Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2018-249 Manuscript under review for journal Biogeosciences Discussion started: 10 July 2018 c Author(s) 2018. CC BY 4.0 License. Assessment of hydrothermal alteration on micro- and nanostructures of biocarbonates: quantitative statistical grain-area analysis of diagenetic overprint Laura A. Casella1*, Sixin He1, Erika Griesshaber1, Lourdes Fernández-Díaz2, Elizabeth M. Harper3, 5 Daniel J. Jackson4, Andreas Ziegler5, Vasileios Mavromatis6,7, Martin Dietzel7, Anton Eisenhauer8, Uwe Brand9, and Wolfgang W. Schmahl1 1Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and GeoBioCenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, 80333, Germany 10 2Instituto de Geociencias, Universidad Complutense Madrid (UCM, CSIC), Madrid, 28040, Spain 3Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, U. K. 4Department of Geobiology, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, 37077, Germany 5Central Facility for Electron Microscopy, University of Ulm, Ulm, 89081, Germany 6Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (GET), CNRS, UMR 5563, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 14 Av. E. Belin, 31400 15 Toulouse, France 7Institute of Applied Geosciences, Graz University of Technology, Rechbauerstr. 12, 8010 Graz, Austria 8GEOMAR-Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Marine Biogeochemistry/Marine Geosystems, Kiel, Germany 9Department of Earth Sciences, Brock University, 1812 Sir Isaac Brock Way, St. Catharines, Ontario, L2S 3A1, Canada 20 Correspondence to: Laura A. Casella ([email protected]) Abstract. The assessment of diagenetic overprint on microstructural and geochemical data gained from fossil archives is of fundamental importance for understanding palaeoenvironments. A correct reconstruction of past environmental dynamics is only possible when pristine skeletons are unequivocally distinguished from altered skeletal elements. Our previous studies (Casella et al., 2017) have shown that replacement of biogenic carbonate by inorganic calcite occurs via an interface coupled 25 dissolution–reprecipitation mechanism. Furthermore, for a comprehensive assessment of alteration, structural changes have to be assessed on the nanoscale as well, which documents the replacement of pristine nanoparticulate calcite by diagenetic nanorhombohedral calcite (Casella et al., 2018a, b). In the present contribution we investigated six different modern biogenic carbonate microstructures for their behaviour under hydrothermal alteration in order to assess their potential to withstand diagenetic overprint and to test the integrity of their 30 preservation in the fossil record. For each microstructure (a) the evolution of biogenic aragonite and calcite replacement by inorganic calcite was examined, (b) distinct carbonate mineral formation steps on the micrometre scale were highlighted, (c) microstructural changes at different stages of alteration were explored, and (d) statistical analysis of differences in basic mineral unit dimensions in pristine and altered skeletons was performed. The latter analysis enables an unequivocal determination of the degree of diagenetic overprint and discloses information especially about low degrees of hydrothermal 35 alteration. 1 Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2018-249 Manuscript under review for journal Biogeosciences Discussion started: 10 July 2018 c Author(s) 2018. CC BY 4.0 License. 1 Introduction Biomineralised hard parts composed of calcium carbonate form the basis of studies of past climate dynamics and environmental change. However, the greatest challenge that all biological archives face lies in their capacity to retain original signatures, as alteration of them starts immediately upon death of the organism. Biopolymers decay, and inorganic minerals 5 precipitate within as well as at the outer surfaces of the hard tissue (e.g., Patterson and Walter, 1994; Ku et al., 1999; Brand et al., 2004; Zazzo et al., 2004). Despite ongoing and extensive research, carbonate diagenesis remains only partly understood. Many studies addressing the evolution of parameters which influence diagenetic alteration are discussed in only a qualitative manner (Brand and Veizer, 1980, 1981; Swart, 2015). In particular, deciphering the sequence of those processes with many steps of 10 alteration and unknown intermediate stages poses one of the major problems in understanding carbonate diagenesis (Immenhauser et al., 2015a; Swart, 2015; Ullmann and Korte, 2015). Our previous studies on the shell of the modern bivalve Arctica islandica have shown that simulated diagenetic alteration discloses microstructural and geochemical features that are comparable to those found in fossils (Casella et al., 2017; Ritter et al., 2017). However, both studies covered only the hard tissue of one taxon. For a more comprehensive understanding of microstructural and chemical controls during diagenesis, 15 hard tissues of other archives have to be thoroughly examined. Accordingly, we extended our studies onto hard tissues of other modern marine carbonate biomineralisers such as the bivalves, A. islandica, and Mytilus edulis, the coral Porites sp., and the gastropod Haliotis ovina. With these organisms we cover both major calcium carbonate phases and, further to that present in the shell of A. islandica, five additional microstructures. When selecting model organisms for this study, care was taken to investigate those for which fossil counterparts are used for palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. 20 The bivalve A. islandica has been studied extensively in several scientific articles and fields (e.g., Ridgway and Richardson, 2011; Strahl et al., 2011; Wanamaker et al., 2011; Karney et al., 2012; Krause-Nehring et al., 2012; Ridgway et al., 2012; Butler et al., 2013; Schöne, 2013). The first occurrence of A. islandica in the Mediterranean Sea has a historical importance and was used until 2010 to mark the former Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary (e.g., Crippa and Raineri, 2015; Crippa et al., 2016). As long-lived organisms, stony corals attract great interest for the reconstruction of palaeoclimates 25 derived from skeletal oxygen isotopic compositions and major element abundances, as these geochemical signals vary in response to changes in seawater temperature (e.g., Meibom et al., 2007). It is assumed that δ234U in sea water has remained constant in the past, thus, the comparison between present-day and decay-corrected δ234U in sea water and in coral skeletons is a major tool for the detection of diagenetically altered corals. δ234U values of the latter are higher relative to present day sea water (Hamelin et al., 1991; Stirling et al., 1995; Delanghe et al., 2002), while pristine corals exhibit a 234U/238U activity 30 ratio similar to modern sea water (Henderson et al., 1993; Blanchon et al., 2009). Shells of M. edulis and H. ovina represent new archives for studies of palaeo- and present environmental change. The work of Hahn et al. (2012, 2014) has shown that environmental reconstruction can be derived from microstructural information, as well as stable isotope and major element 2 Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2018-249 Manuscript under review for journal Biogeosciences Discussion started: 10 July 2018 c Author(s) 2018. CC BY 4.0 License. data. The shells of M. edulis and H. ovina consist of two layers with distinct microstructures. In H. ovina the two layers are composed of aragonite, whereas the shell of M.s edulis consists of an outer calcite and inner aragonite layer. To reliably identify low to moderate degrees of diagenetic overprint, we investigated the behaviour of biocarbonate skeletal microstructure during hydrothermal alteration. Laboratory-based hydrothermal alteration experiments were 5 conducted for time spans between 1 and 35 days, at an alteration temperature of 175 °C and in the presence of Mg-rich fluid. Skeletons of two modern bivalves (A. islandica and M. edulis), one modern stony coral (Porites sp.) and one modern gastropod (H. ovina) were carried out. With this selection of hard tissue we are able to investigate the influence, during alteration, of variations in mineral surface area, control by primary (inherent) and secondary (induced) porosity, the effect of biopolymer fabric and pattern of distribution within the skeleton, and the role of the size, form, and mode of organisation of 10 the basic mineral unit. We discuss differences between calcite and aragonite in biogenic to inorganic carbonate phase replacement kinetics, and illustrate differences in structure and porosity between original and product phases. Overprint highly affects basic mineral unit sizes in the alteration product, and we evaluate this characteristic for pristine and altered skeletons using statistics. Based on statistical grain area analysis, a new and reliable tool for the detection of diagenetic overprint in 15 biological carbonate hard tissue is presented, and this tool is able to characterise low degrees of diagenetic alteration. 2 Materials and methods 2.1 Test materials Shells of the modern bivalve Arctica islandica were collected from Loch Etive, Scotland (U.K). The shells are 8-10 cm in size and represent adult specimens. Pristine specimens of the scleractinian coral Porites sp. were collected at Moorea, French 20 Polynesia (Rashid et al., 2014). Live specimens of the gastropod Haliotis ovina were collected from the reef flat of Heron Island, Queensland, Australia. All shell pieces used in this study were taken from the shell