Combined uranium-series and trace elements analysis in cold seep bivalves: possibility in hundred-year-scale reconstruction of deep-sea temperature and acidification

Abstract

Despite the pivotal role of deep-sea in the global climate system, effective technology is still limited for reconstructing the key parameters of deep-sea environment such as temperature and acidification, especially at the hundred-year scale. In this study, we assessed the robustness and reliability of using bivalve shells in reconstructing cold seep environments. A significant heterogeneous distribution of trace elements was observed in the shells of clams and mussels from Formosa and Haima cold seeps even if they were collected from the same site, which was caused mainly by the environmental variables rather than physiological characters. The results of the principal component analysis revealed different trace elements ratios in the shell were associated with seepage. In particular, Sr/Ca was identified as a reliable proxy for temperature reconstruction, which performed better than oxygen isotopes. Na/Ca and U/Ca are potential proxies for cold seep acidification, but further validation is needed before their practical application. The age bias using the U-series dating method resulted from high 232Th and low initial 230Th/232Th rather than from alpha-recoil processes. The median ages assigned to mussels from the F and Haima cold seeps were 229.5 and 323.5 years, respectively. The lifespan of clams from the Haima cold seep was too short to date accurately. We proposed to conduct feasibility verification and error correction to enhance the method performance in reconstructing the hundred-year evolution of cold seep environment in the South China Sea.