abstract. Methane (CH4) production within the oceanic mixed layer is a widespread phenomenon, but the underlying mechanisms are still under debate. Marine algae might contribute to the observed CH4 oversaturation in oxic waters, but so far direct evidence for CH4 production by marine algae has only been provided for the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi. In the present study we investigated, next to E. huxleyi, other widespread haptophytes, i.e., Phaeocystis globosa and Chrysochromulina sp. We performed CH4 production and stable carbon isotope measurements and provide unambiguous evidence that all three investigated marine algae are involved in the production of CH4 under oxic conditions. Rates ranged from 1.9±0.6 to 3.1±0.4 µg of CH4 per gram of POC (particulate organic carbon) per day, with Chrysochromulina sp. and E. huxleyi showing the lowest and highest rates, respectively. Cellular CH4 production rates ranged from 16.8±6.5 (P. globosa) to 62.3±6.4 ag CH4 cell−1 d−1 (E. huxleyi; ag = 10−18 g). In cultures that were treated with 13C-labeled hydrogen carbonate, δ13CH4 values increased with incubation time, resulting from the conversion of 13C–hydrogen carbonate to 13CH4. The addition of 13C-labeled dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl sulfoxide, and methionine sulfoxide – known algal metabolites that are ubiquitous in marine surface layers – resulted in the occurrence of 13C-enriched CH4 in cultures of E. huxleyi, clearly indicating that methylated sulfur compounds are also precursors of CH4. By comparing the algal CH4 production rates from our laboratory experiments with results previously reported in two field studies of the Pacific Ocean and the Baltic Sea, we might conclude that algae-mediated CH4 release is contributing to CH4 oversaturation in oxic waters. Therefore, we propose that haptophyte mediated CH4 production could be a common and important process in marine surface waters.

Emiliania huxleyi

Dimethyl sulfide

Haptophyte

Bromoform

Coccolithophore

Dimethylsulfoniopropionate

10.5194/bg-16-4129-2019

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Citations (84)