Effects of organic matter complexation on partitioning of transition metals into calcite: Cave-analogue crystal growth experiments

We highlight the potential for first row transition metals to carry paleohydrological signals in speleothems, and argue that these metals constitute valuable proxies for climate reconstructions. Metal availability to speleothems is hypothesised to be restricted by organic complexation, which strongly limits the free ion activity of transition metals (Co2+, Ni2+ and Cu2+) in dripwater, thereby creating a kinetic overprint on metal concentrations and isotope ratios in speleothem calcite. This study presents the results of the first cave-analogue experiments of transition metal partitioning into calcite in the absence and presence of organic ligands. The Geological Microclimate (GeoMic) system…