Yunqi Ma

Correlation between δ 18 O, Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca of coral Acropora and seawater temperature from coral culture experiments

To be used as proxies of seawater surface temperature (SST), the δ18Oc values and Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios of scleractinian coral skeletons must be verified by coral culture experiments in the laboratory. This paper describes a coral culture experiment that was conducted at several seawater temperatures T (21–28°C) using a tandem aquarium system and the new method for depositing coral skeletons grown under controlled conditions. The δ18Oc values and the Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios of the cultured coral were measured. We concluded that the δ18Oc values and Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios of the cultured coral are clearly correlated with T. The linear regression curve is δ18Oc(‰)=−0.1427×T(°C)−0.1495 (n=18, r=0.955, p<0.0001), and the slope of −0.1427‰/°C is at the low end of the range of published values (−0.13- −0.29‰/°C). The Sr/Ca ratio decreases with increasing T, whereas the Mg/Ca ratio increases with increasing T, indicating a negative correlation between Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca. Their linear regression curves are Sr/Ca(mmol/mol)=−0.04156×T+10.59 (n=15, r=0.789, p<0.005) and Mg/Ca (mmol/mol)=0.04974×T+2.339 (n=17, r=0.457, p<0.05), respectively, which demonstrate that when Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca are increased by one unit, T increases by 5.19°C and decreases by 15.62°C, respectively. These variations are significantly lower than published values.

Effective elimination of organic matter interference in boron isotopic analysis by thermal ionization mass spectrometry of coral/foraminifera: micro‐sublimation technology combined with ion exchange

In order to better estimate the effectiveness of micro-sublimation technology on the elimination of organic matter interference during boron isotopic analysis, a series of improved experiments was carried out using simple apparatus. Recovery rates after micro-sublimation were measured for boric acid solutions with different B contents or different B/organic matter ratios. The improved micro-sublimation procedure combined with ion-exchange technology was then used to test natural samples (coral and foraminifera) for the separation of boron. Our results show that the time taken for 100% recovery of different amounts of B differed and that the proportions of B/organic matter within the natural organic matter have little effect on the relationship between the recovery rates of B and the micro-sublimation times. The experiments further confirm that the organic matter does indeed have an effect on boron isotope analyses by positive thermal ionization mass spectrometry and that the use of micro-sublimation can effectively remove interferences from the organic matter during boron isotopic analysis.

Determination of boron content and isotopic composition in gypsum by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy and positive thermal ionization mass spectrometry using phase transformation

As a stable isotope, boron plays an important role in hydrogeology, environmental geochemistry, ore deposit geochemistry and marine paleoclimatology. However, there is no report of boron isotopic composition in gypsum. This is mainly confined to complete dissolution of Gypsum by water or acid. In this study, gypsum was converted to calcium carbonate (CaCO3) with ammonium bicarbonate(NH4HCO3) by two steps at 50°C. In every step, the mass ratio of NH4HCO3/CaSO4·2H2O was twice, and conversion rate reached more than 98%. Converted CaCO3 was totally dissolved with hydrochloric acid (the dissolution rate was over 99%). In order to overcome the difficulties of the matrix interference and the detection limit of Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES), we use Amberlite IRA 743 resin to purify and enrichment the boron at first, then eluting boron from the resin with 10mL 0.1mol/L hydrochloric acid at 75°C. The boron isotopic composition of natural gypsum samples was determined using positive thermal ionization mass spectrometry (P-TIMS). The boron isotopic composition of gypsum may be an excellent indicator for the formation environment.

Sample preparation for isotopic determination of boron in clay sediments

The procedures of sample preparation for isotopic determination of boron in clay sediments is very cumbersome, by far, there haven’t been relevant reports on that. In order to establish an effective method for sample preparation, a series of experiments were carried out. In this paper, boron in clay sediments was extracted with HCl solution and purified by two-step ion exchange method. Extracted HCl solution should be adjusted to alkalescency before passing through the Amberlite IRA 743 resin column due to the fact that Amberlite IRA 743 resin absorbs boron only from alkalescent solution. However, a mass of hydroxides of Al and Fe will be precipitated when the extracted HCl solution becomes alkalescent. Hydroxides of Al and Fe have a strong adsorption capacity for boron, which can cause boron isotope fractionation. To treat precipitated hydroxides of Al and Fe, four procedures, namely direct ion exchange (DRIE), decationizing ion exchange (DCIE), once sedimentation ion exchange (OSIE) and repeated sedimentation ion exchange (RSIE) were used and assessed. The influences of the four procedures on separation and extraction and isotopic composition of boron in experimental solutions and clay sediments were also discussed. According to the results, the DRIE, DCIE and OSIE are improper. The result of sample determination indicates that when extracting boron via RSIE, with the increase of precipitation times, there’s an obvious decrease in boron content in the precipitated hydroxides while a sharp increase in recovery of boron and it is favorable for weakening the influence of boron isotope fractionation. But the process of RSIE is time consuming and it may introduce boron. It needs further research to establish a more effective sample preparation method for isotopic determination of boron in clay sediments.