Shell chemistry of the boreal Campanian bivalve Rastellum diluvianum (Linnaeus, 1767) reveals temperature seasonality, growth rates and life cycle of an extinct Cretaceous oyster

The Campanian age (Late Cretaceous) is characterized by a warm greenhouse climate with limited land-ice volume. This makes this period an ideal target for studying climate dynamics during greenhouse periods, which are essential for predictions of future climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biogeosciences
Main Authors: de Winter, Niels J., Ullmann, Clemens, V, Sorensen, Anne M., Thibault, Nicolas, Goderis, Steven, Van Malderen, Stijn, Snoeck, Christophe, Goolaerts, Stijn, Vanhaecke, Frank, Claeys, Philippe
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2020
Subjects:
Biology and Life Sciences
Earth and Environmental Sciences
LOW-MG CALCITE
SEA-SURFACE TEMPERATURE
SCALLOP
PLACOPECTEN-MAGELLANICUS
MULTICOMPONENT CARBONATE SYSTEM
OXYGEN
ISOTOPIC COMPOSITION
CRASSOSTREA-GIGAS
DIAGENETIC STABILIZATION
BIOLOGICAL CARBONATES
CHEMICAL DIAGENESIS
ARCTICA-ISLANDICA
Arctica islandica
Crassostrea gigas
Online Access:https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8669430
http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8669430
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2897-2020
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8669430/file/8669483
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Summary:The Campanian age (Late Cretaceous) is characterized by a warm greenhouse climate with limited land-ice volume. This makes this period an ideal target for studying climate dynamics during greenhouse periods, which are essential for predictions of future climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Well-preserved fossil shells from the Campanian (+/- 78 Ma) high mid-latitude (50 degrees N) coastal faunas of the Kristianstad Basin (southern Sweden) offer a unique snapshot of short-term climate and environmental variability, which complements existing long-term climate reconstructions. In this study, we apply a combination of high-resolution spatially resolved trace element analyses (micro-X-ray fluorescence - mu XRF - and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry - LA-ICP-MS), stable isotope analyses (IRMS) and growth modeling to study short-term (seasonal) variations recorded in the oyster species Rastellum diluvianum from the Ivo Klack locality. Geochemical records through 12 specimens shed light on the influence of specimen-specific and ontogenetic effects on the expression of seasonal variations in shell chemistry and allow disentangling vital effects from environmental influences in an effort to refine paleoseasonality reconstructions of Late Cretaceous greenhouse climates. Growth models based on stable oxygen isotope records yield information on the mode of life, circadian rhythm and reproductive cycle of these extinct oysters. This multi-proxy study reveals that mean annual temperatures in the Campanian higher midlatitudes were 17 to 19 degrees C, with winter minima of similar to 13 degrees C and summer maxima of 26 degrees C, assuming a Late Cretaceous seawater oxygen isotope composition of -1 parts per thousand VSMOW (Vienna standard mean ocean water). These results yield smaller latitudinal differences in temperature seasonality in the Campanian compared to today. Latitudinal temperature gradients were similar to the present, contrasting with previous notions of ...

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