Time resolved trace element–to–calcium values measured with Laser ablation ICP-MS along lines of coral colony A to D (Porites lobata and Porites lichen) cultured with different metal concentrations

Culturing experiments exposed the scleractinian corals Porites lobata and Porites lichen to a mixture of dissolved chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), silver (Ag), cadmium (Cd), tin (Sn), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) in a wide concentration range for a period of more than a year. The aim was to examine whether the incorporation of heavy metals into the aragonitic skeleton of the corals is a direct function of their concentration in seawater. Therefore, the trace-element-to-calcium ratio (TE/Ca) in the coral aragonite precipitated during culturing was measured by Laser ablation ICP-MS in 2020. The measurement showed that all metals used here were measureable in the coral skeleton and only minor, non-systematic intra- and interspecies differences in the trace metal concentrations was found. A positive correlation between the TE/Ca values and the coral skeleton was found for Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn, Ag, Cd and Pb. Cu, Sn and Hg did not show any clear trend. […]本培养实验将石珊瑚（scleractinian corals）中的团块滨珊瑚（Porites lobata）与苔藓滨珊瑚（Porites lichen）暴露于宽浓度范围的溶解态铬（Cr）、锰（Mn）、镍（Ni）、铜（Cu）、锌（Zn）、银（Ag）、镉（Cd）、锡（Sn）、汞（Hg）与铅（Pb）混合溶液中，培养时长超过一年。本实验旨在探究珊瑚文石骨骼中重金属的掺入量是否与其在海水中的浓度呈直接函数关系。为此，研究人员于2020年采用激光剥蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱法（Laser ablation ICP-MS）测定了培养过程中沉淀的珊瑚文石内的微量元素与钙之比（TE/Ca）。测定结果表明，本实验所用的全部金属均可在珊瑚骨骼中被检出，且仅观察到微量且无系统性的种内与种间微量元素浓度差异。其中，铬、锰、镍、锌、银、镉与铅的TE/Ca值与对应海水中的金属浓度呈正相关；而铜、锡与汞未呈现明确的浓度趋势。[…]