Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of Mytilus edulis: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland?
Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is accelerating and will contribute significantly to global sea level rise during the 21st century. Instrumental data on GrIS melting only cover the last few decades, and proxy data extending our knowledge into the past are vital for validating models predic...
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Copernicus Publications
2012
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ftnonlinearchiv:oai:noa.gwlb.de:cop_mods_00023655 2023-05-15T16:21:02+02:00 Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of Mytilus edulis: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland? Versteegh, E. A. A. Blicher, M. E. Mortensen, J. Rysgaard, S. Als, T. D. A. D. Wanamaker Jr. 2012-12 electronic https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-5231-2012 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00023655 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00023610/bg-9-5231-2012.pdf https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/9/5231/2012/bg-9-5231-2012.pdf eng eng Copernicus Publications Biogeosciences -- http://www.bibliothek.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/?2158181 -- http://www.copernicus.org/EGU/bg/bg.html -- 1726-4189 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-5231-2012 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00023655 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00023610/bg-9-5231-2012.pdf https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/9/5231/2012/bg-9-5231-2012.pdf uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article Verlagsveröffentlichung article Text doc-type:article 2012 ftnonlinearchiv https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-5231-2012 2022-02-08T22:50:33Z Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is accelerating and will contribute significantly to global sea level rise during the 21st century. Instrumental data on GrIS melting only cover the last few decades, and proxy data extending our knowledge into the past are vital for validating models predicting the influence of ongoing climate change. We investigated a potential meltwater proxy in Godthåbsfjord (West Greenland), where glacier meltwater causes seasonal excursions with lower oxygen isotope water (δ18Ow) values and salinity. The blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) potentially records these variations, because it precipitates its shell calcite in oxygen isotopic equilibrium with ambient seawater. As M. edulis shells are known to occur in raised shorelines and archaeological shell middens from previous Holocene warm periods, this species may be ideal in reconstructing past meltwater dynamics. We investigate its potential as a palaeo-meltwater proxy. First, we confirmed that M. edulis shell calcite oxygen isotope (δ18Oc) values are in equilibrium with ambient water and generally reflect meltwater conditions. Subsequently we investigated if this species recorded the full range of δ18Ow values occurring during the years 2007 to 2010. Results show that δ18Ow values were not recorded at very low salinities (< ~ 19), because the mussels appear to cease growing. This implies that Mytilus edulis δ18Oc values are suitable in reconstructing past meltwater amounts in most cases, but care has to be taken that shells are collected not too close to a glacier, but rather in the mid-region or mouth of the fjord. The focus of future research will expand on the geographical and temporal range of the shell measurements by sampling mussels in other fjords in Greenland along a south–north gradient, and by sampling shells from raised shorelines and archaeological shell middens from prehistoric settlements in Greenland. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier Godthåbsfjord Greenland Ice Sheet Niedersächsisches Online-Archiv NOA Greenland Biogeosciences 9 12 5231 5241 |
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Niedersächsisches Online-Archiv NOA |
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English |
topic |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung |
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article Verlagsveröffentlichung Versteegh, E. A. A. Blicher, M. E. Mortensen, J. Rysgaard, S. Als, T. D. A. D. Wanamaker Jr. Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of Mytilus edulis: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland? |
topic_facet |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung |
description |
Melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is accelerating and will contribute significantly to global sea level rise during the 21st century. Instrumental data on GrIS melting only cover the last few decades, and proxy data extending our knowledge into the past are vital for validating models predicting the influence of ongoing climate change. We investigated a potential meltwater proxy in Godthåbsfjord (West Greenland), where glacier meltwater causes seasonal excursions with lower oxygen isotope water (δ18Ow) values and salinity. The blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) potentially records these variations, because it precipitates its shell calcite in oxygen isotopic equilibrium with ambient seawater. As M. edulis shells are known to occur in raised shorelines and archaeological shell middens from previous Holocene warm periods, this species may be ideal in reconstructing past meltwater dynamics. We investigate its potential as a palaeo-meltwater proxy. First, we confirmed that M. edulis shell calcite oxygen isotope (δ18Oc) values are in equilibrium with ambient water and generally reflect meltwater conditions. Subsequently we investigated if this species recorded the full range of δ18Ow values occurring during the years 2007 to 2010. Results show that δ18Ow values were not recorded at very low salinities (< ~ 19), because the mussels appear to cease growing. This implies that Mytilus edulis δ18Oc values are suitable in reconstructing past meltwater amounts in most cases, but care has to be taken that shells are collected not too close to a glacier, but rather in the mid-region or mouth of the fjord. The focus of future research will expand on the geographical and temporal range of the shell measurements by sampling mussels in other fjords in Greenland along a south–north gradient, and by sampling shells from raised shorelines and archaeological shell middens from prehistoric settlements in Greenland. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Versteegh, E. A. A. Blicher, M. E. Mortensen, J. Rysgaard, S. Als, T. D. A. D. Wanamaker Jr. |
author_facet |
Versteegh, E. A. A. Blicher, M. E. Mortensen, J. Rysgaard, S. Als, T. D. A. D. Wanamaker Jr. |
author_sort |
Versteegh, E. A. A. |
title |
Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of Mytilus edulis: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland? |
title_short |
Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of Mytilus edulis: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland? |
title_full |
Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of Mytilus edulis: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland? |
title_fullStr |
Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of Mytilus edulis: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of Mytilus edulis: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland? |
title_sort |
oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of mytilus edulis: archives of glacier meltwater in greenland? |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-5231-2012 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00023655 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00023610/bg-9-5231-2012.pdf https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/9/5231/2012/bg-9-5231-2012.pdf |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
glacier Godthåbsfjord Greenland Ice Sheet |
genre_facet |
glacier Godthåbsfjord Greenland Ice Sheet |
op_relation |
Biogeosciences -- http://www.bibliothek.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/?2158181 -- http://www.copernicus.org/EGU/bg/bg.html -- 1726-4189 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-5231-2012 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00023655 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00023610/bg-9-5231-2012.pdf https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/9/5231/2012/bg-9-5231-2012.pdf |
op_rights |
uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-9-5231-2012 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
5231 |
op_container_end_page |
5241 |
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1766009045749071872 |