Elemental composition of a tusk of a dugong, Dugong dugon, from Exmouth, Western Australia |
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Authors: | J. S. Edmonds Y. Shibata R. I. T. Prince A. R. Preen M. Morita |
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Affiliation: | (1) Western Australia Marine Research Laboratories, P.O. Box 20, North Beach, Western Australia 6020, Australia, AU;(2) National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan, JP;(3) Department of Conservation and Land Management, Wildlife Research Centre, P.O. Box 51, Wanneroo, Western Australia 6065, Australia, AU;(4) Department of Tropical Environment Studies and Geography, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia, AU |
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Abstract: | Element analysis of the annual increments in a longitudinal section from the tusk of a female dugong Dugong dugon (Müller) from Exmouth, Western Australia, was carried out by X-ray fluorescence-imaging, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Nine elements (Ba, Ca, Fe, Li, Mg, Na, P, Sr and Zn) were present in concentrations amenable to determination by these techniques. Most elements revealed both long-term trends and shorter, year-to-year, variations. For example, sodium concentrations increased from 0.55 to 0.72% with the age of the dugong. Strontium concentrations (mean 0.17%) were closely correlated (r = 0.86) with those of barium (mean 4.5 mg kg−1). Zinc concentrations increased from ∼70 to 170 mg kg−1 with dugong age, but also showed shorter-term fluctuations of ∼30 mg kg−1 that were correlated (r = 0.41) with mean annual Fremantle sea level (a measure of the Southern Oscillation Index and strength of the Leeuwin Current). The concentrations of the elements and correlations with year and between pairs of elements are discussed. Received: 10 January 1997 / Accepted: 21 April 1997 |
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