Absolute seasonal temperature estimates from clumped isotopes in bivalve shells suggest warm and variable greenhouse climate

Winter, Niels J. de; Müller, Inigo A.; Kocken, Ilja J.; Thibault, Nicolas; Ullmann, Clemens V.; Farnsworth, Alex; Lunt, Daniel J.; Claeys, Philippe; Ziegler, Martin

doi:10.1038/s43247-021-00193-9

Cited by 31 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 63 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These findings corroborate measurements in calcitic mollusks showing that clumped isotope values in mollusk carbonates adhere to the same temperature relationship as other carbonates precipitated in equilibrium (except for juvenile oyster shells; Huyghe et al., 2022 ). Clumped isotope analyses in (fossil) mollusk shells thus provide an independent temperature proxy, allowing paleoclimatologists to disentangle the effects of variability in temperature and the hydrological cycle (as measured in δ 18 O w ) throughout geological history down to the seasonal timescale (e.g., Caldarescu et al., 2021 ; de Winter et al., 2021 ; Letulle et al., 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The latter represents an improvement over the often‐used oxygen isotope paleothermometer (δ 18 O), which requires knowledge of the oxygen isotope composition of the precipitation fluid (δ 18 O w ; e.g., Epstein et al., 1953 ; Kim & O’Neil, 1997 ). The clumped isotope method has many applications, notably to reconstruct absolute temperature variability throughout Earth's history (e.g., Agterhuis et al., 2022 ; de Winter, Müller et al., 2021 ; Meckler et al., 2022 ; Henkes et al., 2018 ; Rodríguez‐Sanz et al., 2017 ; Vickers, Lengger, et al., 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Temperature Dependence of Clumped Isotopes (∆₄₇) in Aragonite

Winter

Witbaard

Kocken

et al. 2022

Geophysical Research Letters

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wang et al., 2004), carbonate clumped isotope analysis has developed into a valuable tool for paleothermometry in the geosciences. Clumped isotope analysis is based on the thermodynamic principle that molecules with multiple heavy isotopes (so-called "multiply-substituted isotopologues") have lower vibrational energies than molecules containing lighter isotopes (Urey, 1947). Consequently, the increase in system entropy at higher temperatures causes a decrease in the occurrence of multiply-substituted isotopologues, and "clumping" of heavy isotopes within the same molecule is favored in low-energy systems (Eiler, 2007). In carbonates, this principle causes heavy carbonate ions (e.g., 13 C 18 O 16 O 2 ; mass 63 or 12 C 18 O 2 16 O; mass 64) to become more abundant with decreasing calcification temperatures (Ghosh et al., 2006). The distribution of these isotopologues is proportional in the CO 2 gas after reaction of carbonates with acid (e.g., 13 C 18 O 16 O; mass 47 and 12 C 18 O 2 , mass 48 respectively) and is measured with reference to the distribution of isotopologues in a fully scrambled heated CO 2 gas with the same isotopic composition:

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature Dependence of Clumped Isotopes (∆₄₇) in Aragonite

Winter

Witbaard

Kocken

et al. 2022

Geophysical Research Letters

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As discussed in Sect. 4.1.1, these variations in δ 18 O w have a large effect on the accuracy of δ 18 O c -based reconstructions, and their occurrence constitutes the main advantage of applying the 47 thermometer (Eiler, 2011). However, results of cases 7-11 in Fig.…”

Section: Variability In δ 18 O Wmentioning

confidence: 93%

Optimizing sampling strategies in high-resolution paleoclimate records

2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The aim of paleoclimate studies resolving climate variability from noisy proxy records can in essence be reduced to a statistical problem. The challenge is to extract meaningful information about climate variability from these records by reducing measurement uncertainty through combining measurements for proxies while retaining the temporal resolution needed to assess the timing and duration of variations in climate parameters. In this study, we explore the limits of this compromise by testing different methods for combining proxy data (smoothing, binning, and sample size optimization) on a particularly challenging paleoclimate problem: resolving seasonal variability in stable isotope records. We test and evaluate the effects of changes in the seasonal temperature and the hydrological cycle as well as changes in the accretion rate of the archive and parameters such as sampling resolution and age model uncertainty in the reliability of seasonality reconstructions based on clumped and oxygen isotope analyses in 33 real and virtual datasets. Our results show that strategic combinations of clumped isotope analyses can significantly improve the accuracy of seasonality reconstructions compared to conventional stable oxygen isotope analyses, especially in settings in which the isotopic composition of the water is poorly constrained. Smoothing data using a moving average often leads to an apparent dampening of the seasonal cycle, significantly reducing the accuracy of reconstructions. A statistical sample size optimization protocol yields more precise results than smoothing. However, the most accurate results are obtained through monthly binning of proxy data, especially in cases in which growth rate or water composition cycles obscure the seasonal temperature cycle. Our analysis of a wide range of natural situations reveals that the effect of temperature seasonality on oxygen isotope records almost invariably exceeds that of changes in water composition. Thus, in most cases, oxygen isotope records allow reliable identification of growth seasonality as a basis for age modeling in the absence of independent chronological markers in the record. These specific findings allow us to formulate general recommendations for sampling and combining data in paleoclimate research and have implications beyond the reconstruction of seasonality. We briefly discuss the implications of our results for solving common problems in paleoclimatology and stratigraphy.

show abstract

“…Bivalve shells are increasingly used to reconstruct past environmental conditions in aquatic settings with unprecedented temporal resolution (Reynolds et al, 2013;Walliser et al, 2016;de Winter et al, 2021). Such data are of great value to constrain climate models (Schmidt et al, 2014;Cauquoin et al, 2019;Asami et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microstructural Mapping of Arctica islandica Shells Reveals Environmental and Physiological Controls on Biomineral Size

Höche¹,

Walliser

Schöne³

2022

Front. Earth Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The shells of long-lived bivalves record environmental variability in their geochemical signatures and are thus used extensively in marine high-resolution paleoclimate studies. To possibly overcome the limitations of the commonly employed temperature proxy, the δ18Oshell value, which requires knowledge of the seawater δ18O signature and is prone to diagenetic overprint, the shell microstructures and the morphological properties of individual biomineral units (BMUs) recently attracted research interest as an alternative paleoclimate proxy. In shells of A. islandica, one of the most extensively used and best studied sclerochronological archives, the size of the BMUs increases in warmer temperatures under laboratory circumstances. This study assesses whether this relationship persists under natural growth conditions or whether additional environmental and physiological factors control the BMU size and bias temperature reconstructions. For this purpose, shells from the surface waters of NE Iceland and the Baltic Sea, as well as from deeper waters of the North Sea (100 and 243 m) were analyzed by means of SEM. The BMU sizes were measured by means of image processing software. Results demonstrate a strong effect of temperature on the BMU size at NE Iceland and in the North Sea at 100 m depth. At 243 m depth, however, temperature variability was likely too low (1.2°C) to evoke a microstructural change. At the Baltic Sea, the BMUs remained small, possibly due to physiological stress induced by low salinity and/or hypoxia. Thus, the size of BMUs of A. islandica shells only serves as a relative temperature indicator in fully marine habitats, as long as seasonal temperature amplitudes exceed ca. 1°C. Furthermore, BMU size varied through lifetime with the largest units occurring during age seven to nine. This pattern is possibly linked to the shell growth rate or to the amount of metabolic energy invested in shell growth.

show abstract

Absolute seasonal temperature estimates from clumped isotopes in bivalve shells suggest warm and variable greenhouse climate

Cited by 31 publications

References 63 publications

Temperature Dependence of Clumped Isotopes (∆₄₇) in Aragonite

Temperature Dependence of Clumped Isotopes (∆₄₇) in Aragonite

Optimizing sampling strategies in high-resolution paleoclimate records

Microstructural Mapping of Arctica islandica Shells Reveals Environmental and Physiological Controls on Biomineral Size

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Absolute seasonal temperature estimates from clumped isotopes in bivalve shells suggest warm and variable greenhouse climate

Cited by 31 publications

References 63 publications

Temperature Dependence of Clumped Isotopes (∆47) in Aragonite

Temperature Dependence of Clumped Isotopes (∆47) in Aragonite

Optimizing sampling strategies in high-resolution paleoclimate records

Microstructural Mapping of Arctica islandica Shells Reveals Environmental and Physiological Controls on Biomineral Size

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Temperature Dependence of Clumped Isotopes (∆₄₇) in Aragonite

Temperature Dependence of Clumped Isotopes (∆₄₇) in Aragonite