The fossil bivalve <i>Angulus benedeni benedeni</i>: a potential seasonally resolved stable-isotope-based climate archive to investigate Pliocene temperatures in the southern North Sea basin

Wichern, Nina M. A.; de Winter, Niels J.; Johnson, Andrew L. A.; Goolaerts, Stijn; Wesselingh, Frank; Hamers, Maartje F.; Kaskes, Pim; Claeys, Philippe; Ziegler, Martin

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2317-2023

Articles | Volume 20, issue 12

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2317-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2317-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 12

Research article

|

21 Jun 2023

Research article |

| 21 Jun 2023

The fossil bivalve Angulus benedeni benedeni: a potential seasonally resolved stable-isotope-based climate archive to investigate Pliocene temperatures in the southern North Sea basin

Nina M. A. Wichern, Niels J. de Winter, Andrew L. A. Johnson, Stijn Goolaerts, Frank Wesselingh, Maartje F. Hamers, Pim Kaskes, Philippe Claeys, and Martin Ziegler

Data sets

Multiproxy dataset measured on the shells of extinct bivalve Angulus benedeni benedeni (Pliocene Lillo Formation, North Sea basin of Belgium) used to assess its suitability as a climate archive. Nina Maria Annegret Wichern, Niels J. de Winter, Andrew Johnson, Stijn Goolaerts, Frank P. Wesselingh, Maartje F. Hamers, Pim Kaskes, Philippe Claeys, and Martin Ziegler https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.951419

Model code and software

NMAWichern/Benedeni_benedeni: Benedeni_benedeni_supplementary_code Nina M. A. Wichern https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8014460

Short summary

Fossil bivalves are an excellent climate archive due to their rapidly forming growth increments and long lifespan. Here, we show that the extinct bivalve species Angulus benedeni benedeni can be used to reconstruct past temperatures using oxygen and clumped isotopes. This species has the potential to provide seasonally resolved temperature data for the Pliocene to Oligocene sediments of the North Sea basin. In turn, these past climates can improve our understanding of future climate change.