Mapping Proxy Sensitivity: A New Technique for Compositional Analysis of Cultured Biominerals and Inorganically Precipitated Materials

Mineral composition is controlled by a host of environmental factors during precipitation. To build accurate paleo-reconstructions we need to separate the impact of each parameter on proxy behavior and use these data to build a chemical-scale understanding of mineral growth. Biomineral culture and inorganic precipitation experiments, where growth parameters can be manipulated independently, are uniquely suited to calibrate proxies and probe mechanism. Culture and precipitation experiments often involve overgrowth of an initial material. For example, seed crystals are used to control mineralogy and avoid nucleation during inorganic precipitation, while culture experiments in marine organisms typically start with wild specimens. New growth corresponding to the experimental conditions must be resolved from the initial material. Separation is typically achieved using microanalysis, skeletal dissection, or estimates of the initial mass and composition. Each approach imposes limits on the accuracy, precision or types of materials that can be analyzed. Slow growth rates and complicated geometries can make these techniques especially challenging when applied to biominerals. We present a method of compositional analysis for use in biological culture and inorganic growth experiments that overcomes many of these challenges. This method relies on growth in a mixed element stable isotope spike, requires neither the initial mass nor the initial composition to be known, harnesses the precision and sensitivity of bulk analysis, and applies even when it is impossible to physically identify newly grown material. Error analysis suggests this method can significantly improve the precision of metal/calcium measurements in experimentally grown material compared to current methods. Furthermore, the method can isolate different events through time, separating, for example, the impact of day and night cycles on biomineral composition. We will present metal/calcium ratios measured using the new method with living planktic foraminifera that were cultured at The Wrigley Marine Science Center on Santa Catalina Island during summer 2011 and compare our approach to other micro-analytical techniques.