The stable isotope ratio of biogenic carbonates (mollusc shells) is a widely accepted tool for paleolimnological reconstruction. Besides large time range (Pleistocene-Holocene) molluscan shell are eligible for detect rapid climate change (since mollusc build their increments correlatively to the seasonal changes). The alteration of stable isotope ratios (d18O, d13C) indicates alteration in temperature, precipitation, evaporation, water-level fluctuation, and change in productivity.

The relationship between recent mollusc shell and host water

The isotope composition of biogenic carbonates (Unionids shells at the Lake Balaton, Hungary) depending on the isotopic composition of the host water and the environmental factors such as temperature, precipitation, evaporation.

Fossil mollusc shells: climate and environmental reconstruction from the Pleistocene

Shells from archeological excavations (Ordacsehi, Balatonlelle; Hungary) give information about the changes of the paleoenvironment for the last 5000 years. Shell material from deep drills lead us to conclude about large scale climate changes since Pleistocene.

Methods

- Mass spectromenty: Finnigan delta XP to measure stable isotope ratio in Institute for Geochemical Research
- Cathodoluminescence