Freshwater pearl mussels from northern Sweden serve as long-term, high-resolution stream water isotope recorders

Abstract

Abstract. The stable isotope composition of lacustrine sediments is routinely used to infer Late Holocene changes in precipitation over Scandinavia and, ultimately, atmospheric circulation dynamics in the North Atlantic realm. However, such archives only provide a low temporal resolution (ca. 15 years), precluding the ability to identify changes on inter-annual and quasi-decadal timescales. Here, we present a new, high-resolution reconstruction using shells of freshwater pearl mussels, Margaritifera margaritifera, from three streams in northern Sweden. We present seasonally to annually resolved, calendar-aligned stable oxygen and carbon isotope data from 10 specimens, covering the time interval from 1819 to 1998. The bivalves studied formed their shells near equilibrium with the oxygen isotope signature of ambient water and, thus, reflect hydrological processes in the catchment as well as changes, albeit damped, in the isotope signature of local atmospheric precipitation. The shell oxygen isotopes were significantly correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation index (up to 56 % explained variability), suggesting that the moisture that winter precipitation formed from originated predominantly in the North Atlantic during NAO+ years but in the Arctic during NAO− years. The isotope signature of winter precipitation was attenuated in the stream water, and this damping effect was eventually recorded by the shells. Shell stable carbon isotope values did not show consistent ontogenetic trends, but rather oscillated around an average that ranged from ca. −12.00 to −13.00 ‰ among the streams studied. Results of this study contribute to an improved understanding of climate dynamics in Scandinavia and the North Atlantic sector and can help to constrain eco-hydrological changes in riverine ecosystems. Moreover, long isotope records of precipitation and streamflow are pivotal to improve our understanding and modeling of hydrological, ecological, biogeochemical and atmospheric processes. Our new approach offers a much higher temporal resolution and superior dating control than data from existing archives.

Controls Over Oxygen Isotope Fractionation in the Waters and Bivalves (Arthritica helmsi) of an Estuarine Lagoon System

“…(1951) and Urey (1947), many studies have successfully reconstructed temperature, most commonly in marine species (e.g., Butler et al., 2012; Carré et al., 2013; Featherstone et al., 2020; Schöne et al., 2004; Surge et al., 2003). A number of studies have also examined isotope ratios in freshwater (e.g., Kelemen et al., 2017; Pfister et al., 2019; Roy et al., 2019; Schöne et al., 2020; Wurster & Patterson, 2001) and estuarine (e.g., Andrus & Rich, 2008; Dettman et al., 2004; Ingram et al., 1996) species, where the interpretation of bivalve oxygen and carbon isotopes can differ from marine species due to the added complexity of variable mixing of marine and river waters, plus evaporation, which lead to variable oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions in water.…”

HESS Opinions: Towards a common vision for the future of hydrological observatories

“…CC BY 4.0 License. knowledge of past climate and river ecosystem variability is rapidly growing, benefiting from reconstructions of river flow and erosion from natural archives (Chaussé et al, 2008;Torbenson et al, 2021;Büntgen et al, 2021;Schöne et al, 2020;Strelnikova et al, 2023). The organization of a hypothetical research infrastructure is illustrated in Fig.…”

A global synthesis of ecosystem services provided and disrupted by freshwater bivalve molluscs

“…Such a ‘sclerochronological’ approach has been applied on (sub)fossil shells, e.g. from Holocene Syria (Çakirlar & Şeşen, 2013), Holocene Turkey (Lewis et al ., 2017) and Miocene Amazon (Kaandorp, Wesselingh & Vonhof, 2006), but also on contemporary specimens, such as Margaritifera margaritifera , which can attain lifespans of >200 years (Schöne et al ., 2020). In a combined sclerochronological analysis of archaeological, recent and contemporary FB shells ( Amblema plicata and Quadrula quadrula ), Fritts et al .…”