Single-species dinoflagellate cyst carbon isotope fractionation in core-top sediments: environmental controls, CO2 dependency and proxy potential

. Sedimentary bulk organic matter and various molecular organic components exhibit strong CO 2 -dependent carbon isotope fractionation relative to dissolved inorganic carbon sources. This fractionation ( e p ) has been employed as proxy for paleo- p CO 2 . Yet, culture experiments indicate this CO 2 -dependent e p is highly specific at genus and even species level, potentially hampering the use of bulk organic matter and non-species specific organic compounds. In recent years, significant progress has been made towards a CO 2 proxy using controlled growth experiments with dinoflagellate species, also showing 15 highly species-specific e p values. These values were, however, based on motile specimens and it remains unknown whether these relations also hold for the organic-walled resting cysts (dinocysts) produced by these dinoflagellate species in their natural environment. We here analyze dinocysts isolated from core-tops from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, representing several species ( Spiniferites elongatus, S. (cf.) ramosus, S. mirabilis , Operculodinium centrocarpum sensu Wall & Dale (1966) (hereafter referred to as O. centrocarpum ) and Impagidinium aculeatum ) using Laser ablation – nano 20 Combustion – Gas Chromatography – Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (LA/nC/GC-IRMS). We find that the dinocysts

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