The calcium riverine and hydrothermal isotopic fluxes and the oceanic calcium mass balance

Abstract

Calcium isotope ratios relative to seawater were studied in natural waters in order to constrain the Ca isotopic flux to the oceans and to discuss the oceanic Ca budget. This study includes the analysis of (1) Ca isotopes in continental waters at the regional scale of the Upper Rhine valley and (2) the determination of the δ44Ca values of some major rivers and hydrothermal vents. The data indicate that the global δ44Ca variability of the studied waters, with a maximal range of 1‰, is limited and must be linked to mass fractionation processes. At the scale of a small watershed (Aubure, Vosges, France), the δ44Ca river flux changes due to the variation of the proportion of waters resulting from chemical alteration of rocks and biologically fractionated soil solutions. Ca isotopes could therefore be an important tool to quantify the impact of the plants and the biosphere on the river water chemistry. At the regional scale of the Rhine valley as well as at the global scale of world rivers, the δ44Ca variability of river samples ranges from 0.5 to 1‰ without any relationship with the lithology of the watershed or the climate. Similarly, the δ44Ca value of hydrothermal vents is also uniform and close to the mean value of river waters. Consequently, the δ44Ca flux to the ocean should remain rather constant through time with a mean of −1.1±0.2‰. This value confirms that the Ca budget of the present-day seawater is in steady-state. This was not necessarily the case in the past. Non-steady-state periods should have been due to intensity variations of incoming and outcoming Ca fluxes rather than to the variations in their isotopic signatures.