Our collaborator Benjamin Linzmeier just published a nice paper in Geology looking at calcium isotopes in fossil bivalves spanning the K-Pg boundary. The calcium isotopic composition (44Ca/40Ca) of carbonate is a proxy for carbonate saturation state and can indirectly indicate something about ocean acidification state. Ben analyzed shells from Seymour Island that were previously analyzed for their clumped isotopic composition in the SCIPP lab (Petersen et al., 2016; Nature Communications). We found that the ocean’s carbonate saturation state was highly variable leading into the KPg boundary, which we attribute to CO2 injection into the atmosphere from the massive Deccan Traps volcanic province.
the scipp lab (Petersen group)
Stable & Clumped Isotopes for Paleoclimate and Paleoceanography