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Precise Temporal Correlation of Holocene Mollusk Shells Using Sclerochronology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Thomas M. Marchitto Jr. ,
Glenn A. Jones ,
Glenn A. Goodfriend  and
Christopher R. Weidman
Thomas M. Marchitto Jr.
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
Glenn A. Jones
Affiliation:
Texas Institute of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, Galveston, Texas 77553
Glenn A. Goodfriend
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052
Christopher R. Weidman
Affiliation:
NOAA Northeast Center of National Marine Fisheries Service, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
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Abstract

Annual 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.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , March 2000 , pp. 236 - 246
Copyright
University of Washington

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