Trace-elemental data (Mn/Ca, Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca) of the benthic foraminifer Nonionella stella from core-top sediments of the Santa Barbara Basin, USA

Dataset of Mn/Ca, Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca of the three most-recently formed chambers (n, n-1 and n-2) of Nonionella stella (CTG-labelled) acquired by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS; Nordsim, Stockholm, Sweden). Nonionella stella specimens were collected from core-top samples of three sites over a depth-gradient in the Santa Barbara Basin, off Southern California, USA. The data set is part of a study exploring the response of foraminiferal Mn/Ca to changing bottom-water oxygenation and pore-water Mn geochemistry. The data is discussed in: Brinkmann, I., Ni, S., Schweizer, M., Oldham, V. E., Quintana Krupinski, N. B., Medjoubi, K., et al. (2021). Foraminiferal Mn/Ca as bottom-water hypoxia proxy: An assessment of Nonionella stella in the Santa Barbara Basin, USA. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 36, e2020PA004167. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020PA004167Opens in a new tab. Please contact the main author for further details (inda.brinkmann@geol.lu.seOpens in a new tab). The northern SBB was sampled in May 2018 (cruise SP1811, R/V Robert Gordon Sproul) at site 1 (430 m; 34º 18.6’N, 119º 54.0’W), site 2 (505 m; 34º 20.8’N, 119º 59.0’W) and site 3 (567 m; 34º 19.2’N, 120º 03.4’W). Sediment cores were recovered with a Ocean Instruments MC800 multicorer. The cores were sliced into 0.5 cm sections (‘0–0.5 cm’, ‘0.5–1.0 cm’, ‘1.0–1.5 cm’ and ‘1.5–2.0 cm’; site 1 also 'fluff') and CTG-labelled to identify living foraminifera. Nonionella stella specimens were selected and bleached (NaOCl 5%) prior to epoxy-embedding. Trace element concentrations of test walls were analysed using a CAMECA ims1280 ion microprobe (Nordsim Laboratory, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden); an OKA calcite crystal served as reference material.