HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (5) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by BALDINI, L. M. Articles by CROWE, D. E. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

ISOTOPIC ECOLOGY OF THE MODERN LAND SNAIL CERION, SAN SALVADOR, BAHAMAS: PRELIMINARY ADVANCES TOWARD ESTABLISHING A LOW-LATITUDE ISLAND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL PROXY

¹ School of Geological Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
² Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Geography-Geology Building, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
³ Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Science Labs, Durham DH1 3LE, UK l.m.baldini{at}durham.ac.uk

The isotopic ecology of terrestrial snails from tropical island settings is not known despite the importance of such data sets for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. In this study, variations in carbon (¹³C/ ¹²C) and oxygen (¹⁸O/¹⁶O) isotope ratios obtained during whole-shell and sequential-rib analyses of the modern land snail, Cerion, reveal a record of diet and local environment on San Salvador, Bahamas. The mean ¹³C value of adult Cerion shells collected from C₄ vegetation is higher by 1.0 relative to snails collected from C₃ plants, suggesting that carbon isotopes in shell carbonate reflect the dominant plant type in the diet, though the broad range of shell carbonate ¹³C confirms a varied diet for this genus. The mean ¹⁸O values of adult Cerion shells collected from the west coast of San Salvador are 0.8 higher than those collected from the east coast of the island. This difference may reflect the incorporation of water vapor derived from ¹⁸O-rich hypersaline lakes located in the island's western interior. Sequential-rib analysis of one adult Cerion shell reveals variations in ¹³C and ¹⁸O values through ontogeny that may reflect changes in food source and rainfall seasonality, respectively. This study lays the groundwork for future studies to establish fossil Cerion as a valuable paleoenvironmental proxy for San Salvador and the Bahamas.