Premium
North Pacific climate recorded in growth rings of geoduck clams: A new tool for paleoenvironmental reconstruction
Author(s) -
Strom Are,
Francis Robert C.,
Mantua Nathan J.,
Miles Edward L.,
Peterson David L.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2004gl019440
Subject(s) - sea surface temperature , oceanography , spatial coherence , geology , climatology , climate change , pacific decadal oscillation , coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) , physics , quantum mechanics
To better understand North Pacific climate variability at interannual to interdecadal scales, we have developed a new tool for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. We show that growth rings in long‐lived geoduck clams ( Panopea abrupta ) can provide high quality, annually resolved records of sea‐surface temperature (SST). We used shell samples from the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in Washington State, to extend the coastal SST record back to 1877. The spatial correlation pattern between the growth index and gridded SSTs bears a strong resemblance to the leading pattern of interdecadal global SST variations and underscores the remarkable long‐distance coherence evident among coastal SST records in the northeast Pacific. Our results also indicate that the 1990s was the warmest decade in this region since at least the 1850s.