The high-resolution bioarchive Arctica islandica - reconstructing recent environmental history of the North Sea from bivalve shells

Abstract

Bivalve shells are often used to reconstruct past environmental conditions at the time of carbonate formation. The aim of this thesis is to optimize the process of reconstructing environmental history of marine ecosystems from bivalve shells (Arctica islandica) and to contribute to a better understanding of the correlations between shell chemistry and environmental parameters. In two chapters I examine how sample preparation and data collection may affect the outcome of subsequent trace element analyses in A. islandica shells. The other two chapters of the thesis focus on the applicability of specific trace element to calcium ratios in A. islandica shells to reconstruct the recent environmental history of the German Bight (North Sea). I analyzed Pb/Ca ratios as a tracer of anthropogenic lead pollution as well as Ba/Ca and Mn/Ca ratios as indicators of the pelagic primary production of the German Bight.