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Global record of “ghost” nannofossils reveals plankton resilience to high CO2 and warming

S. Slater,P. Bown,R. Twitchett,S. Danise,V. Vajda

Published 2022 in Science

ABSTRACT

Predictions of how marine calcifying organisms will respond to climate change rely heavily on the fossil record of nannoplankton. Declines in calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and nannofossil abundance through several past global warming events have been interpreted as biocalcification crises caused by ocean acidification and related factors. We present a global record of imprint—or “ghost”—nannofossils that contradicts this view, revealing exquisitely preserved nannoplankton throughout an inferred Jurassic biocalcification crisis. Imprints from two further Cretaceous warming events confirm that the fossil records of these intervals have been strongly distorted by CaCO3 dissolution. Although the rapidity of present-day climate change exceeds the temporal resolution of most fossil records, complicating direct comparison with past warming events, our findings demonstrate that nannoplankton were more resilient to past events than traditional fossil evidence suggests. Description Ghosts of the past The marine geological records of some past global warming events contain relatively few nannoplankton fossils, the lack which some interpret as being evidence of the impact of ocean acidification and/or related environmental factors on biocalcification. Slater et al. present a global record of imprint, or “ghost,” nannofossils throughout several of those intervals during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (see the Perspective by Henderiks). This finding implies that a literal interpretation of the fossil record can be misleading, and demonstrates that nannoplankton were more resilient to past warming events than traditional fossil evidence would suggest. —HJS Imprint fossils reveal higher plankton abundances during some past warm periods than intact fossils indicate.

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