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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 31, L06206, doi:10.1029/2004GL019440, 2004

North Pacific climate recorded in growth rings of geoduck clams: A new tool for paleoenvironmental reconstruction

Are Strom

WDFW Point Whitney Shellfish Lab, Brinnon, Washington, USA


Robert C. Francis

School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA


Nathan J. Mantua

Climate Impacts Group, JISAO, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA


Edward L. Miles

Climate Impacts Group, JISAO, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA


David L. Peterson

USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Seattle, Washington, USA


Abstract

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.

Received 8 January 2004; accepted 20 February 2004; published 19 March 2004.

Index Terms: 4267 Oceanography: General: Paleoceanography; 4215 Oceanography: General: Climate and interannual variability (3309); 1620 Global Change: Climate dynamics (3309); 1635 Global Change: Oceans (4203); 4299 Oceanography: General: General or miscellaneous.

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Citation: Strom, A., R. C. Francis, N. J. Mantua, E. L. Miles, and D. L. Peterson (2004), North Pacific climate recorded in growth rings of geoduck clams: A new tool for paleoenvironmental reconstruction, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L06206, doi:10.1029/2004GL019440.