Aragonite lithium/magnesium as an indicator of calcification media saturation state in marine calcifiers

Marine calcifiers support ecosystem services, including shell fisheries and coral reefs. Constraining the saturation state of the calcification media of these organisms is essential to understand the response of biomineralisation to environmental change. Here we synthesise aragonite over variable pH, saturation state, temperature, and in the presence of simple biomolecules. We show that the lithium/magnesium distribution coefficient, relating aragonite and precipitation fluid compositions, is significantly affected by precipitation rate but not by temperature or pH. Precipitation rate reflects saturation state and temperature, so lithium/magnesium of biogenic aragonite can be used to calculate mineral precipitation rate and, if the precipitation temperature is known, to reconstruct calcification medium saturation state. Applying the distribution coefficients to a published calcifier dataset indicates that calcification media saturation state is ca. 9 to 13 at 18–30 °C and ca. 6 to 10 at 10–18 °C. Coral calcification media saturation state varies between ocean sites, species, and reef zones.