Sclerosponges as a new potential recorder of environmental changes: Lead in Ceratoporella nicholsoni
Lazareth, C.; Willenz, P.; Navez, J.; Keppens, E.; Dehairs, F.A.; André, L. (2000). Sclerosponges as a new potential recorder of environmental changes: Lead in Ceratoporella nicholsoni. Geology (Boulder Colo.) 28(6): 515-518. dx.doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2000)28<515:SAANPR>2.0.CO;2 In: Geology. Geological Society of America: Boulder. ISSN 0091-7613; e-ISSN 1943-2682, more | |
Author keywords | coralline sponge; lead; global change; LA-ICP-MS; carbonate |
Abstract | Lead concentrations have been analyzed on a 223 yr profile through the aragonitic skeleton of the reef-building Caribbean sclerosponge Ceratoporella nicholsoni by using laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. A parallel study of the delta(13)C distribution in the skeleton validates the previously established mean annual growth rate of 230 mu m/yr, at least for long-term important environmental changes. The Pb trend in the specimen displays a general increase from 0.30 ppm ca. A.D. 1760 to 2.15 ppm ca. A.D. 1984; a major threefold increase occurred after 1930. This Pb profile is analogous to results acquired from ice or coral cores and clearly highlights the potential of sclerosponges as a new proxy of environmental changes for time series extending over several centuries. |
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