High-frequency archives of manganese inputs to coastal waters (Bay of Seine, France) resolved by the LA-ICP-MS analysis of calcitic growth layers along scallop shells (Pecten maximus).
During their growth, bivalves are recognized to archive minor and trace elements within their shells which may reflect environmental conditions at the sediment-water interface (SWI). Shells from juvenile Great Scallops (Pecten maximus (L.)), which develop a daily calcite growth layer, were collected in the Bay of Seine (France) and examined by matrix-matched LaserAblation ICP-MS analysis for Mn concentrations along their growth period, from April to October (year 2004). The backdated Mn concentration profiles were compared with environmental variables (e.g., temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a, oxygen, etc.) measured continuously at monitoring stations in riverine, estuarine, and coastal waters. The objective was first to perform microanalyses of Mn composition along the shell reflecting episodic enrichment or depletion in such environment, and second, to depict Mn cycling and inputs at the SWI according to the measured profiles. Basically, Mn concentration profiles mostly depend on established estuarine and coastal biogeochemical processes that lead to an increase of dissolved Mn concentration available for shell uptake. Potential particulate Mn fluxes from the Seine River, that control both particulate and dissolved Mn input to the bay, are strongly correlated with shell Mn concentrations from April to July (?r = 0.95, n = 8, p < 0.05). In late summer, riverine inputs can not only provide an explanation for the shell Mn enrichments which suggest additional sources of Mn. During this period, two other processes also contribute to the release of dissolved Mn in coastal waters and the increase of shell Mn content: (1) successive redox oscillations within the high turbidity zone of the macrotidal Seine estuary and (2) postbloom reductive conditions developed at the SWI of the Seine Bay under periodic seasonal eutrophication. This study demonstrates that incremental Mn concentrations profiles in scallop shells are a relevant natural archive to evaluate the processes governing Mn inputs into coastal environments at a daily scale.