Global record of ghost nannofossils reveals plankton resilience to high CO2 and warming

Predictions of how marine calcifying organisms will respond to climate change rely heavily on the fossil record of nannoplankton. Declines in calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and nannofossil abundance through several past global warming events have been interpreted as biocalcification crises caused by ocean acidification and related factors. We present a global record of imprint-or ghost-nannofossils that contradicts this view, revealing exquisitely preserved nannoplankton throughout an inferred Jurassic biocalcification crisis. Imprints from two further Cretaceous warming events confirm that the fossil records of these intervals have been strongly distorted by CaCO3 dissolution. Although the rapidity of present-day climate change exceeds the temporal resolution of most fossil records, complicating direct comparison with past warming events, our findings demonstrate that nannoplankton were more resilient to past events than traditional fossil evidence suggests.

Automated summary

Predictions on how marine calcifying organisms will respond to climate change largely rely on the fossil record of nannoplankton. However, a global record of imprint or ghost-nannofossils contradicts the belief that declines in calcium carbonate and nannofossil abundance during past global warming events can be attributed to biocalcification crises caused by ocean acidification. The fossil records of these intervals have been distorted by calcium carbonate dissolution, suggesting that nannoplankton were more resilient to past events than previously thought.