Experimentally-controlled carbon and oxygen isotope exchange between bioapatites and water under inorganic and microbially-mediated conditions

Abstract

Modern bone and enamel powders have reacted at 301 K with ¹³C- and ¹⁸O-labelled waters under inorganic and microbial conditions. The aim of the study is to investigate the resistance of stable isotope compositions of bioapatite carbonate (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸Oc) and phosphate (δ¹⁸Op) to isotopic alteration during early diagenesis. Rapid and significant carbon and oxygen isotope changes were observed in the carbonate and phosphate fractions of bone apatite before any detectable change occurred in the crystallinity or organic matter content. These observations indicate that chemical alterations of bone apatite are likely to start within days of death. Enamel crystallites are much more resistant than bone crystallites, but are not exempt of alteration. Non removable carbon and oxygen isotope enrichments were measured in the carbonate phase of bone (50–90%) and enamel (40%) after the acetic acid treatment. This result indicates that a significant part of ¹³C and ¹⁸O-labelled coming from the aqueous fluid has been durably incorporated into the apatite structure, probably through isotopic exchange or secondary carbonate apatite precipitation. As a result, acetic acid pre-treatments that are currently used to remove exogenous material by selective dissolution, are not adequate to restore pristine δ¹³C and δ¹⁸Oc values of fossil apatites. Under inorganic conditions, kinetics of oxygen isotope exchange are 10 times faster in carbonate than in phosphate. On the opposite, during biologically-mediated reactions, the kinetics of oxygen isotope exchange between phosphate and water is, at least, from 2 to 15 times faster than between carbonate and water. Enamel is a more suitable material than bone for paleoenvironmental or paleoclimatical reconstructions, but interpretations of δ¹⁸Op or δ¹³C values must be restricted to specimens for which no or very limited trace of microbial activity can be detected.