The Coralline Genus Clathromorphum Foslie emend. Adey, Biological, Physiological, and Ecological Factors Controlling Carbonate Production in an Arctic-Subarctic Climate Archive
Walter H. Adey
Jochen Halfar
Branwen Williams
10.5479/si.1943667X.40.1
https://smithsonian.figshare.com/articles/book/The_Coralline_Genus_Clathromorphum_Foslie_emend_Adey_Biological_Physiological_and_Ecological_Factors_Controlling_Carbonate_Production_in_an_Arctic-Subarctic_Climate_Archive/9761894
<p>The coralline algal genus <i>Clathromorphum
</i>is a dominant calcifier in the rocky Subarctic biogeographic region,
stretching through the lower Arctic from the Labrador Sea to the Bering Sea. Although
commonly 2–10 cm in thickness, <i>Clathromorphum </i>can reach a thickness of
up to 50 cm while forming an annually layered structure that can reach
currently documented ages of up to 850 years. Geochemical and growth
information archived in annual growth bands of <i>Clathromorphum </i>sp. has
been used to provide long time series of past environmental conditions in
regions that are poorly understood major drivers of Northern Hemisphere
climate. However, information on <i>Clathromorphum </i>calcification, growth,
and ecology that would allow interpretation of these records has previously
been quite limited. Here we relate extensive field and laboratory data on the
biology, physiology, and ecology of species of this genus and their controlling
environmental parameters. We show that <i>Clathromorphum </i>has evolved a
unique mode of double calcification, with high-magnesium calcite crystals, that
enhances long life and leads to a multielement climate archive. Growth rates are
controlled by temperature, and carbonate density is controlled by light,
determined by both latitude and sea ice cover, whereas carbonate buildup and
ultimate thickness are determined by local geomorphology and faunal interactions.
Reproduction is complexly linked to vegetative anatomy. Precise
paleoenvironmental information can be retrieved from <i>Clathromorphum </i>because
of its unique cytological and anatomical structures, described and modeled for
the first time in this volume.</p>
2019-09-12 13:26:58
coralline
Marine Biology