Alexandria Marie Firenzi is a doctoral researcher at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR; Reno, Nevada, USA). Her work focuses on reconstructing past sea-surface temperature and salinity variability along the northeastern Pacific coast of North America, with particular attention to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and coastal current dynamics within the Southern California Bight. She visited our lab and is keen to share some data!
Our new study delivers the most extensive calibration to date of Patella caerulea (the Mediterranean limpet) as a recorder of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) across the Central and Eastern Mediterranean. The study combined laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for measuring Mg/Ca ratios with isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) to analyse oxygen isotope values (δ18O). By analysing 131 modern shells from 22 sites, we explored the relationship between magnesium-to-calcium (Mg/Ca) ratios and oxygen isotope values as palaeotemperature proxies.
Using LIBS to evaluate Mg/Ca ratios in limpet shells from Atlantic and sub-Antarctic regions, this study demonstrates that these ratios can serve as robust palaeotemperature proxies when intra-shell variability is carefully accounted for. The results support the expanded use of LIBS for rapid and high-resolution shell-based climate reconstructions in archaeological and environmental research.