Shellfish, as a representative of invertebrate mollusks, appeared in the early Cambrian period. They have the characteristics of large reserves, wide distribution, and difficult migration, and have obvious regional characteristics. They are regarded as ideal "biomarkers" for monitoring ecosystems and are widely used in marine research. During the growth process of shellfish, shells form growth lines with varying densities similar to "tree rings", recording changes in the surrounding environment and food structure. Specifically, for the quarterly and monthly growth cycles, the thickness of their growth lines (layers) is only in the micrometer range, and the corresponding elemental content also shows a spatial distribution in the micrometer range.

At present, the high spatial resolution analysis techniques used for shell composition elements mainly include mass spectrometry (such as ICP-MS) and electron probe analysis (EPMA), but both techniques require sample pretreatment, and the equipment volume is large, the cost is expensive, the single analysis cost is high, and it is time-consuming and laborious, which cannot meet the needs of batch sample statistical analysis. Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a novel quantitative and semi quantitative analysis technique that can achieve one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional scanning analysis of target objects, with the smallest resolution reaching several micrometers (ns laser). Therefore, applying LIBS technology to scallop shell analysis can achieve micro scale damage analysis of shell element composition, and even complete rapid analysis under scallop survival conditions. This provides more experimental tools for studying climate change, changes in marine and lake environments, paleontology, and paleoenvironments.