Strontium isotope geochemistry of modern and ancient archives: tracer of secular change in ocean chemistry

Strontium isotopes of marine archives provide a significant means for tracing physical and chemical processes operating over geologic time. Modern articulated brachiopods and halite samples were collected from all depths of the world’s main water bodies. Material from the Arctic, North and South Atlantic, North and South Pacific, Indian and Southern oceans, as well as Caribbean and Mediterranean seas provide baseline parameters for diagenetic screening and reconstruction of seawater curves. The Sr isotopic ratio of modern brachiopods is unobscured by latitude, depth, and biologic factors (Order, valves, and shell segment). However, there is a small but significant impact of external sources reflected by salinity and temperature on the Sr isotope ratio of modern brachiopods. We found a significant difference in 87Sr/86Sr of brachiopods from polar and temperate-tropical habitats (p = 0.001), which should be considered when working with deep-time archives. The average 87Sr/86Sr value of all our modern shells...