Identification and quantification of the sea spray effect on isotopic systems in a-cellulose (delta C-13, delta O-18), total sulfur (delta S-34), and Sr-87/Sr-86 of European beach grass (Ammophila arenaria, L.) in a greenhouse experiment

Goehring, Andrea; Hoelzl, Stefan; Mayr, Christoph und Strauss, Harald (2022): Identification and quantification of the sea spray effect on isotopic systems in a-cellulose (delta C-13, delta O-18), total sulfur (delta S-34), and Sr-87/Sr-86 of European beach grass (Ammophila arenaria, L.) in a greenhouse experiment. In: Science of the Total Environment, Bd. 856, 158840

Abstract

The sea spray effect can severely influence the isotopic signature of terrestrial individuals in coastal regions. To further specify this effect, beach grass was grown in a greenhouse under controlled environmental conditions and sprayed with mineral salt solution containing different mineral salts but only traces of NaCl (group 1). Another group of plants was sprayed with salty water from the Schlei inlet and the Baltic Sea, respectively (group 2). Control plants were only sprayed with tap water. Isotope analyses were conducted on the unwashed and washed plants (delta C-13(cellolose), delta O-18(cellulose), delta S-34(total) (S), Sr-87/Sr-86), soil (delta O-18(sulfate), delta S-34(sulfate), Sr-87/Sr-86), and spray as well as irrigation water (delta O-18(sulfate), delta S-34(sulfate), Sr-87/Sr-86). Moreover, elemental analyses were performed on the water samples. The sea spray effect was visible in all isotopic systems under study. The uptake of SO42-, HCO3-, and Sr2+ directly affected plants of group 1, while plants of group 2, sprayed with salty water, additionally showed salinity stress in the case of alpha-cellulose and total sulfur due to biochemical reactions of the plants.VeryhighconcentrationsinHCO(3)(-)orSO(4)(2-) also affected the the plants' isotopic signatures. The impact of the sea spray and additional stress reactions were quantified. Our study is the first experiment creating an artificial sea spray effect in a greenhouse. Th is experiment for the first time enables the identification and quantification of the sea spray effect in environmental samples. The marine signature taken up by the plants and recorded by the investigated isotopic systems is apparently high and should have an impact on the isotopic fingerprints of animal consumers at the coast, as evidenced for archaeological animals from the Viking laithabu and the early medieval Schleswig sites located close to the Baltic Sea. This result demonstrates the potential of greenhouse experiments as an isotopic predictor of the past local sea spray effect.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Biologie
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie
• ISSN: 0048-9697
• Sprache: Englisch