Can shells of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) be used to estimate low summer discharge of rivers and associated droughts?

Versteegh, Emma; Vonhof, Hubert; Troelstra, S.R.; Kroon, Dick

doi:10.1007/s00531-010-0551-0

Cited by 24 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…marine: Romanek et al, 1987;Kennedy et al, 2001;Schone et al, 2003;Chauvaud et al, 2005;Freitas et al, 2005;Schone et al, 2005;Thebault et al, 2007; estuarine: Goodwin et al, 2001;Dettman et al, 2004;Schone et al, 2004a;Gillikin et al, 2005;freshwater: Dettman et al, 1999;Schone et al, 2004b;Versteegh et al, 2011). The wide geographic distribution of bivalve species adds to their value as climate archives, as many can provide records from regions where other biogenic carbonates that can provide paleoenviromental proxies, such as corals, are not available.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxygen isotope records of the Australian flat oyster (Ostrea angasi) as a potential temperature archive

et al. 2014

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxygen isotope records of the Australian flat oyster (Ostrea angasi) as a potential temperature archive

et al. 2014

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“…corals (Swart, 1983;Watanabe et al, 2011), coralline algae (Halfar et al, 2008;Williams et al, 2011), land snails (Goodfriend and Ellis, 2002;Yanes et al, 2011), freshwater snails (Abell and Hoelzmann, 2000;Stevens et al, 2012), freshwater bivalves (Kaandorp et al, 2003;Versteegh et al, 2010bVersteegh et al, , 2011 and marine bivalves (Jones and Quitmyer, 1996;Santos et al, 2012;Schöne et al, 2005). The oxygen isotope composition (δ 18 O values) of marine bivalves is often used as a proxy for temperature (Carré et al, 2005;Wanamaker et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of <i>Mytilus edulis</i>: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland?

et al. 2012

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Abstract. 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 (δ 18 O w ) 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 (δ 18 O c ) values are in equilibrium with ambient water and generally reflect meltwater conditions. Subsequently we investigated if this species recorded the full range of δ 18 O w values occurring during the years 2007 to 2010. Results show that δ 18 O w values were not recorded at very low salinities (< ∼ 19), because the mussels appear to cease growing. This implies that M. edulis δ 18 O c 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 midregion 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.

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“…We previously demonstrated that through the relationship between discharge and δ 18 O w values in the Meuse, unionid δ 18 O ar records reveal the occurrence of past low-discharge summers (Versteegh et al, 2010). Ricken et al (2003) We present δ 18 O ar records of unionid shells that lived under different climate regimes and associated river conditions during the late Holocene (see next paragraph).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 75%

A molluscan perspective on hydrological cycle dynamics in northwestern Europe

Versteegh

Vonhof

Troelstra

et al. 2010

Netherlands Journal of Geosciences

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Shell aragonite δ 18 O values of unionid freshwater mussels are applied as a proxy for past river discharges in the rivers Rhine and Meuse, using a set of nine shells from selected climatic intervals during the late Holocene. A single Meuse shell derives from the Subboreal and its δ 18 O values are similar to modern values. The Rhine specimens represent the Subboreal, the Roman Warm Period and the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). These shells also show averages and ranges of aragonite δ 18 O values similar to modern specimens. This indicates that environmental conditions such as Rhine river dynamics, Alpine meltwater input and drought severity during these intervals were similar to the 20 th century. These shells do not record subtle centennial to millennial climatic variation due to their relatively short lifespan and the large inter-annual and intra-seasonal variation in environmental conditions. However, they are very suitable for studying seasonal to decadal scale climate variability. The two shells with the longest lifespan appear to show decadal scale variability in reconstructed water δ 18 O values during the MWP, possibly forced by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which is the dominant mode of variability influencing precipitation regimes over Europe.

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Can shells of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) be used to estimate low summer discharge of rivers and associated droughts?

Abstract: 18 O ar values were measured in the aragonite of the growth increments of four Unio sp. shells; two from a relatively wet period and two from a very dry time interval (1910-1918 and 1969-1977, respectively

Cited by 24 publications

References 20 publications

Oxygen isotope records of the Australian flat oyster (Ostrea angasi) as a potential temperature archive

Oxygen isotope records of the Australian flat oyster (Ostrea angasi) as a potential temperature archive

Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of <i>Mytilus edulis</i>: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland?

A molluscan perspective on hydrological cycle dynamics in northwestern Europe

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Can shells of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) be used to estimate low summer discharge of rivers and associated droughts?

Abstract: 18 O ar values were measured in the aragonite of the growth increments of four Unio sp. shells; two from a relatively wet period and two from a very dry time interval (1910-1918 and 1969-1977, respectively

Cited by 24 publications

References 20 publications

Oxygen isotope records of the Australian flat oyster (Ostrea angasi) as a potential temperature archive

Oxygen isotope records of the Australian flat oyster (Ostrea angasi) as a potential temperature archive

Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of &lt;i&gt;Mytilus edulis&lt;/i&gt;: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland?

A molluscan perspective on hydrological cycle dynamics in northwestern Europe

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Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of <i>Mytilus edulis</i>: archives of glacier meltwater in Greenland?