Precise Temporal Correlation of Holocene Mollusk Shells Using Sclerochronology

2000 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Marchitto ◽  
Glenn A. Jones ◽  
Glenn A. Goodfriend ◽  
Christopher R. Weidman
Keyword(s):  
Shell Growth ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Temporal Correlation ◽  
Band Width ◽  
Georges Bank ◽  
Arctica Islandica ◽  
Mollusk Shells ◽  
Aspartic Acid Racemization ◽  
Geochemical Proxies ◽  
Growth Bands

AbstractAnnual growth bands of mollusk shells record several types of paleoenvironmental information, including geochemical proxies for water properties and morphological characteristics of growth and mortality. Sclerochronology, the marine counterpart of dendrochronology, offers a way to link individual shells together to form long continuous records of such parameters. It also allows for precise dating of recent shells and identification of contemporaneous fossil individuals. The longevity of the ocean quahog Arctica islandica (commonly >100 yr) makes this species well suited for sclerochronology. Band width records of contemporaneous A. islandica specimens from the same region exhibit high correlations (ρ = 0.60–0.80 for spans of ≥30 bands), indicating some common environmental influences on shell growth. By adopting several strict criteria, fossil (dead-collected) shells can be linked into composite sclerochronologies. A seven-shell 154-yr chronology was constructed for Georges Bank using three live-collected and four dead-collected shells. Band width matching indicates that the dead-collected individuals died in A.D. 1950, 1971, 1978, and 1989. Sclerochronological age assignments were verified using aspartic acid racemization dating. Construction of a 1000-yr sclerochronology is judged to be feasible using the described methods.

STUDY OF THE SHELL MATTER OF MODERN AND PLEISTOCENE MOLLUSCS OF THE GENUS DIDACNA

2021 ◽  
pp. 87-92
Author(s):  
Marina V. Khlopkova
Keyword(s):  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Shell Growth ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Spectrometric Method ◽  
Carbonate Sediments ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
External Effects ◽  
Mollusk Shells ◽  
Marine Basins

One of the ways to study the reactions of marine invertebrates to the external effects of changes in temperature and salinity is the biogeochemical analysis of skeletal parts, which are consistently built up during ontogenesis and record a variety of information about these changes. The most studied shells of mollusks, sea urchin shells and skeletal parts of corals. Information about the chemical composition of modern and fossil mollusk shells is widely used in solving geological and biological problems, including determining the temperature and salinity of ancient marine basins, studying the diagenesis of carbonate sediments, and the biochemical evolution of invertebrates. X-ray diffraction analysis of the shell matter of didacnae belonging to the Cardiidae showed an aragonite composition. The quantitative determination of elements in mollusk shells by microprobe analysis of spot scanning and spectrometric method is carried out. Samples were taken in successive layers of shell growth within the annual ring, and the seasonal dynamics of strontium changes were detected. For Didacna, strontium is the main element-indicator of seasonal and ontogenetic growth, is included in the crystal lattice of aragonite and forms strong compounds in the process of shell formation during the life of these bivalves. The variability of seasonal, ontogenetic, and taxonomic differences in a number of indicator elements in living and Pleistocene bivalves of the genus Didacna was studied.

Links between phytoplankton dynamics and shell growth of Arctica islandica on the Faroe Shelf

2018 ◽  
Vol 179 ◽  
pp. 72-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Georg Wulf Bonitz ◽  
Carin Andersson ◽  
Tamara Trofimova ◽  
Hjálmar Hátún
Keyword(s):  
Shell Growth ◽  
Phytoplankton Dynamics ◽  
Arctica Islandica

scholarly journals Oxygen Isotope Variability within Nautilus Shell Growth Bands

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. e0153890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Linzmeier ◽  
Reinhard Kozdon ◽  
Shanan E. Peters ◽  
John W. Valley
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Shell Growth ◽  
Growth Bands

Annual cycle of shell growth increment formation in two continental shelf bivalves and its paleoecologic significance

Paleobiology ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas S. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Continental Shelf ◽  
Annual Cycle ◽  
Shell Growth ◽  
Growth Increment ◽  
Age And Growth ◽  
Growth Line ◽  
Arctica Islandica ◽  
Growth Increments ◽  
Increment Formation

The bivalvesSpisula solidissima, the Atlantic surf clam, andArctica islandica, the ocean quahog, from the continental shelf off New Jersey, contain repeating structures in their shells. By analyzing the growing shell margins in living specimens at bi-weekly (or sometimes monthly) intervals throughout two consecutive years, it was possible to define an annual cycle of shell growth increment formation in both species. The shell increments in each species are microstructurally distinct units that form over a period of several months at select seasons of the year. Each species has two alternating shell growth increments, GI I and GI II. GI I (the annual growth line of previous studies) is formed annually in the late summer-fall inS. solidissimaand in the fall-early winter inA. islandica.These periods correspond to the spawning phase of the reproductive cycle in both species. No winter rings were found. The annual increments were used to determine age and growth rate in both Recent and Pleistocene specimens. They may also be useful in determining season of death. Because shell growth increments are formed in synchrony among living populations in these species, mass mortalities may be distinguished in the fossil record. Accurate age and growth rate determinations in fossils are important in many paleobiologic contexts, such as deciding between increased longevity or growth rate in cases of phyletic size increase.

scholarly journals Validated age, growth, and mortality estimates of the ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) in the western Atlantic

2006 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raouf W. Kilada ◽  
Steven E. Campana ◽  
Dale Roddick
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Bomb ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Shell Growth ◽  
Arctica Islandica ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
Instantaneous Rate ◽  
Growth Increments ◽  
Age Frequency Distribution ◽  
Mortality Estimates ◽  
Age Estimates

Abstract Kilada, R. W., Campana S. E., and Roddick, D. 2007. Validated age, growth, and mortality estimates of the ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) in the western Atlantic. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 31–38. The age structure of offshore (Sable Bank) and inshore (St Mary's Bay) populations of eastern Canadian ocean quahogs (Arctica islandica), and of a northwestern Iceland population, is investigated. Age estimates for eastern Canadian ocean quahogs were validated through analysis of bomb-produced 14C in quahog shell growth increments deposited before, during, and after the atmospheric atomic bomb testing periods of the 1950s and 1960s. Delta 14C from shells with presumed birthdates between the late 1950s and 1970s clearly reflects the sharp increase in oceanic radiocarbon attributable to nuclear testing. The results validate our age interpretations of Sable Bank quahogs to an age of 45 y, and support longevity estimates of more than 200 y for the same population. Longevity calculations for the other populations exceeded 60 y. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated for the three populations; the growth rate of all three was relatively rapid for the first 20–30 y of life, but thereafter was very slow. The instantaneous rate of natural mortality (M), calculated using the age–frequency distribution of the unexploited populations, was estimated to be 0.03 and 0.10 for the Sable Bank and St Mary's Bay populations, respectively.

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