Spatial Variation in the Temporal Resolution of Subtropical Shallow-Water Molluscan Death Assemblages

Ritter, Matias do Nascimento; Erthal, Fernando; Kosnik, Matthew A.; Coimbra, João Carlos; Kaufman, Darrell S.

doi:10.2110/palo.2017.003

Cited by 38 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 123 publications

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“…The difficulty of discerning between young and old shells increases on smaller time scales, such as comparing a 100-year-old shell and a 1,000-year-old shell. Nonetheless, the scale of time observed is consistent with the scale of time averaging in some assemblages (Carroll et al 2003; Kosnik et al 2009; Dexter et al 2014; Ritter et al 2017). Time averaging has been modeled as an exponential process (Carroll et al 2003; Kosnik et al 2009; Tomašových et al 2014), but taphonomic processes frequently do not follow a similar time trajectory (e.g., Powell et al 2011a).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

TAPHONOMIC INDICATORS OF DEAD OCEAN QUAHOG (ARCTICA ISLANDICA) SHELL AGE IN THE DEATH ASSEMBLAGE OF THE MID-ATLANTIC BIGHT CONTINENTAL SHELF

LECLAIRE

Powell

Mann

et al. 2023

Palaios

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Taphonomic indicators are often used to assess time-since-death of skeletal remains. These indicators frequently have limited accuracy, resulting in the reliance of other methodologies to age remains. Arctica islandica, commonly known as the ocean quahog, is a relatively widespread bivalve in the North Atlantic, with an extended lifespan that often exceeds two hundred years; hence, their shells are often studied to evaluate climate change over time. This report evaluates taphonomic age using 117 A. islandica shells collected from the Mid-Atlantic Bight offshore of the Delmarva Peninsula with radiocarbon dates extending from 60–4,400 cal years BP. These shells had varying degrees of taphonomic alteration produced by discoloration and degradation of periostracum. To determine if a relationship exists between taphonomic condition and time-since-death, radiocarbon ages were compared with the amount of remaining periostracum and type of discoloration. Old shells (individuals that died long ago) were discolored orange with no periostracum while younger shells (individuals that died more recently) had their original color, with some periostracum. Both the disappearance of periostracum and appearance of discoloration followed a logistic process, with 50% of shells devoid of periostracum and 50% discolored in about 1,000 years. The logistic form of long-term taphonomic processes degrading shell condition is first reported here, as are the longest time series for taphonomic processes in death assemblages within the Holocene record. This relationship can be utilized for triage when deciding what shells to age from time-averaged assemblages, permitting more efficient application of expensive methods of aging such as radiocarbon dating.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

TAPHONOMIC INDICATORS OF DEAD OCEAN QUAHOG (ARCTICA ISLANDICA) SHELL AGE IN THE DEATH ASSEMBLAGE OF THE MID-ATLANTIC BIGHT CONTINENTAL SHELF

LECLAIRE

Powell

Mann

et al. 2023

Palaios

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“…Ninety-three paired carbonate samples were processed at Northern Arizona University's (NAU) Amino Acid Geochronology Lab (AAGL) and NAU's Center for Ecosystem Science and Society (Ecoss) between 2015 and 2019. Most of the samples processed at NAU have been previously published (Kosnik et al 2017;Oakley et al 2017;Ritter et al 2017;Kowalewski et al 2018;Albano et al 2020) and are detailed in the Supplemental Information. Sample preparation at NAU followed protocols modified from Bush et al (2013).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In response to this growing need, a direct carbonate AMS 14 C sputter method was developed by Longworth et al (2013) that allows submilligram samples of carbonate powder to be analyzed quickly and efficiently. Several publications have highlighted the utility of direct carbonate 14 C dating where it has been used on its own or in combination with amino acid racemization to determine time-averaging in taphonomic studies (Dominguez et al 2016;Kosnik et al 2017;Ritter et al 2017;Parker et al 2019;Albano et al 2020) or coupled with standard precision 14 C and uranium/thorium dating to determine coral age distributions (Grothe et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COMPARING DIRECT CARBONATE AND STANDARD GRAPHITE ¹⁴C DETERMINATIONS OF BIOGENIC CARBONATES

et al. 2021

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The direct carbonate procedure for accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dating of submilligram samples of biogenic carbonate without graphitization is becoming widely used in a variety of studies. We compare the results of 153 paired direct carbonate and standard graphite 14C determinations on single specimens of an assortment of biogenic carbonates. A reduced major axis regression shows a strong relationship between direct carbonate and graphite percent Modern Carbon (pMC) values (m = 0.996; 95% CI [0.991–1.001]). An analysis of differences and a 95% confidence interval on pMC values reveals that there is no significant difference between direct carbonate and graphite pMC values for 76% of analyzed specimens, although variation in direct carbonate pMC is underestimated. The difference between the two methods is typically within 2 pMC, with 61% of direct carbonate pMC measurements being higher than their paired graphite counterpart. Of the 36 specimens that did yield significant differences, all but three missed the 95% significance threshold by 1.2 pMC or less. These results show that direct carbonate 14C dating of biogenic carbonates is a cost-effective and efficient complement to standard graphite 14C dating.

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“…Quantification of the time resolution of marine fossil assemblages has been limited so far to primary consumers, such as foraminifera, mollusks, and brachiopods (e.g., Kidwell et al, 2005;Krause et al, 2010;Albano et al, 2016Albano et al, , 2018Ritter et al, 2017). Fishes are important components of marine trophic webs, and their otoliths preserve species-specific morphology and great abundance in marine and lake sediments (Nolf, 1985) and offer paleobathymetric, paleoclimatic, and other paleoenvironmental information (Agiadi et al, 2018).…”

Section: Consequences For Paleocommunity Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiocarbon dating supports bivalve-fish age coupling along a bathymetric gradient in high-resolution paleoenvironmental studies

Albano

Hua

Kaufman

et al. 2020

Geology

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Studies of paleocommunities and trophic webs assume that multispecies assemblages consist of species that coexisted in the same habitat over the duration of time averaging. However, even species with similar durability can differ in age within a single fossil assemblage. Here, we tested whether skeletal remains of different phyla and trophic guilds, the most abundant infaunal bivalve shells and nektobenthic fish otoliths, differed in radiocarbon age in surficial sediments along a depth gradient from 10 to 40 m on the warm-temperate Israeli shelf, and we modeled their dynamics of taphonomic loss. We found that, in spite of the higher potential of fishes for out-of-habitat transport after death, differences in age structure within depths were smaller by almost an order of magnitude than differences between depths. Shell and otolith assemblages underwent depth-specific burial pathways independent of taxon identity, generating death assemblages with comparable time averaging, and supporting the assumption of temporal and spatial co-occurrence of mollusks and fishes.

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Spatial Variation in the Temporal Resolution of Subtropical Shallow-Water Molluscan Death Assemblages

Cited by 38 publications

References 123 publications

TAPHONOMIC INDICATORS OF DEAD OCEAN QUAHOG (ARCTICA ISLANDICA) SHELL AGE IN THE DEATH ASSEMBLAGE OF THE MID-ATLANTIC BIGHT CONTINENTAL SHELF

TAPHONOMIC INDICATORS OF DEAD OCEAN QUAHOG (ARCTICA ISLANDICA) SHELL AGE IN THE DEATH ASSEMBLAGE OF THE MID-ATLANTIC BIGHT CONTINENTAL SHELF

COMPARING DIRECT CARBONATE AND STANDARD GRAPHITE ¹⁴C DETERMINATIONS OF BIOGENIC CARBONATES

Radiocarbon dating supports bivalve-fish age coupling along a bathymetric gradient in high-resolution paleoenvironmental studies

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Spatial Variation in the Temporal Resolution of Subtropical Shallow-Water Molluscan Death Assemblages

Cited by 38 publications

References 123 publications

TAPHONOMIC INDICATORS OF DEAD OCEAN QUAHOG (ARCTICA ISLANDICA) SHELL AGE IN THE DEATH ASSEMBLAGE OF THE MID-ATLANTIC BIGHT CONTINENTAL SHELF

TAPHONOMIC INDICATORS OF DEAD OCEAN QUAHOG (ARCTICA ISLANDICA) SHELL AGE IN THE DEATH ASSEMBLAGE OF THE MID-ATLANTIC BIGHT CONTINENTAL SHELF

COMPARING DIRECT CARBONATE AND STANDARD GRAPHITE 14C DETERMINATIONS OF BIOGENIC CARBONATES

Radiocarbon dating supports bivalve-fish age coupling along a bathymetric gradient in high-resolution paleoenvironmental studies

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COMPARING DIRECT CARBONATE AND STANDARD GRAPHITE ¹⁴C DETERMINATIONS OF BIOGENIC CARBONATES