The trace element and isotopic composition of foraminifera shells are widely used in paleoceanography to reconstruct past ocean conditions. Individual foraminifer analysis (IFA) is a rapidly expanding technique for obtaining trace element and/or isotope data from individual foraminifer specimens. IFA permits an assessment of population variability, which can be linked to environmental conditions at the time of calcification or can be used to assess postdepositional diagenesis. Uniform interpretation of IFA depends on the assumption that the data are not impacted by analytical technique. Here, we compare paired trace element (Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca) data for the same specimens analyzed first using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS), followed by solution ICP‐MS. Foraminiferal trace element (TE) to calcium ratios compare well between the two methods for foraminifera of simple morphology (Orbulina universa), heavily calcified specimens with TE‐homogeneous outer calcite (Pulleniatina obliquiloculata), or when all chambers in multichambered species are analyzed by the laser and averaged together (Trilobatus sacculifer and Neogloboquadrina dutertrei). We highlight potential issues in interpreting and comparing studies that use different analytical techniques and recommend that the paleoceanographic community establish accepted protocols for generating IFA that would maximize our ability to cross‐compare paleoceanographic data and reconstructions when different analytical techniques are used.

中文翻译：

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单个有孔虫Mg / Ca和Sr / Ca分析的激光烧蚀和基于溶液的ICP-MS结果的比较

有孔虫壳的微量元素和同位素组成在古海洋学中广泛用于重建过去的海洋条件。单个有孔虫分析（IFA）是一种快速扩展的技术，用于从单个有孔虫标本中获取微量元素和/或同位素数据。IFA可以评估种群变异性，可以将其与钙化时的环境条件联系起来，也可以用于评估沉积后的成岩作用。IFA的统一解释取决于以下假设：数据不受分析技术的影响。在这里，我们比较了首先使用激光烧蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）分析的相同样品的配对痕量元素（Mg / Ca和Sr / Ca）数据，然后是溶液ICP-MS。Orbulina universa），重钙化的标本和外部方解石（Pulleniatina obliquiloculata），或者用激光分析多室物种的所有小室并对其进行平均（Trilobatus sacculifer和Neoglobobodadrina dutertrei）。我们在解释和比较使用不同分析技术的研究时强调了潜在的问题，并建议古海洋学界建立公认的协议来生成IFA，以便在使用不同分析技术时最大程度地使我们交叉比较古海洋学数据和重建数据的能力。