Columbia University, United States

Oxygen and carbon isotope records are important tools used to reconstruct past ocean and climate conditions, with those of benthic foraminifera providing information on the deep oceans. Reconstructions are complicated by interspecies isotopic offsets that result from microhabitat preferences and vital effects. Correction factors are provided for early Cenozoic benthic foraminifera commonly used for isotopic measurements showing that most yield reliable isotopic proxies of environmental change. The statistical methods and larger data sets used in this study provide more robust correction factors than do previous studies. (modified journ. abstr.)