Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Reviews and syntheses : Review of proxies for low-oxygen paleoceanographic reconstructions

Hoogakker, Babette A.A. ; Davis, Catherine ; Wang, Yi ; Kusch, Stephanie ; Nilsson-Kerr, Katrina ; Hardisty, Dalton S. ; Jacobel, Allison ; Reyes MacAya, Dharma ; Glock, Nicolaas and Ni, Sha LU , et al. (2025) In Biogeosciences 22(4). p.863-957
Abstract

A growing body of observations has revealed rapid changes in both the total inventory and the distribution of marine oxygen over the latter half of the 20th century, leading to increased interest in extending oxygenation records into the past. The use of paleo-oxygen proxies has the potential to extend the spatial and temporal range of current records, constrain pre-anthropogenic baselines, provide datasets necessary to test climate models under different boundary conditions, and ultimately understand how ocean oxygenation responds beyond decadal-scale changes. This review seeks to summarize the current state of knowledge about proxies for reconstructing Cenozoic marine oxygen: sedimentary features, sedimentary redox-sensitive trace... (More)

A growing body of observations has revealed rapid changes in both the total inventory and the distribution of marine oxygen over the latter half of the 20th century, leading to increased interest in extending oxygenation records into the past. The use of paleo-oxygen proxies has the potential to extend the spatial and temporal range of current records, constrain pre-anthropogenic baselines, provide datasets necessary to test climate models under different boundary conditions, and ultimately understand how ocean oxygenation responds beyond decadal-scale changes. This review seeks to summarize the current state of knowledge about proxies for reconstructing Cenozoic marine oxygen: sedimentary features, sedimentary redox-sensitive trace elements and isotopes, biomarkers, nitrogen isotopes, foraminiferal trace elements, foraminiferal assemblages, foraminiferal morphometrics, and benthic foraminiferal carbon isotope gradients. Taking stock of each proxy reveals some common limitations as the majority of proxies functions best at low-oxygen concentrations, and many reflect multiple environmental drivers. We also highlight recent breakthroughs in geochemistry and proxy approaches to constraining pelagic (in addition to benthic) oxygenation that are rapidly advancing the field. In light of both the emergence of new proxies and the persistent multiple driver problem, the need for multi-proxy approaches and data storage and sharing that adhere to the principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability (FAIR) is emphasized. Continued refinements of proxy approaches and both proxy-proxy and proxy-model comparisons are likely to support the growing needs of both oceanographers and paleoceanographers interested in paleo-oxygenation records.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
foraminifera, oxygen, climate
in
Biogeosciences
volume
22
issue
4
pages
95 pages
publisher
Copernicus GmbH
external identifiers
  • scopus:85219303579
ISSN
1726-4170
DOI
10.5194/bg-22-863-2025
project
Tracing past bottom water oxygenation in the sea: a microanalytical approach to improve calcium carbonate based proxies (TOPICaL)
Past Global Changes working group Past Ocean Oxygenation
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 Babette A.A. Hoogakker et al.
id
27d3fd4b-eb16-4d1f-b5a4-b26d5ba778df
date added to LUP
2025-03-17 08:20:16
date last changed
2025-04-04 15:44:07
@article{27d3fd4b-eb16-4d1f-b5a4-b26d5ba778df,
  abstract     = {{<p>A growing body of observations has revealed rapid changes in both the total inventory and the distribution of marine oxygen over the latter half of the 20th century, leading to increased interest in extending oxygenation records into the past. The use of paleo-oxygen proxies has the potential to extend the spatial and temporal range of current records, constrain pre-anthropogenic baselines, provide datasets necessary to test climate models under different boundary conditions, and ultimately understand how ocean oxygenation responds beyond decadal-scale changes. This review seeks to summarize the current state of knowledge about proxies for reconstructing Cenozoic marine oxygen: sedimentary features, sedimentary redox-sensitive trace elements and isotopes, biomarkers, nitrogen isotopes, foraminiferal trace elements, foraminiferal assemblages, foraminiferal morphometrics, and benthic foraminiferal carbon isotope gradients. Taking stock of each proxy reveals some common limitations as the majority of proxies functions best at low-oxygen concentrations, and many reflect multiple environmental drivers. We also highlight recent breakthroughs in geochemistry and proxy approaches to constraining pelagic (in addition to benthic) oxygenation that are rapidly advancing the field. In light of both the emergence of new proxies and the persistent multiple driver problem, the need for multi-proxy approaches and data storage and sharing that adhere to the principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability (FAIR) is emphasized. Continued refinements of proxy approaches and both proxy-proxy and proxy-model comparisons are likely to support the growing needs of both oceanographers and paleoceanographers interested in paleo-oxygenation records.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hoogakker, Babette A.A. and Davis, Catherine and Wang, Yi and Kusch, Stephanie and Nilsson-Kerr, Katrina and Hardisty, Dalton S. and Jacobel, Allison and Reyes MacAya, Dharma and Glock, Nicolaas and Ni, Sha and Sepúlveda, Julio and Ren, Abby and Auderset, Alexandra and Hess, Anya V. and Meissner, Katrin J. and Cardich, Jorge and Anderson, Robert and Barras, Christine and Basak, Chandranath and Bradbury, Harold J. and Brinkmann, Inda and Castillo, Alexis and Cook, Madelyn and Costa, Kassandra and Choquel, Constance and Diz, Paula and Donnenfield, Jonas and Elling, Felix J. and Erdem, Zeynep and Filipsson, Helena L. and Garrido, Sebastián and Gottschalk, Julia and Govindankutty Menon, Anjaly and Groeneveld, Jeroen and Hallmann, Christian and Hendy, Ingrid and Hennekam, Rick and Lu, Wanyi and Lynch-Stieglitz, Jean and Matos, Lélia and Martínez-García, Alfredo and Molina, Giulia and Muñoz, Práxedes and Moretti, Simone and Morford, Jennifer and Nuber, Sophie and Radionovskaya, Svetlana and Raven, Morgan Reed and Somes, Christopher J. and Studer, Anja S. and Tachikawa, Kazuyo and Tapia, Raúl and Tetard, Martin and Vollmer, Tyler and Wang, Xingchen and Wu, Shuzhuang and Zhang, Yan and Zheng, Xin Yuan and Zhou, Yuxin}},
  issn         = {{1726-4170}},
  keywords     = {{foraminifera; oxygen; climate}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{863--957}},
  publisher    = {{Copernicus GmbH}},
  series       = {{Biogeosciences}},
  title        = {{Reviews and syntheses : Review of proxies for low-oxygen paleoceanographic reconstructions}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-863-2025}},
  doi          = {{10.5194/bg-22-863-2025}},
  volume       = {{22}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}