Radiocarbon evidence for annual growth rings in a deep sea octocoral (Primnoa resedaeformis) [electronic resource]
The deep-sea gorgonian octocoral Primnoa resedaeformis is distributed throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans at depths of 65-3200 m. It has a two-part skeleton of calcite and gorgonin. Towards the inside of the axial skeleton gorgonin and calcite are deposited in concentric growth rings, similar...
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| Format: | Government Document Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington, D.C. : Oak Ridge, Tenn. :
United States. Department of Energy. ; distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Department of Energy,
2005.
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| Summary: | The deep-sea gorgonian octocoral Primnoa resedaeformis is distributed throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans at depths of 65-3200 m. It has a two-part skeleton of calcite and gorgonin. Towards the inside of the axial skeleton gorgonin and calcite are deposited in concentric growth rings, similar to tree rings. Colonies were collected from the Northeast Channel (northwest Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Nova Scotia, Canada) from depths of 250-475 m. Radiocarbon was measured in individual rings isolated from sections of each colony, after dissolution of calcite. Each Δ¹⁴C measurement was paired with a ring age determined by three amateur ring counters. The precision of ring counts averaged better than ± 2 years. Accurate reconstruction of 20th century bomb-radiocarbon shows that (1) the growth rings are formed annually, (2) the gorgonin is derived from surface particulate organic matter (POM) and (3) useful environmental data are recorded in the organic endoskeletons of deep-sea octocorals. These results support the use of Primnoa resedaeformis as a long-term, high resolution monitor of surface ocean conditions, particularly in temperate and boreal environments where proxy data are lacking. |
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| Item Description: | Published through SciTech Connect. 04/05/2005. "ucrl-jrnl-211139" Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol. 301, N/A, October 11, 2005, pp. 129-134 FT. Sherwood, O A; Scott, D B; Risk, M J; Guilderson, T P. |
| Physical Description: | PDF-file: 21 pages; size: 0.3 Mbytes. |