Utility of Dendrochronology Crossdating Methods in the Development of Arctic Coralline Red Algae Clathromorphum compactum Growth Increment Chronology for Sea Ice Cover Reconstruction

Paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental reconstructions from increment-yielding archives strongly depend on precise age models. Like bivalves, corals, trees, and speleothems, the coralline alga Clathromorphum compactum produces annual growth increments and shows considerable promise as an environmental...

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Main Authors: Natasha Leclerc, Jochen Halfar, Trevor J. Porter, Bryan A. Black, Steffen Hetzinger, Meghan Zulian, Alexandra Tsay
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Marine Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.923088/full
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author Natasha Leclerc
Jochen Halfar
Trevor J. Porter
Bryan A. Black
Steffen Hetzinger
Steffen Hetzinger
Meghan Zulian
Meghan Zulian
Alexandra Tsay
author_facet Natasha Leclerc
Jochen Halfar
Trevor J. Porter
Bryan A. Black
Steffen Hetzinger
Steffen Hetzinger
Meghan Zulian
Meghan Zulian
Alexandra Tsay
author_sort Natasha Leclerc
collection DOAJ
description Paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental reconstructions from increment-yielding archives strongly depend on precise age models. Like bivalves, corals, trees, and speleothems, the coralline alga Clathromorphum compactum produces annual growth increments and shows considerable promise as an environmental archive for arctic and subarctic regions. Though their growth increment widths correlate with temperature and sea ice cover in high Arctic regions, existing timeseries have not been crossdated. In fact, previous studies have shown a lack of inter-sample correlation in non-crossdated timeseries suggesting possible age model dating errors. Here, we use dendrochronology crossdating techniques and COFECHA software to ensure and validate synchrony between C. compactum timeseries (<141 years) from three specimens collected near Beechey Island, Nunavut, Canada. Results showed that non-crossdated timeseries constructed by four coralline red algae researchers using annual increments of the same C. compactum samples were highly variable and showcase the likelihood of dating errors in non-crossdated timeseries. Crossdating improved inter-series correlations, and correlations to sea ice-related records, suggesting that at least three crossdated timeseries are required to isolate paleoclimate signals. Our findings suggest that future reconstructions with C. compactum should employ crossdating techniques to reduce dating errors and allow for more precise climate reconstructions.Lay AbstractLong-term environmental records provide a critical baseline to examine how humans have impacted Earth’s natural climate. An important piece to consider is sea ice’s role in natural climate variability because its brightness limits warming by reflecting solar irradiation back to space. However, instrumental records of sea ice rarely extend beyond the early satellite era (late 1970s), limiting our understanding of how sea ice affects natural climate variability in the preindustrial era. A lack of historical baseline prompted the development of sea ice proxies, including the long-lived marine alga, Clathromorphum compactum. Similar to tree-rings, C. compactum produces a new mineralized layer each year, and layer thicknesses have been shown to respond to sea ice cover, making them useful to record long-term sea ice variability. However, a recent study showed that records had replicability problems, maybe due to dating mistakes. Our study applies tree-ring dating methods (dendrochronology) to match annual algal growth layers across algal specimens. Results showed that these new methods reduced dating errors, allowing for more precise past sea ice cover reconstructions.
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spelling doaj.art-84e5844dcfa64894ae16a6b7bbd870132022-12-22T00:28:23ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452022-06-01910.3389/fmars.2022.923088923088Utility of Dendrochronology Crossdating Methods in the Development of Arctic Coralline Red Algae Clathromorphum compactum Growth Increment Chronology for Sea Ice Cover ReconstructionNatasha Leclerc0Jochen Halfar1Trevor J. Porter2Bryan A. Black3Steffen Hetzinger4Steffen Hetzinger5Meghan Zulian6Meghan Zulian7Alexandra Tsay8Earth Sciences Department, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaChemical and Physical Sciences Department, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, CanadaGeography, Geomatics and Environment, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, CanadaLaboratory of Tree-Ring Research, College of Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United StatesGEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, GermanyInstitut für Geowissenschaften, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, GermanyBodega Marine Laboratory, Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United StatesDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United StatesDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, SwitzerlandPaleoclimate and paleoenvironmental reconstructions from increment-yielding archives strongly depend on precise age models. Like bivalves, corals, trees, and speleothems, the coralline alga Clathromorphum compactum produces annual growth increments and shows considerable promise as an environmental archive for arctic and subarctic regions. Though their growth increment widths correlate with temperature and sea ice cover in high Arctic regions, existing timeseries have not been crossdated. In fact, previous studies have shown a lack of inter-sample correlation in non-crossdated timeseries suggesting possible age model dating errors. Here, we use dendrochronology crossdating techniques and COFECHA software to ensure and validate synchrony between C. compactum timeseries (<141 years) from three specimens collected near Beechey Island, Nunavut, Canada. Results showed that non-crossdated timeseries constructed by four coralline red algae researchers using annual increments of the same C. compactum samples were highly variable and showcase the likelihood of dating errors in non-crossdated timeseries. Crossdating improved inter-series correlations, and correlations to sea ice-related records, suggesting that at least three crossdated timeseries are required to isolate paleoclimate signals. Our findings suggest that future reconstructions with C. compactum should employ crossdating techniques to reduce dating errors and allow for more precise climate reconstructions.Lay AbstractLong-term environmental records provide a critical baseline to examine how humans have impacted Earth’s natural climate. An important piece to consider is sea ice’s role in natural climate variability because its brightness limits warming by reflecting solar irradiation back to space. However, instrumental records of sea ice rarely extend beyond the early satellite era (late 1970s), limiting our understanding of how sea ice affects natural climate variability in the preindustrial era. A lack of historical baseline prompted the development of sea ice proxies, including the long-lived marine alga, Clathromorphum compactum. Similar to tree-rings, C. compactum produces a new mineralized layer each year, and layer thicknesses have been shown to respond to sea ice cover, making them useful to record long-term sea ice variability. However, a recent study showed that records had replicability problems, maybe due to dating mistakes. Our study applies tree-ring dating methods (dendrochronology) to match annual algal growth layers across algal specimens. Results showed that these new methods reduced dating errors, allowing for more precise past sea ice cover reconstructions.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.923088/fullCoralline red algaeSea ice proxycrossdatingsclerochronologygrowth incrementsdendrochronology
spellingShingle Natasha Leclerc
Jochen Halfar
Trevor J. Porter
Bryan A. Black
Steffen Hetzinger
Steffen Hetzinger
Meghan Zulian
Meghan Zulian
Alexandra Tsay
Utility of Dendrochronology Crossdating Methods in the Development of Arctic Coralline Red Algae Clathromorphum compactum Growth Increment Chronology for Sea Ice Cover Reconstruction
Frontiers in Marine Science
Coralline red algae
Sea ice proxy
crossdating
sclerochronology
growth increments
dendrochronology
title Utility of Dendrochronology Crossdating Methods in the Development of Arctic Coralline Red Algae Clathromorphum compactum Growth Increment Chronology for Sea Ice Cover Reconstruction
title_full Utility of Dendrochronology Crossdating Methods in the Development of Arctic Coralline Red Algae Clathromorphum compactum Growth Increment Chronology for Sea Ice Cover Reconstruction
title_fullStr Utility of Dendrochronology Crossdating Methods in the Development of Arctic Coralline Red Algae Clathromorphum compactum Growth Increment Chronology for Sea Ice Cover Reconstruction
title_full_unstemmed Utility of Dendrochronology Crossdating Methods in the Development of Arctic Coralline Red Algae Clathromorphum compactum Growth Increment Chronology for Sea Ice Cover Reconstruction
title_short Utility of Dendrochronology Crossdating Methods in the Development of Arctic Coralline Red Algae Clathromorphum compactum Growth Increment Chronology for Sea Ice Cover Reconstruction
title_sort utility of dendrochronology crossdating methods in the development of arctic coralline red algae clathromorphum compactum growth increment chronology for sea ice cover reconstruction
topic Coralline red algae
Sea ice proxy
crossdating
sclerochronology
growth increments
dendrochronology
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.923088/full
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