A strontium isotope baseline of Cyprus. Assessing the use of soil leachates, plants, groundwater and surface water as proxies for the local range of bioavailable strontium isotope composition

• In this study, a strontium isotope baseline for Cyprus is presented. The aim of the study was two-fold; first to provide an environmental multi-proxy-based baseline (water/plants/soil leachates) suitable for archaeological provenance and mobility studies, food source authentication, and forensic investigations; and second, to contribute to the debate around which proxy (or combination of proxies) might be most suitable to define bioavailable fractions of strontium in geologically complex areas also exposed to sea-spray and other Sr-bearing aerosols. Lowest bioavailable strontium isotope signatures range is found within terranes dominated by ophiolites, where Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios range from 0.7055 to 0.7081, however, results reveal a high degree of variability in bioavailable Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios, both spatially, along depth profiles and amongst the different proxies. A narrower range of bioavailable Sr isotope signatures is observed within the Circum Troodos Sedimentary Successions (C.T.S.S.), both in spatial distribution and between different proxies. Observed range is Sr-87/Sr-86 = 0.7079 to 0.7089 in areas dominated by pre-Quaternary C.T.S.S., and Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios = 0.7076 to 0.7086 in areas covered by Quaternary C.T.S.S., revealing the lithologies to be very homogenous with respect to bioavailable strontium ratios. Intra-site variations in three archaeological sites (multiple samples from each site from within a 500 m radius) within the pre-Quaternary and Quaternary C.T.S.S. are smaller than inter-site variations, suggesting that tracing studies inferred from baselines sampled within a limited spatial area could lead to erroneous conclusions regarding provenance. The study points to the necessity for conducting multi-proxy, spatially extensive sampling to adequately characterize complex geological areas, if these should serve as reliable reference areas in provenance studies. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios

Multi proxy comparions

Provenancing

Tracing and

mobility studies

Archaeology

2 forest ecosystems

origin assignment

marine aerosols

mineral dust

sr isotopes

sea spray

sr-87/sr-86

provenance

transport

ratios

Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)