Geochemistry of Marine Bivalve Shells: the potential for paleoenvironmental reconstruction

1 General Introduction 3 1. Bivalves as environmental proxies: An introduction. 5 2. Materials and Methods: Procedures, equipment, precision and accuracy. 31 3. Validation of LA-ICP-MS results with micromilling and SN-HR-ICP-MS. 59 4. Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in an aragonitic bivalve (Saxidomus giganteus): assessing the reproducibility and reliability for environmental reconstruction. 71 5. Metabolic CO2 incorporation in aragonitic clam shells (Mercenaria mercenaria) and the influence on shell δC. 93 6. The link between salinity, phytoplankton and δC in Mytilus edulis. 107 7. Assessing the reproducibility and potential of high resolution trace element profiles in an aragonitic bivalve (Saxidomus giganteus) for environmental reconstruction. 123 8. Can Sr/Ca ratios be used as a temperature proxy in aragonitic bivalves? 141 9. Are aragonitic bivalve shells useful archives of anthropogenic Pb pollution? 167 10. Barium uptake into the calcite shells of the common mussel (Mytilus edulis) and the potential for estuarine paleo-chemistry reconstruction. 183 11. A note on elemental uptake in calcite bivalve shells. 209 12. Conclusions and future perspectives 223