Sclerochronological insights into the environmental response of Corbula gibba from the Adriatic Sea
Authors: Strafella Pierluigi , Al Fudhaili Najat , de Winter Niels , López Correa Matthias , Teichert Sebastian , Scarcella Giuseppe , Nohl Theresa 
Published: March 2022

&lt;p&gt;Bivalve shells are accretionary biogenic carbonates that yield a record of the organisms&amp;#8217; life history, also with respect to the physiological response to the ambient environmental conditions. This is reflected by variations in the shells&amp;#8217; growth bands, their chemical composition, and morphological features, making them useful tools in paleobiology and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. &lt;em&gt;Corbula gibba &lt;/em&gt;is an abundant bivalve species in the Adriatic Sea that is commonly used to resolve questions in age determinations, paleoenvironmental reconstructions and sequence stratigraphic studies [1,2]. Nevertheless, a detailed analysis of its response in growth bands and chemical signatures to environmental variations is currently missing. This study evaluates growth increments and chemical variations in &lt;em&gt;Corbula gibba&lt;/em&gt; shells. The shells have been collected alive from the Western Adriatic Sea between Senigallia and Ancona to shed light on the reliability of the &lt;em&gt;Corbula gibba &lt;/em&gt;as an archive for (paleo)environmental information. Mutvei's solution has been used [3] to stain the alternating dark and light bundles in the shell, enhancing the visualization of growth increments. High-resolution elemental profiles have been acquired across the outer shells layer using the non-destructive Micro X-ray fluorescence (&amp;#181;-XRF) technique [4]. The results are compared to available climatic information for Ancona and indicate that &lt;em&gt;Corbula gibba&lt;/em&gt; shells record detailed temporal changes in the environment such as tidal fluctuations caused by lunar cycle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[1]&lt;/strong&gt; Toma&amp;#353;ov&amp;#253;ch, A., Gallmetzer, I., Haselmair, A., Kaufman, D., Vidovi&amp;#263;, J., &amp; Zuschin, M. (2017). Stratigraphic unmixing reveals repeated hypoxia events over the past 500 yr in the northern Adriatic Sea.&amp;#160;&lt;em&gt;Geology&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;#160;45 (4), 363-366.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[2]&lt;/strong&gt; Toma&amp;#353;ov&amp;#253;ch, A., Gallmetzer, I., Haselmair, A., Kaufman, D., Kralj, M., &amp; Cassin, D. et al. (2018). Tracing the effects of eutrophication on molluscan communities in sediment cores: outbreaks of an opportunistic species coincide with reduced bioturbation and high frequency of hypoxia in the Adriatic Sea.&amp;#160;&lt;em&gt;Paleobiology&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;#160;44 (4), 575-602.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[3] &lt;/strong&gt;Sch&amp;#246;ne, B., Dunca, E., Fiebig, J., &amp; Pfeiffer, M. (2005). Mutvei's solution: An ideal agent for resolving microgrowth structures of biogenic carbonates.&amp;#160;&lt;em&gt;Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;#160;228 (1-2), 149-166.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[4]&lt;/strong&gt; de Winter, N.J., Sinnesael, M., Makarona, C., Vansteenberge, S., Claeys, P., (2017). Trace element analyses of carbonates using portable and micro-X-ray fluorescence: performance and optimization of measurement parameters and strategies. &lt;em&gt;Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry&lt;/em&gt;, 32, 1211&amp;#8211;1223.&lt;/p&gt;