Effects of brine chemistry and polymorphism on clumped isotopes revealed by laboratory precipitation of mono-and multiphase calcium carbonates
Carbonate clumped isotopes are applied to an increasing number of geological archives to address a wide range of Earth science questions. However, the effect of changes in salinity on the carbonate clumped isotope technique has not been investigated experimentally yet. In particular, evaporated sea water and diagenetic fluids differ substantially from solutions used to calibrate the clumped isotope thermometer as they exhibit high ionic concentrations of e.g., Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and Cl−. High ionic concentrations are known to have an impact on δ18O values, and could potentially impact the successful application of clumped isotopes to the reconstruction of diagenetic processes, including precipitation temperatures and the origin of the diagenetic fluid.
