J. Micropalaeontology, 37, 25–71, 2018 https://doi.org/10.5194/jm-37-25-2018 © Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. “Live” (stained) benthic foraminiferal living depths, stable isotopes, and taxonomy offshore South Georgia, Southern Ocean: implications for calcification depths Rowan Dejardin1, Sev Kender2,3, Claire S. Allen4, Melanie J. Leng1,5, George E. A. Swann1, and Victoria L. Peck4 1Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK 2Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK 3British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK 4British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK 5NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 5GG, UK Correspondence: Rowan Dejardin (
[email protected]) Published: 5 January 2018 Abstract. It is widely held that benthic foraminifera exhibit species-specific calcification depth preferences, with their tests recording sediment pore water chemistry at that depth (i.e. stable isotope and trace metal compositions). This assumed depth-habitat-specific pore water chemistry relationship has been used to re- construct various palaeoenvironmental parameters, such as bottom water oxygenation. However, many deep- water foraminiferal studies show wide intra-species variation in sediment living depth but relatively narrow intra-species variation in stable isotope composition. To investigate this depth-habitat–stable-isotope relation- ship on the shelf, we analysed depth distribution and stable isotopes of “living” (Rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera from two box cores collected on the South Georgia shelf (ranging from 250 to 300 m water depth).