Skeletal growth rates of Upper Cretaceous rudist bivalves: implications for carbonate production and organism-environment feedbacks

Abstract

Abstract:The skeletal growth rates of late Cretaceous rudist bivalves have been inferred from cyclic variations of isotopic and chemical compositions which are found in sclerochronological profiles of outer shell layers. Annual shell accretion of 11 studied shells from different environmental settings was in the range of less than 10 to 54 mm. CaCO3 production of individual rudists was calculated to range from 12 to 214 g a -1, and estimates of annual production of rudist communities assuming dense growth fabrics range from 4.6 to 28.5 kg m -2. These production rates are not significantly higher when compared to modern mussel or oyster beds but, in contrast to modern analogues, rudist associations were much more important for the sedimentary budget of low-latitude shallow-water depositional environments.Controlling factors for the formation of growth fabrics and carbonate production are evaluated in a case study of rudist formations from a single depositional sequence. From turbulent outer platform environments to lagoonal inner platform settings, a decrease both in carbonate production and size of shells was found among specimens of a single species. No differences in carbonate production are evident when carbonate production in siliciclastic and calcareous environments is compared. Potential feedbacks between rudists and their environment induced by vertical growth, large production of bioclastic sediment and ejected biodeposits are discussed.Carbonate platforms were particularly widespread during the late Cretaceous (Philip et al.

The Giant Marine Gastropod Campanile Giganteum (Lamarck, 1804) as a High‐Resolution Archive of Seasonality in the Eocene Greenhouse World

“…When applying the standard density of aragonite (2.93 g/cm 3 ; Graus, 1974), this equates to an average aragonite secretion rate of 240 g/year and a maximum secretion rate of 1,188 g/year for our largest specimen of C. giganteum (E3). These are exceptionally high rates of growth compared to other marine calcifiers, such as corals (~5–16 g/cm 2 /year; Baker & Weber, 1975; Hetzinger et al, 2006), bivalves (~2–12 mm/year depending on latitude; Ridgway et al, 2011; Moss et al, 2016; with maxima of 4.1 g/cm 2 /year for Tridacna gigas and 214 g/year for extinct rudist bivalves; Steuber, 2000), and other gastropods (growth rates of 5–30 mm/year for nongiant gastropods; Frank, 1969; ~80 or ~63 g/year for giant gastropod L. gigas ; Berg, 1976; and ~35 g/year for the fastest‐growing turritellid species Turritella abrupta ; Anderson & Allmon, 2020; see also Figure 7). C. giganteum therefore likely ranks as one of the fastest growing mollusks known to date.…”

Extinction and the spatial dynamics of biodiversity

“…40 but see ref. 42), as seen in modern reef-building corals. If the range-frequency distribution of rudists played a role in their demise, with correlated morphologies carried along, then we would expect a similar pattern for the other bivalve orders.…”

The carbonate factory continuum, facies mosaics and microfacies: an appraisal of some of the key concepts underpinning carbonate sedimentology

“…Mussels and oysters in non-tropical and even cool waters are capable of production rates greater than that of coral reefs (Steuber 2000). Sea grass communities, lacking corals and calcified green algae, are also capable of high rates of production (Belperio et al 1988).…”