Is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate North Atlantic? An example from a North Sea population of the mollusc Arctica islandica
Two hundred and seventy-seven shells of the long-lived bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica, collected from the Fladen Ground, northern North Sea, were radiocarbon dated and their taphonomic condition assessed, in order to determine whether taphonomic condition might provide a reliable indication of ti...
Published in: | Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
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Online Access: | http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/223355/ http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/223355/1/223355.pdf |
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ftuglasgow:oai:eprints.gla.ac.uk:223355 2023-05-15T15:22:32+02:00 Is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate North Atlantic? An example from a North Sea population of the mollusc Arctica islandica Butler, Paul G. Fraser, Nicole M. Scourse, James D. Richardson, Christopher A. Bryant, Charlotte Heinemeier, Jan 2020-12-15 text http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/223355/ http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/223355/1/223355.pdf en eng Elsevier http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/223355/1/223355.pdf Butler, P. G., Fraser, N. M., Scourse, J. D., Richardson, C. A., Bryant, C. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/3754.html> and Heinemeier, J. (2020) Is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate North Atlantic? An example from a North Sea population of the mollusc Arctica islandica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Palaeogeography,_Palaeoclimatology,_Palaeoecology.html>, 560, 109975. (doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109975 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109975>) cc_by_4 CC-BY Articles PeerReviewed 2020 ftuglasgow 2021-06-10T22:09:22Z Two hundred and seventy-seven shells of the long-lived bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica, collected from the Fladen Ground, northern North Sea, were radiocarbon dated and their taphonomic condition assessed, in order to determine whether taphonomic condition might provide a reliable indication of time since the death of the animal. With nine stations from across the Fladen Ground sampled, some strong geographic biases in 14C ages were apparent, with living and modern (post-bomb pulse) material found in the northern part of the Fladen Ground while older material (first half of the last millennium and Early Holocene/Lateglacial) was concentrated in the central and western sites. Samples from the south and east Fladen Ground were sparse and were dominated by material from the second half of the last millennium. This south-north distribution is interpreted as the result of environmental change over millennial time-scales in the North Sea causing a gradual northward shift of living A. islandica populations and is not thought to be related to post mortem transport of shells to the south and east. Taphonomic condition, assessed using discriminant analysis and principal component analysis of five characteristics (amount of remaining periostracum, presence and condition of the ligament, extent of erosion at the shell margin, amount of bioerosion, and nacre condition), appeared to be a generally unreliable indicator of time since the death of the animal. Based on these five taphonomic characteristics, discriminant analysis placed 81.1% of post-bomb shells, 39.6% of shells from the period 0–500 yr BP, 68.0% of shells from the period 500–1000 yr BP and 20.0% of shells from the Early Holocene/Lateglacial group into the correct radiocarbon age grouping, providing no support for the idea that this method can be used to triage shells for chronology construction as an alternative to radiometric dating. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctica islandica North Atlantic University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 560 109975 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications |
op_collection_id |
ftuglasgow |
language |
English |
description |
Two hundred and seventy-seven shells of the long-lived bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica, collected from the Fladen Ground, northern North Sea, were radiocarbon dated and their taphonomic condition assessed, in order to determine whether taphonomic condition might provide a reliable indication of time since the death of the animal. With nine stations from across the Fladen Ground sampled, some strong geographic biases in 14C ages were apparent, with living and modern (post-bomb pulse) material found in the northern part of the Fladen Ground while older material (first half of the last millennium and Early Holocene/Lateglacial) was concentrated in the central and western sites. Samples from the south and east Fladen Ground were sparse and were dominated by material from the second half of the last millennium. This south-north distribution is interpreted as the result of environmental change over millennial time-scales in the North Sea causing a gradual northward shift of living A. islandica populations and is not thought to be related to post mortem transport of shells to the south and east. Taphonomic condition, assessed using discriminant analysis and principal component analysis of five characteristics (amount of remaining periostracum, presence and condition of the ligament, extent of erosion at the shell margin, amount of bioerosion, and nacre condition), appeared to be a generally unreliable indicator of time since the death of the animal. Based on these five taphonomic characteristics, discriminant analysis placed 81.1% of post-bomb shells, 39.6% of shells from the period 0–500 yr BP, 68.0% of shells from the period 500–1000 yr BP and 20.0% of shells from the Early Holocene/Lateglacial group into the correct radiocarbon age grouping, providing no support for the idea that this method can be used to triage shells for chronology construction as an alternative to radiometric dating. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Butler, Paul G. Fraser, Nicole M. Scourse, James D. Richardson, Christopher A. Bryant, Charlotte Heinemeier, Jan |
spellingShingle |
Butler, Paul G. Fraser, Nicole M. Scourse, James D. Richardson, Christopher A. Bryant, Charlotte Heinemeier, Jan Is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate North Atlantic? An example from a North Sea population of the mollusc Arctica islandica |
author_facet |
Butler, Paul G. Fraser, Nicole M. Scourse, James D. Richardson, Christopher A. Bryant, Charlotte Heinemeier, Jan |
author_sort |
Butler, Paul G. |
title |
Is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate North Atlantic? An example from a North Sea population of the mollusc Arctica islandica |
title_short |
Is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate North Atlantic? An example from a North Sea population of the mollusc Arctica islandica |
title_full |
Is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate North Atlantic? An example from a North Sea population of the mollusc Arctica islandica |
title_fullStr |
Is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate North Atlantic? An example from a North Sea population of the mollusc Arctica islandica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate North Atlantic? An example from a North Sea population of the mollusc Arctica islandica |
title_sort |
is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate north atlantic? an example from a north sea population of the mollusc arctica islandica |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/223355/ http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/223355/1/223355.pdf |
genre |
Arctica islandica North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Arctica islandica North Atlantic |
op_relation |
http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/223355/1/223355.pdf Butler, P. G., Fraser, N. M., Scourse, J. D., Richardson, C. A., Bryant, C. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/3754.html> and Heinemeier, J. (2020) Is there a reliable taphonomic clock in the temperate North Atlantic? An example from a North Sea population of the mollusc Arctica islandica. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Palaeogeography,_Palaeoclimatology,_Palaeoecology.html>, 560, 109975. (doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109975 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109975>) |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
container_title |
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |
container_volume |
560 |
container_start_page |
109975 |
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1766353174574137344 |