Freshwater Bivalve Oxygen and Carbon Isotope Data from Wellington Creek, Ohio

Oxygen and carbon isotopic data were collected from microsamples of two freshwater bivalve species, Sphaerium striatinum and Anodonta grandis, alive in Wellington Creek, Ohio. The dataset was created by SCIOPS as part of the 'Stable Isotopic Composition of Biogenic Carbonate from Lake Erie Drainage' project and was last updated in 1995. It compares measured shell delta 18O values to predicted equilibrium values to assess the organisms' utility as paleoenvironmental proxies.

Use Cases

• Calibrate paleotemperature equations by comparing bivalve shell delta 18O values to monitored ambient water temperature and water delta 18O values.
• Assess isotopic equilibrium in biogenic aragonite by analyzing the similarity between measured shell values and predicted equilibrium values for species A. grandis and S. striatinum.
• Investigate carbon cycle processes by examining the co-variation and highly negative values of bivalve delta 13C data.
• Validate the use of Sphaerium and Anodonta shells as paleoenvironmental archives for Lake Erie's history based on their isotopic reflection of stream conditions.

Strengths

• Data includes isotopic comparisons for two distinct bivalve species, A. grandis and S. striatinum.
• Environmental calibration based on ambient water temperature and delta 18O monitored for over one year.
• Provides specific mean delta 18O values: -5.54% for A. grandis and -6.16% for S. striatinum.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a snapshot from the mid-1990s, with no recent updates.
• Sample size and row count are unknown, potentially limiting statistical power.
• Geographic scope is restricted to a single stream (Wellington Creek) in Lorain County, Ohio.

Provenance

Source

SCIOPS, part of the 'Stable Isotopic Composition of Biogenic Carbonate from Lake Erie Drainage' project.

Collection Method

Oxygen and carbon isotopic values obtained from microsamples of live-collected bivalve shell aragonite.

Time Range

Monitoring period >1 year, specific years unknown; dataset last updated 1995.

Freshness

1995-12-31

Geography

Wellington Creek, Lorain County, Ohio, USA (Lake Erie drainage basin).