Past daily light cycle recorded in the strontium/calcium ratios of giant clam shells

Yuji Sano (), Sayumi Kobayashi, Kotaro Shirai, Naoto Takahata, Katsumi Matsumoto, Tsuyoshi Watanabe, Kohki Sowa and Kenji Iwai
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Yuji Sano: Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo
Sayumi Kobayashi: Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo
Kotaro Shirai: Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo
Naoto Takahata: Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo
Katsumi Matsumoto: University of Minnesota
Tsuyoshi Watanabe: Hokkaido University
Kohki Sowa: Hokkaido University
Kenji Iwai: Ishigaki Branch, Research Center of Fishery and Oceanography at Okinawa Prefecture

Nature Communications, 2012, vol. 3, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract The historical record of daily light cycle in tropical and subtropical regions is short. Moreover, it remains difficult to extract this cycle in the past from natural archives such as biogenic marine carbonates. Here we describe the precise analysis of Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca, and Ba/Ca ratios in a cultivated giant clam shell, using a laterally high-resolution secondary ion mass spectrometer with 2 μm resolution. The Sr/Ca ratio exhibits striking diurnal variations, reflecting the daily light cycle. A clear seasonal variation in Sr/Ca is also observed in another longer set of measurements with 50 μm resolution. Light-enhanced calcification and elemental transportation processes, in giant clam and symbiotic algae, may explain these diurnal and annual variations. This opens the possibility to develop the Sr/Ca ratio from a giant clam shell as an effective proxy for parameters of the daily light cycle.

Date: 2012
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1763

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