Benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotope offsets over the last glacial-interglacial cycle

The oxygen isotope (δ¹⁸O) offset between contemporaneous benthic foraminiferal species is often assumed constant with time and geographic location. We present an inventory of benthic foraminiferal species δ¹⁸O offsets from the major ocean basins covering the last glacial-interglacial cycle, showing that of the twenty down-core records investigated, twelve show significant temporal changes in δ¹⁸O offsets that do not resemble stochastic variability. Some of the temporal changes may be related to kinetic fractionation effects causing deglacial/interglacial enrichment or glacial depletion in mainly infaunal species, but additional research is needed to confirm this. In addition to stratigraphic implications the finding of temporally varying offsets between coexisting benthic foraminiferal species could have implications for sea level, deepwater temperature, and regional deepwater δ¹⁸O estimates.