A process-based model for non-equilibrium clumped isotope effects in carbonates

Abstract

The equilibrium clumped isotope composition of carbonate minerals is independent of the composition of the aqueous solution. However, many carbonate minerals grow at rates that place them in a non-equilibrium regime with respect to carbon and oxygen isotopes with unknown consequences for clumped isotopes. We develop a process-based model that allows one to calculate the oxygen, carbon, and clumped isotope composition of calcite as a function of temperature, crystal growth rate, and solution pH. In the model, carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation occurs through the mass-dependent attachment/detachment kinetics of the isotopologues of HCO−3 and CO2−3 to and from the calcite surface, which in turn, influence the clumped isotope composition of calcite. At experimental and biogenic growth rates, the mineral is expected to inherit a clumped isotopic composition that is similar to that of the DIC pool, which helps to explain (1) why different organisms share the same clumped isotope versus temperature calibration curves, (2) why many inorganic calibration curves are slightly different from one another, and (3) why foraminifera, coccoliths, and deep sea corals can have near-equilibrium clumped isotope compositions but far-from-equilibrium carbon and oxygen isotope compositions. Some aspects of the model can be generalized to other mineral systems and should serve as a useful reference in future efforts to quantify kinetic clumped isotope effects.